Commodore Card Terms & Conditions

Access

Background/Purpose  

Card Services provides VU ID Credential -based access for CSGold reader equipped doors, buildings, suites and parking gates via the campus card system.  Procedures, roles and responsibilities are designed to support safety, security and accessibility. This process describes roles and responsibilities, along with general building access and the process for granting or revoking access.  

Role Definitions and Responsibilities  

Cardholder/Patron – The holder of an authorized Vanderbilt University issued identification card, mobile credential, biometrics or building access card.  

Cardholder Responsibilities :  It is the responsibility of the Cardholder to return their Vanderbilt ID card to University officials upon request or termination from the university.  ID cards or equivalent mobile credentials should be carried at all times and are not transferable.  Unauthorized use may result in VU ID confiscation and disciplinary action.   

Facility Approver – For buildings and doors not included in general building access, Card Services grants access as directed by Facility Approvers. Facility Approvers are appointed by Deans or Department Heads and hold the responsibility for requesting changes to patron access privileges, communicating door schedule changes and conducting access reviews.  

The individual(s) designated by the head of a department, school or college holding responsibility for provisioning, revoking and updating card system building access privileges for a specific set of doors or buildings.  Facility Approvers are the points of contact for access reader schedule adjustments (i.e., lock/unlock schedules). System c hanges to patron access and door schedules may only be made by Card Services with the authorization of the appropriate Facility Approver.    

Changes to Facility Approver List : Deans/Department Heads may make changes to the Facility Approver list by contacting Vanderbilt Card Services at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu . It is recommended to keep the list of Facility Approvers to a minimum but ensure that a backup is available.  

Facility Approver Responsibilities : As the designated approver/requestor for card access for a specific set of door or buildings, Facility Approvers are responsible for complying with these requirements:  

• Conduct and Document Access Reviews :  Facility Approvers (or other persons designated by the school or department head) can receive upon request a list from Card Services of all cardholders with access to each door or group of doors. This list will not include Public Safety, Plant Operations, VUIT or other groups that receive a default level of access due to their roles at Vanderbilt University. It is the Facility Approver's responsibility to ensure that the list of cardholders with door access is kept up-to-date and that users who should not have access have their access rights removed in a timely manner.  Documentation that an access review was conducted should be maintained by the Facility Approver.  
• Changes to Patron Access Privileges: Facility Approvers must contact Vanderbilt Card Services at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu with any cardholder request changes as soon as they are aware of them. Ideally a VUnetID should be provided together with the Cardholder’s full name, the doors (or door grouping) for which they need access, date on which access should be revoked, or the start and end date of the assignment (where appropriate).  If access is needed for a large group,  

Please send the list of cardholders in an Excel spreadsheet with full names and VUNetIDs.  

• Changes to Door Schedules: Facility Approvers contact Card Services at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu for door lock/unlock schedule changes. These changes can be a permanent schedule or schedules for specific events. These changes must be made at least 24 hours in advance and can be programmed months in advance, so please contact Card Services to have the schedule programmed as early as possible.   
• Transaction Logs: Facility Approvers (or other person designated by department head) may elect to receive by email on a monthly basis (or upon request) a transaction log of all card swipes for each door in their building(s) for access validation and corrections.    

 

Notes:  

• Housing manages all access programming related to residence halls.   

 

Secure Dores  

The Secure Dores program is co-managed by VU Public Safety, VU Facilities and Card Services. Secure Dores enables the exterior doors of buildings to be locked and monitored in emergency situations. The step-by-step lock down procedure is illustrated in the Secure Dores LOCKDOWN procedure. When a building is undergoing renovation, it should conform to the Secure Dores standard.  

Regular Communication with Facility Approvers  

New FAs should be walked through the processes of how to add/remove patrons, housekeeping procedures, basic card reader troubleshooting and if they have “Double-tap” access, the consequences of leaving a door unlocked.   

Before VU breaks such as winter and Independence Day FA’s should be contacted to remind them that doors will be locked/unlocked on a specific schedule and if they need to deviate from this then to contact Card Services.  

 

General Building Access for VU Faculty/Staff/Students  

Libraries  

• All VU patrons have after-hours access with Vanderbilt ID Card  
• Hours of Operation  
• Access includes main building entrance, in cases where the library is located within a locked building (e.g., Science and Engineering Library, with entrance through Molecular Biology Building; Law Library with entrance through the Law School building).  

Student Centers  

• All VU patrons have after-hours access (until building closure) with Commodore Card  
• Access includes The Commons Center, Rand/Sarratt Student Center, Student Life Center, Alumni Hall.   

Requesting Building Access for VU Faculty, Staff, Student in Addition to General Building Access   

Building Access  

• The person to whom the individual reports (or a sponsor) requests access on their behalf from the respective Facility Approver.  
• The Facility Approver contacts Card Services by email at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu to request and authorize card access.  
• It is the Facility Approver’s responsibility to validate the request and the requestor.   
• A full list of current Facility Approvers follows.      
• Possible Improvement: Have a designated form or request system where the requestor fills out the form and sends it to the Facility Approver for approval and signature which is then sent to cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu . Forms could then be stored and filed by the name of the patron who was given access .   

Suite or lab access:  

• Facility Approver for the lab/suite contacts Card Services by email at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu to request access for patron.  
• A full list of current Facility Approvers follows.  
• Possible Improvement: Have a designated form or request system where the requestor fills out the form and sends it to the Facility Approver for approval and signature which is then sent to cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu . Forms could then be stored and filed by the name of the patron who was given access.   

•  

Requesting All-VU Access  

It is important to note that “All-VU Access” is rarely given to a patron. Alternative access groups should be used for “all access” depending on the patron’s role at VU. For example Plant Operations and VUPS employees should be given one of the groups designated for their department. It would be unusual for anyone to be given all access to campus as this would include areas where specialist training is needed prior to entering an area, or access is prohibited due to security concerns. Examples would be lab spaces containing hazardous materials, VUPS evidence rooms, animal facilities, server room, etc  

Just because a patron has all-access on their card it does not give them permission to access all areas of campus.   

First Responders and VUIT Access  

Patron accounts of VUPS first-responders and VUIT personnel are identified in the CS Gold system, as these populations are granted role-based building access.  

VU Vendor/Contractor Access  

• See Front Desk Procedures – Issuing VU IDs, Conference and Bulk Cards for information on issuing Sponsored Visitor ID cards to vendors/contractors.  
• No default general access is given to contractors. All building access must be approved by an appropriate Facility Approver.  
• The date and time of expiration of contract must be listed on the Card Holder Information form. For ongoing contracts, Sponsored Visitor ID cards must be renewed annually. (The card can be retained but sponsored authorization must be updated annually).  

Revoking Building Access   

Employee Termination  

• Card access automatically revoked when the employee’s record deactivated in Oracle Cloud or upon request by VUPD, the employee’s supervisor or HR.  

Employee Role Change  

• Facility Approvers are responsible for informing Card Services at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu of changes in access permissions. If an access change is requested by anyone other than the approved Facility Approver, Card Services will validate change with the Facility Approver for that building/area.  

Student Termination  

• Card access is automatically revoked when a student record is deactivated in PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (typically at end of semester) or upon update from file received by the Card Services each morning.  

Lockout  

Building access for individuals may be immediately revoked by VUPS, Human Resources, the employee’s supervisor or Vice Chancellors by contacting Card Services.   

General VU Building Access for VUMC Affiliates  

VUMC affiliates are individuals who have a VUMC ID badge and have been authorized to enter VU-owned buildings either because they are libraries or because they have been granted access by a Facility Approver.  The VU and VUMC Card Offices facilitate ease of access for each other’s populations through an hourly and nightly file exchange process. This enables VU Facility Approvers to grant access to VUMC personnel on their VUMC badge. Reciprocally, VUMC may grant access to VU card holders on their VU ID card. Note that mobile credentials cannot be used for cross-entity building access as VUMC does not use compatible readers. An iClass or magstripe only card must be issued to VU students, faculty or staff who need VUMC building access.  

Libraries  

• All VU/VUMC affiliates have after-hours access to libraries with their ID Badge.  
• Hours of Operation  
• Access includes main building entrance, in cases where the library is located within a locked building (e.g., Science and Engineering Library, with entrance through Molecular Biology Building; Law Library with entrance through the Law School building).  

Requesting Access to a VU Building for a VUMC Affiliate (VUMC faculty, staff or student) or VUMC Contractor  

Building Access  

• Department sponsor requests access for the individual from the appropriate VU Facility Approver. A full list of Facility Approvers is below.  
• It is the Facility Approver’s responsibility to validate the request and the identification of the requestor.  
• Facility Approver contacts VU Card Office by email at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu to authorize and request access on affiliate’s VUMC badge.  
• Changes to Facility Approvers must come from the head of a VU department/office/location, in instances where a VUMC office is located within a VU-owned building.  

Suite/Lab Access  

• Facility Approver for the respective building contacts Card Services at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu to request access for the affiliate. A full list of Facility Approvers is below.  
• Changes to Facility Approvers must come from the head of a VU department/office/location, in instances where a VUMC office is located within a VU-owned building.  

Revoking VUMC Affiliate Access to a VU Building  

Employee Termination  

• Badge access is automatically revoked when VUMC badge is deactivated, via feed from VUMC.  

Role Change  

• Facility Approvers are responsible for informing Card Services at cardaccess@vanderbilt.edu of change in access permissions  
• If change in access is requested via email, VU Card Office will validate change with the appropriate Facility Approver.  

 

All Access  

• Any cardholder who requires all access privileges due to their role must have approval from the Vice Chancellor for their area. Copies of approvals are retained in the Card Access email account.   
• It is important to note that “All-VU Access” is rarely given to a patron. Alternative access groups should be used for “all access” depending on the patron’s role at VU. For example Plant Operations and VUPS employees should be given one of the groups designated for their department. It would be unusual for anyone to be given all access to campus as this would include areas where specialist training is needed prior to entering an area, or access is prohibited due to security concerns. Examples would be lab spaces containing hazardous materials, VUPS evidence rooms, animal facilities, server room, etc  
• Just because a patron has all-access on their card it does not give them permission to access all areas of campus.  

 

Current Facility Approver List  

The current list of Facility Approvers is located here: O:\Access\CardOffice_Access_Process.docx