As the first semester of the school year is coming to an end, The Signal put together a list of four university changes Georgia State students can look forward to in the spring semester.
New biometric scanners will replace the card readers in Library North, as part of one of the Georgia State University Police Department’s (GSUPD) biggest security upgrades. All Georgia State students, faculty, and staff will need to register their fingerprints to be granted access into library North and South.
According to the university library’s blog, the system was modeled after a design used by the FBI. Registration of fingerprints has begun in the PantherCard Office, and will continue in January.
With the arrival of new Police Chief Joseph Spillane, GSUPD will be implementing a new initiative which will connect the university police with students through social media.Students can expect to connect with Georgia State Police via its social media platforms by the start of the new year.
According to GSUPD Chief Carlton Mullis the reason behind the initiative is to “increase connectivity” between police and the Georgia State community.
The spring of 2017 will also kick off the department’s trial run of body cameras, which will consist of 20 body cameras around the department to test out the impact and effectiveness of using body cams within the department. A project which, in an Aug. interview with The Signal, Mullis had said will cost the police department $30,000, or about $900 for each of the 20 cams.
Lastly, students can hope for an almost stress-free parking scene starting next semester. The Director of Marketing and Administrative Support of the Auxiliary and Support Services Chris Connelly said finding parking on campus will be much easier next semester.
He recently presented to the university Student Government Association (SGA) the university’s upcoming parking app, which will show university students available parking spots within each deck. He said students can also look forward to more available space in the T-deck starting spring semester.
