Kent State University is in the process of updating and replacing more door locks in campus residence halls to enable student ID cards to unlock dorm rooms.

According to Kent State University Housing, the access control upgrades are ongoing and will enable students and staff to use their FLASHcards for access to individual rooms. The FLASHcard can already be used for room access in four on-campus residence halls, with plans to expand card access to the university's remaining residences over the coming year.

The new card access system will support both magstripe and contactless entry to accommodate the cards already in circulation, and in the event a FLASHcard does not function properly, students can check out a temporary key from their residence hall's front desk.

Kent State Residence Services is spearheading the phased project that will include all campus residence halls, as well as facilitate a consolidation of student credentials. Students living in buildings that have already been moved to the new system no longer have to use two different credentials for their meal plan and room access.

This latest batch of lock upgrades brings the campus-wide project closer to completion, with three additional residence halls slated for door lock upgrades by Fall 2018 and the remaining three residences to be fully upgraded by the start of Fall 2019.