C. Campus Security Everyone plays a role in campus security. Students are to report any suspicious persons to a member of the faculty or staff immediately. The faculty or staff member will alert Public Safety immediately. When school is in session, a Public Safety Officer is on duty from 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. A security guard is on duty 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The security guard is posted at the desk in the main lobby and makes rounds throughout the campus monitoring the safety of the campus. Security can be reached at 843-992-0377. All exterior doors are secured at all time. The rear fire exit stairwells are alarmed continuously. The main lobby doors are the primary and preferred means of entering and exiting the building. Residence hall rooms should be locked unless a student is present in the room. Please note the Residence Life staff does not condone leaving your door open or unlocked for any reason. Locking your door adds to student safety and security of person and property. Students should avoid entering another student’s room without permission. A multi-camera digital recording system is installed throughout the GSSM campus for the protection of the students and to provide a safe residential environment. The system in common areas upstairs is not monitored in real-time. Access to this system is extremely limited and all students’ rights to privacy are protected. The Public Safety Coordinator is responsible for conducting periodic checks of the system to ensure it is operating properly. The upstairs monitoring system will be accessed if there is an event that makes looking at the footage necessary (fire alarms, vandalism, thefts, etc.). If the footage is viewed, the viewing will be only of that segment of time in which the event likely occurred. The initial review will be conducted by either a Public Safety Officer, the Dean of Students, the Vice President for Student Development, or their designees. The initial screening will be to determine if there are any images that need to be isolated. These frames will then be provided, as necessary, to appropriate school officials, the Judicial Council, and any students and/or parents involved when it is deemed appropriate. Should any event require the involvement of the fire or police departments, those agencies will have access to the unedited version of the images. The downstairs system is monitored in real time by Public Safety and Security. All recordings automatically erase after a determined period of time. Videos that are saved for official use will be kept until they are no longer needed. The Public Safety Coordinator will periodically check saved videos in GSSM’s video system and eliminate those that are no longer needed.
D. Privacy, Search and Seizure A student’s right to privacy is respected at GSSM. However, GSSM also has a responsibility to maintain standards of safety and behavior that are reflected in GSSM regulations and policies, and local, state, and federal statutes. In the event that a staff member needs to check on a student (e.g. illness, not showing up for class, violation of lights out, etc.), staff members are permitted to enter a room to locate a student. Staff members will knock and announce themselves prior to entering the room. If there is no answer, the staff member is authorized to enter the room to locate the student. GSSM may authorize searches, based on “probable cause” and the “reasonableness standard” applicable to public schools, of a student's residence hall mailbox, room including personal belongings, automobile, and other areas, when there is suspicion that violations have occurred. If possible, such entry and search will be made in the presence of the student or students involved, provided the students can be located in a timely fashion. When a student’s room is to be searched, appropriate members of the GSSM staff will be assigned to perform the search. When such a search is deemed necessary, parents will be contacted as soon as possible.
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