Bakersfield College’s 2017 Spring semester is slated to see many small-scale maintenance projects, but one of the most significant projects is already in progress: the campus-wide door replacement.

Most students and faculty have likely noticed the new security card readers wired to most exterior doors on campus.

When the project is complete, staff will be issued cards that will unlock their classrooms when pressed to the panel, but there’s more to it than convenience.

“If we ever had an emergency on campus or had to go into lockdown, we can now lock the whole campus down remotely,” said Maintenance and Operations director Bill Potter.

According to Potter, in the case of an emergency, the entire campus would be secure “with

the push of a button and a code” instead of scrambling to lock every door manually.

Timers will also be set to lock buildings down at their scheduled times every day.

“Every college in the district is doing it, and we’re all doing the same [door] project,” Potter said. “It’s going to protect our students and staff and faculty. It’s going to be a great thing.”

The door project is planned for completion by early March.