Six Pillars for Protecting Campuses and the People Within Them
How the 'other AI' can help security, compliance and risk teams create safer, more welcoming campus environments
- By Dan Harding
- September 24, 2026
The start of a new academic year is a chance for schools, colleges and universities to showcase what's new. New students arrive. Faculty and staff return. New programs begin. Perhaps a new laboratory, residence hall or student center opens its doors.
Behind that activity, another important job is underway. Security, safety, compliance and risk teams are working to make sure campuses are ready for the thousands of interactions that happen every day, and for the situations nobody wants to happen at all.
That job is becoming more complex. A campus can include academic buildings, laboratories, residences, sports facilities and public spaces, each with different access requirements. Each of those spaces sees a different mix of people moving through it, from students and faculty to contractors, parents and prospective students, each for a different reason.
The challenge isn't simply knowing who has entered a building, it's also understanding who is there, why they're there, where they should have access and what needs to happen next. That requires a different kind of intelligence.
A New Paradigm, Powered by the 'Other AI'
Artificial intelligence dominates technology conversations today. But there is another "AI" that deserves more attention in campus security: Access Intelligence.
Access Intelligence starts with a simple idea. Knowing that somebody signed in is useful, but understanding the context around their presence is far more valuable. Should this person be here? Have the appropriate checks been completed? Which spaces should they be able to enter? And if an emergency occurs, can the institution quickly establish who is onsite and help account for them?
For education leaders looking to strengthen campus security without turning schools into unwelcoming environments, six areas deserve particular attention.
Access Intelligence. Good security decisions depend on context. A contractor working in a laboratory presents different considerations from those of a parent attending an event, a prospective student taking a tour, or an employee visiting another campus location.
Context comes from connecting identity with intent, location, time and policy. Instead of simply recording that someone arrived, institutions can understand what their presence means and apply the appropriate process.
That matters because access isn't static. Someone authorized to enter one building isn't necessarily authorized to enter another. A contractor whose documentation was valid last month may require an updated credential today. Better information allows teams to make better decisions while keeping legitimate access straightforward and welcoming.
Visitor management. Much of that understanding starts before a visitor ever reaches the front desk. Pre-registration can establish who is coming and why, while appropriate screening and approval processes can take place in advance based on the institution's policies and the nature of the visit. At arrival, the experience can reflect the individual and their purpose rather than forcing every visitor through exactly the same process.
Security teams also need visibility when something doesn't look right. If a contractor assigned to one facility attempts to access another restricted area, teams should be able to identify and investigate that exception while it matters. The objective is stronger oversight without creating unnecessary friction for people who have a legitimate reason to be there.
Emergency preparedness and response. The value of accurate presence information becomes especially clear during an emergency. Knowing who was expected on campus is not enough. Teams need to know who actually arrived, where they are and how to reach them.
Legislation, such as Alyssa's Law, is also raising expectations around emergency preparedness in the U.S., including schools' ability to alert law enforcement quickly during an emergency. But effective response goes beyond raising the alarm. Institutions need to communicate clear, timely instructions to students, staff and visitors, while accounting for people throughout an evacuation or other incident.
Having an accurate picture of who is on campus helps teams communicate quickly, coordinate their response and make better-informed decisions when every second matters.
Compliance. Institutions operate within a range of policies, regulatory requirements and assessment frameworks. The specific requirements may differ across institutions and countries, but the need for reliable evidence doesn't. Teams need time-stamped, traceable records showing what happened and whether the appropriate processes were followed. Good compliance should be a consequence of good everyday processes, not an administrative scramble when an audit or review arrives.
Identity and access assurance. Knowing someone's name isn't the same as knowing they should have access. Campuses welcome people with very different reasons for being there, from parents and prospective students to contractors, vendors and visiting faculty. Their access requirements shouldn't automatically be the same.
Identity and access assurance brings together who someone is, why they're there and whether the appropriate checks have been completed. That can include screening against internal records and trusted third-party data sources, such as watchlists or denied-party lists, before access is granted.
Access should also be dynamic. Approval for one building, campus or visit shouldn't automatically grant access everywhere else. That gives institutions greater control where it's needed, without adding unnecessary friction to every visit.
Accountability. Compliance is only part of the equation. Institutions also need to be ready to answer difficult questions. Why was this person allowed access to a restricted lab? Were the appropriate checks completed? Who approved the visit?
Answering questions like these shouldn't depend on somebody remembering what happened or searching across disconnected records. Institutions need a reliable evidence trail showing what happened, when and why. That level of accountability helps teams demonstrate not only that the right policies were in place, but that they were followed in practice.
Institutions have to protect people and facilities while remaining open, welcoming places for learning and community. Stronger security shouldn't mean adding friction to every interaction.
Better access intelligence gives institutions a clearer picture of who is on campus and why, helping teams manage risk, answer critical questions and make better-informed decisions.
The result is a campus that is more secure, prepared and accountable, without sacrificing the experience of the people who enter it.
About the Author
Dan Harding is co-founder of Sign In App and a board member at Sign In Solutions. He has more than a decade of experience working with schools, universities and businesses on physical security and access management.