Loyola’s residential halls now have student workers manning the front desks overnight, again, as university police no longer provide night-time security at front desks since early this semester.

Prior to the pandemic, residential life had students working the front desks in residence halls, but the need for increased security protocols during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic led to funding for night-time security, according to Chris Rice, the director of residential life. Evening security guards were managed and supervised by the Loyola University Police Department, Rice said.

Funding has since changed, which led residential life to transition back to covering the customer service desk with student employees, he said. Rice added that residential life is currently gathering data to assess the impact of this change.

Training for the front desk assistant job consists of a two-hour onboarding training prior to the start of their first shift to cover things like how to handle various incidents, Rice said. Student desk workers also can call the resident assistant on call, the professional staff on call, or Loyola police if they need any support while on duty, Rice said.

Rice said that even with the change, university police still conduct rounds of the residence halls and monitor the lobby cameras at night.