Data Center Visitor Sign In Out Policy
Version 2.0
For Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Alumni
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to ensure that access to the University data centers is controlled to protect the IT Resources from unauthorized use, accidental, malicious damage, or theft.
Scope
This IT security policy, and all policies referenced herein, shall apply to all members of the University community, including faculty, students, administrators, staff, alumni, authorized guests, delegates, and independent contractors (the “User(s)” or “you”) who use, access, or otherwise employ, locally or remotely, the University’s IT Resources, whether individually controlled, shared, stand-alone, or networked.
Policy Statement
- Visitors must be escorted by University personnel authorized to access the data centers for the entirety of the visit.
- Visitors must sign in upon entry to and sign out upon departure from the data centers.
- Visitor access records must include, at minimum, the visitor's name, date of visit, entry and exit times, purpose of the visit, and the name of the authorized University escort.
- Visitor access records must be periodically reviewed by authorized personnel responsible for data center operations or physical security.
- Visitor access records must be retained for the period defined by the Records Retention and Disposal Policy.
Definitions
IT Resources include computing, networking, communications, applications, telecommunications systems, infrastructure, hardware, software, data, databases, personnel, procedures, physical facilities, cloud-based vendors, Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors, and related materials and services.
Visitors are personnel who may occasionally visit data centers but are not authorized to enter without an escort. A visitor is any person who has not been granted badge or key access to data centers and may include University personnel who do not support data center operations, such as other staff, faculty, outside vendors, consultants, or auditors.
NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls
PE-3 - Physical Access Control
PE-8 - Visitor Access Records
Related Policies and Procedures
Implementation Information
| Review Frequency: | Triennial |
|---|---|
| Responsible Person: | Senior Director of IT Security and Assurance |
| Approved By: | CISO |
| Approval Date: | March 1, 2017 |
Revision History
| Version | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 01/26/2017 | Initial document |
| 1.0.1 | 03/01/2017 | Grammatical changes only. No adjustments to the policy. |
| 1.0.2 | 05/22/2018 | Updated scope, disclaimer, and definitions |
| 1.2 | 06/02/2020 | Updated policy statement |
| 1.3 | 09/27/2023 | Updated scope, policy disclaimer, and purpose statement |
| 2.0 | 09/22/2026 | Updated visitor access and record review requirements, added the Physical Access Policy reference, and aligned with NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 controls PE-3 and PE-8. |
Policy Disclaimer Statement
Deviations from policies, procedures, or guidelines published and approved by Information Security and Assurance (ISA) will only be considered cooperatively between ISA and the requesting entity with sufficient notice to allow for conducting appropriate risk analysis, documentation, review, and notification to authorized University representatives where necessary. Failure to adhere to ISA written policies may be met with University sanctions up to and including dismissal.