Access to Buildings

At Temple University, we are dedicated to maintaining an open access environment while ensuring that access to certain facilities is restricted to faculty, employees, students, and university-sponsored guests.

Importance of Proper Access

Providing appropriate access helps facilitate the university's goals in education, research, and employment by:

• Promoting personal health and safety
• Managing liability exposure
• Clarifying individual responsibilities related to access to university facilities

Identification Requirements

All individuals accessing university facilities must be prepared to present valid identification upon request. University students, faculty, and employees are required to show a valid OWLcard.

Access Requests for Employees 

Requests for access to university facilities must be made by completing the Building Access Request form, available in TUportal. Each school, college, department, and unit must appoint an Access Coordinator responsible for managing and reviewing access requests.

Changing Access Requirements

If your access needs change—whether due to a change in employment, leaving the university, or moving to a different department—you must notify your Access Coordinator. Be sure to return any keys or Access Credential Devices (ACDs) when necessary, ensuring timely adjustments to access permissions.

Monitoring and Audits

Supervisors and Access Coordinators are responsible for ensuring that access changes are managed in a timely manner. Internal audits may review access privileges as part of evaluations conducted in schools, colleges, departments, and units. Access plans that are not regularly reviewed or do not conform to policy guidelines may be modified or revoked by the OWLcard administrator.

Key and ACD Ownership

All keys and ACDs issued for access to university facilities are the property of Temple University and must not be duplicated, transferred, or shared. Any unauthorized duplication, transfer, or sharing of keys or ACDs, or possession of duplicate items, may lead to disciplinary action and investigation by the Department of Public Safety, with potential criminal consequences.

Responsibility and Enforcement

Adherence to this policy is the responsibility of all faculty, employees, students, authorized guests, and representatives of organizations with contractual agreements with the university.

Enforcement of this policy falls to supervisors and Access Coordinators. In emergencies, Public Safety personnel have the authority to manage building access, including locking and unlocking doors.