Losing a key to a house, car, or office can be a daunting experience. 

Imagine losing a key to a university classroom, a campus building, or a room full of servers, and that experience quickly turns into a security risk, especially when you have close to 23,000 keys circulating in the university. 

That’s the situation the University of Houston wants to avoid and why it’s currently conducting its annual campus key audit. The six-week key audit is conducted annually by Key Access Services (KAS). This year, it began on March 7th with an expected end date of April 29th. 

“The reason we have the key audit is to account for every key we have throughout campus. This is for security purposes,” said KAS interim manager Ana Sanchez. “We’re able to track how many keys are issued and who has access to what rooms.” 

The audit reviews the keys that the university has issued while collecting unnecessary keys. Plus, it helps document any missing keys. 

Departments are notified when the key audit will begin via list serv email. The date is also announced during KAS’s quarterly building coordinator meetings. Departments notify key holders that their keys need to be audited. 

Performing a key audit assures that each person possesses the key or keys assigned to them. The audit itself is a smooth process, albeit lengthy when considering the number of keys circulating in the university. The current number of keys held by key holders is approximately 22,956, but that number fluctuates based on need. 

Each university department relies on its primary and secondary designated key auditors to make sure a key is correctly audited. Each department’s certifying signatory handpicks the key auditors. They are then provided with a key audit training file that provides a step-by-step process of correctly auditing the keys into the university system.  

Individuals cannot audit their own keys. Therefore, if a key auditor is also a key holder, the department’s second key auditor is tasked with auditing the key. 

The annual key audit may seem monotonous, but it plays a vital role in the university’s safety and security.  

For additional questions for Key Access Services, email kas@central.uh.edu.

Key Control MAPP https://uh.edu/policies/_docs/mapp/09/09.06.01.pdf