Two doors leading to two sets of staircases in the back of Student Government in the Student Union East Building have been locked for safety concerns.

These staircases are open on first and second floors of the Student Union East Building, but closed on the third floor, where the doors lead directly to SG suites.

Michael McGuire, UNF’s Student Government business manager, said SG requested to lock these doors last week of May, and the UNF Environmental Health and Safety Department later reviewed the request.

McGuire said the doors are locked to prevent individuals unaffiliated with UNF from accessing the SG offices.

However, these doors can be opened from the inside of the building for fire safety reasons.

Daniel Endicott, director of UNF’s Department of Environmental Health and Safety, outlined the process that takes place when a person makes this sort of request.

He said a safety modification request, sent in electronic form, is passed on to various departments, depending on the complexity of the change.

Endicott said the funds needed to complete the requested safety modifications are then examined.

This request then has to pass a series of  building codes, such as the Florida building code and a fire code.

John Hale, director of UNF Physical Facilities, confirmed the request was compliant with the building code.

Endicott did not wish to comment on this specific issue concerning the locked doors because he said there is a second part of the request, involving possibly locking elevator doors, that has not yet been fulfilled.

David Crabtree, director of the Student Union, said access to these staircases has been granted to a few professional and student staff members when requested.

Email Noor Ashouri at [email protected].