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General Information on Campus Carry

Campus Carry Rules and Policies at UTHealth Houston

Effective August 1, 2016

The following rules have been established by the Office of the President in accordance with Senate Bill 11, also known as the "Campus Carry Law" passed by the Texas Legislature in 2015. The rules and policies became effective Aug. 1, 2016 and have been reviewed each even year since then, with appropriate notification to the Legislature as described in Section 411.2031 (d-4) of the Government Code.

These rules were established after thoughtful consideration of the recommendations of the UTHealth Campus Carry working group established by President Giuseppe N. Colasurdo, M.D. Prior to developing its recommendations, the campus working group obtained extensive input from faculty, students, and staff elicited from several campus Town Hall meetings, suggestions and opinions sent through a portal on UTHealth Houston's intranet, and meetings with various subject matter experts on safety, legal affairs and law enforcement. The campus working group also considered the report from the UT System working group established by then Chancellor William H. McRaven and chaired by former Deputy Chancellor David E. Daniel, Ph.D. and relied upon it as background material prior to the development of our recommendations put forth to President Colasurdo. Continued review of these rules and policies includes the periodic engagement of UTHealth Houston's Behavioral Intervention Team, which includes representation from facilities across campus, including clinical, educational, research, and administrative facilities, either owned or leased by UTHealth Houston.

UTHealth Houston has created and executed a comprehensive communication plan to inform our community about the rules and regulations regarding campus carry.

  • A. General Rules and Principles
    1. Licensed holders who carry a concealed handgun in UTHealth Houston buildings or on UTHealth Houston premises must carry it on or about their person at all times or secure their handgun in a locked, privately owned or privately leased car or vehicle. The only exception applies to residents of University Housing as per below ( A.2). It is recommended that licensed holders who carry a concealed handgun about their person (e.g., in purses, backpacks, briefcases, etc.) keep the gun in a holster designed to prevent/minimize accidental discharge.

    2. Licensed holders may carry concealed handguns on or about their person in University Housing. Licensed holders who are university housing residents may store handguns in their apartments in a gun storage safe with the stipulation that the safe must have secondary concealment, e.g., in a locked drawer or room at all times so that transfer in or out of the safe would not be visible to other apartment occupants or visitors. This stipulation will be included in lease agreements, and failure to adhere to requirements in the lease agreement would be cause for the university to terminate the lease agreement and require the occupant to vacate the apartment. Residents or visitors with concealed handgun licenses are permitted to keep handguns in their locked cars or vehicles in parking garages and surface parking areas of university housing as permitted by law.

    3. Handguns are prohibited in all patient care areas. Patient care areas are interpreted broadly to include hospitals; clinics, including student and faculty health clinics; medical, dental and nurse-run clinics; mental health facilities and counseling centers; and health-related testing areas (e.g., audiology, optometry, learning disabilities, etc.).

    4. Handguns are prohibited in laboratories containing dangerous materials, including, but not limited to, flammable chemicals, biohazards, compressed gases and explosive agents.

    5. Handguns are prohibited in laboratories, patient care areas, or other venues that contain equipment that could inadvertently cause the discharge of a handgun, e.g., magnetic resonance imaging machines.

    6. Handguns are prohibited in animal care areas and vivaria.

    7. Handguns are prohibited in areas for which state or federal law, licensing requirements or contracts require exclusion of weapons at the discretion of state or federal government, or in which handguns are prohibited by an accrediting authority.

    8. Handguns are prohibited in rooms while formal hearings, prescribed by university policy and/or processes, are being conducted for or related to the following purposes:

      a. Employee and student grievance or disciplinary inquiries, hearings and related proceedings,
      b. Appeals and formal hearings related to employee terminations, and
      c. Appeals and formal hearings related to student dismissals and academic proceedings.

      Appropriate signage will be placed on the entrances to these rooms when such hearings are in progress, and meeting notices and invitations will indicate that these rooms are exclusion zones while hearings are in progress.

    9. The determination of whether licensed holders may carry concealed weapons in space that UTHealth Houston leases in buildings owned by other parties and space leased by UTHealth Houston in its buildings to non-university occupant swill be determined based on lease agreements and other legal considerations.

      a. Tenants in UTHealth Houston-owned buildings will generally be permitted to determine whether or not to permit concealed handguns in their leased space,unless the entire building is an exclusion zone (see following A.10) or the lease agreement prohibits carrying weapons. If a tenant in a UTHealth Houston building is acting as an agent of the university, the university shall determine whether or not to prohibit concealed handguns in the leased space on the basis of the rules applied to its other campus buildings and facilities.

      b. If UTHealth Houston leases space from a landlord that has established a policy of prohibiting concealed handguns in the lease and/or building rules, UTHealthHouston will abide by the prohibition. If UTHealth Houston leases space from a landlord that permits handguns on the property or is silent on the matter, UTHealth Houston shall determine whether or not to prohibit concealed handguns in the leased space on the basis of the rules as applied to its own campus buildings and facilities.

    10. If the sum of the net assignable square footage in a building is equal to or greater than 50 percent for patient care areas (see A.3), laboratories with dangerous materials or equipment (see A.4 and A.5), and animal care areas and vivaria (see A.6) the entire building will be designated as an exclusion zone and handguns will not be permitted in any part of the building. Appropriate signage will be placed at building entrances as required by law.

    11. If the sum of the net assignable square footage in a building is greater than 25 percent but less than 50 percent for patient care areas (see A.3), laboratories with dangerous materials or equipment (see A.4. and A.5), and animal care areas and vivaria (see A.6) the President will consider the following factors:

      a. Load of traffic within the building including students, employees, visitors and patients,
      b. Number and nature (e.g., card entry, key-only entry, etc.) of entry and egress points,
      c. Connections to adjoining buildings in which concealed handguns are prohibited,
      d. The layout and travel patterns within the building, including, but not limited to, stairwells, elevators and hallways between patient care areas (see A.3), laboratories with dangerous materials and/or equipment (see A.4 and A.5), and animal care facilities or vivaria (see A.6) and other functionalities (e.g.,classrooms, offices, storage and other designated purposes), and
      e. The percentage of building space assigned for patient care areas (see A.3”), laboratories with dangerous materials and/or equipment (see A.4. and A.5.), and animal care facilities or vivaria (see A.6 ).

      If, on the collective basis of these factors, the President determines that movements into, out of, and within the building are unmanageable without violation of the law or if accurate, understandable communication about the rules to students, employees, visitors and patients is impractical, the President shall declare the entire building an exclusion zone.

      If the President determines that movements into, out of, and within the building are manageable without violation of the law and can be realistically communicated to all parties, concealed carry will be permitted within the building except in areas designated for patient care (see A.3), laboratories with dangerous materials and/or equipment (see A.4. and A.5), and animal care facilities or vivaria (see A.6).
      These exclusion areas must then be clearly marked with appropriate signage.

    12. If the sum of the net assignable square footage in a building is less than 25 percent for patient care areas (see A.3), laboratories with dangerous materials and/or equipment (see A.4 and A.5), and animal care facilities or vivaria (seeA.6), concealed carry will be permitted within the building except in areas designated for those specific uses which must be clearly marked with appropriate signage.

    13. Licensed holders may carry a concealed handgun in all university parking garages and parking lots or secure their handgun in a locked, privately owned or privately leased car or vehicle at all times.

    14. Licensed holders may carry a concealed handgun on or about their person in all university classrooms and teaching areas (including teaching laboratories) except in those buildings or areas designated as exclusion zones.
  • B. Designation of UTHealth-owned Buildings and Facilities

    Updated August 31, 2018

    The designations below were developed on the basis of the general rules and principles listed in Section A above. A campus map indicating designation of buildings is below. The buildings listed below comprise the current inventory of UTHealth Houston-owned buildings. The list will be updated as appropriate.

    1. Buildings in which concealed handguns are totally prohibited (indicated in red on map below):

      a. Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Building
      b. Cinco Ranch Health Center
      c. Child Development Center
      d. Cyclotron Facility
      e. Harris County Psychiatric Center
      f. John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center
      g. McGovern Medical School Building
      h. Medical School Expansion Building
      i. School of Dentistry Building
      j. Cizik School of Nursing Service Building
      k. Fayez S. Sarofim Research Building, home of The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM)
      l. University Professional Building

    2. Buildings in which concealed handguns may be carried by licensed holders on or about their person except in designated patient care areas (see A.3 above), laboratories with dangerous materials and/or equipment (see A.4 and A.5 above), animal care facilities or vivaria (see A.6 above) and rooms while formal hearings, prescribed by university policy and/or processes, are being conducted for or related to employee and student grievance or disciplinary inquiries, hearings and related proceedings, or appeals and formal hearings related to employee terminations or student dismissals and academic proceedings (see A.8 above). Concealed carry by licensed holders is permitted in all classrooms and teaching areas (including teaching laboratories) except in those areas designated as exclusion zones. (buildings indicated in yellow on map below):

      a. Operations Center Building
      b. Cizik School of Nursing Building
      c. Reuel A. Stallones Building, home of UTHealth School of Public Health
      d. School of Public Health Brownsville Building
      e. University Center Tower and Garage
      f. University Professional Building Garage
      g. Jesse Jones Library Building and Garage (except in TMC Library space)

      (Note: The Jesse Jones Library Building is 210,000 sq. ft. of which 42,000 sq. ft. is leased to the Texas Medical Center Library (TMC Library) and the remainder is occupied by UTHealth Houston personnel. As per the lease agreement, the TMC library (as tenant) has banned the carrying of concealed handguns in leased space, but concealed handguns may be carried anywhere else in the building.)

    3. Buildings in which licensed holders may carry concealed handguns on or about their person anywhere in the building (indicated in green on map below):

      a. Denton A. Cooley, MD and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS University Life Center
      b. Operations Center Annex
      c. Recreation Center
      d. Recreation Center Pool House
      e. University Housing and Related Garages
      f. Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Storage Building

    Map: UTHealth-Houston-Owned Buildings in the Texas Medical Center

    campus-carry-map-uth

    i A lockable safe or secure storage container specifically designed to protect a handgun from access by anyone other than the licensed owner. The container must fully contain the handgun and provide sufficient defense to unauthorized access. It is recommended that the safe or residential security container meet Underwriters Laboratories Residential Security Container rating standards and ASTM International F2456 04 standards for Youth Resistant Firearms Containers.