We focus a lot on credentialing technologies in our day-to-day coverage. We are, after all, a publication dedicated to the campus card. But in more recent years, it's grown increasingly difficult to ignore the rise and impact of mobile apps on campus.

Not all are relevant to the campus card space specifically, but an increasing number of mobile apps are reaching many of the same touch points that the student ID card does. And with college campuses now being almost entirely connected environments, the use of mobile apps by an already tech-savvy and mobile driven student population has been a natural progression.

This idea was the inspiration for our "Next-gen apps merge campus ID and student life" piece from 2015. We wondered if institutions would one day deliver a coordinated mobile experience that replaced disparate solutions and single-function apps. The infrastructure is available now -- and even back then to a certain extent -- to deliver a comprehensive app experience that includes services like event and door access, mobile ordering, payments, coursework, attendance, testing, campus safety and more.

We've seen some of these utilities delivered piecemeal, sure, but even three years ago we were imagining an all-in-one app experience.

NFC use for students to access facilities was a pipe dream at the time of publication, but door access was the vital use case because it’s one of the most important and frequent tasks for students. Shifting door access to a mobile app was largely in its pilot phase then, but Apple announcing student ID support on iPhone and Watch is likely a major step in the right direction for that encompassing app experience students crave.

Our ideas from 2015's "Next-gen apps merge campus ID and student life" were an educated guess, but we're seemingly getting closer by the day to a true companion app for students. The progress made over just a few short years is even more impressive when glancing backward.

Making decisions about your campus card system and its future can be a tricky endeavor without having the right information handy. There are countless considerations that can all play into important decisions around card technology, access control hardware, future technologies and industry trends.

The best way to account for these considerations is to ask questions, seek information and consult with professionals who know their stuff. That's the idea behind ColorID's Identity Summit events. Hosted regionally across the country, ColorID will be visiting San Francisco, Calif. Tuesday, July 24th to put on their one-day, informative event.

"We’re excited for the opportunity to host our first Identity Summit on the west coast with the University of San Francisco," says Mark Degan, Director of Corporate Marketing at ColorID. "Attendees will learn a lot at this free event, and some are even taking advantage of the surrounding location to check out the sights, as well."

The next Summit will be held on the University of San Francisco campus and led by technical identity experts from ColorID. The company and its representatives will provide attendees with information backed by their experience serving more than 1,200 higher education institutions around the globe. The Campus Identity Summit is also designed to bring together forward-thinking, university managers and administrators to create an engaging, informative environment in which attendees can learn about campus card technology.

"Since our last Identity Summit at George Washington University in March, a lot has happened," says Todd Brooks, Director of Product Management at ColorID. "We’re excited to address a lot more incoming questions from campuses about hot-button topics like the latest in cloud-based issuance services and mobile credentials."

New and advanced campus identity technologies are becoming available at a rapid rate, so it's important to stay on top of the trends. Campuses across the country are asking questions about new credential alternatives like mobile and biometrics, as well as contactless credentials and cloud-based identity.

"Institutions are particularly interested in any and all pathways that lead their campus toward operating in a proprietary free environment," says Brooks. "We've been fielding a lot of questions about how to create an ecosystem that enables campuses to pick and choose products and services they want without being told it can’t be done."

In addition to learning about industry trends and emerging technologies, attendees will also learn about the importance of having a Campus Identity Roadmap to help guide future decision making. The Summit will discuss what a Campus Identity Roadmap is, the process of constructing one, as well as the benefits of having a strategic, working document that will keep a campus' identity environment on the leading edge both in the near term and down the line.

A number of higher education institutions in China have deployed biometric solutions for access and payments in recent months, and adding to the list is Peking University. The university has now installed facial recognition readers at perimeter access gates to control access to its Beijing campus.

As reported by the South China Morning Post, anyone attempting to enter through the southwestern gate of the university will no longer have to provide a student ID card. Starting this month, students will present their faces to a camera as part of a trial run of the system ahead of full-scale deployment.

According to a university release, Peking built its facial recognition system using existing photos printed on student and staff ID cards. There is no word yet regarding the exact enrollment procedures for new and incoming students.

The university is, however, still working out some of the kinks, as a number of students were not recognized by the system and were told to have their ID photos retaken. The issue was reportedly a result of the pixels on the ID card photos not exactly matching what is required for the facial recognition scans.

Nevertheless, perimeter gates aren't Peking's first foray into biometrics on campus, having previously deployed roughly two dozen facial recognition devices at campus libraries, classrooms, residence halls, rec centers and computer labs.

Peking joins a growing number of biometric deployments at universities in the region. The neighboring Beijing Normal University, for example, has installed a hybrid solution that leverages facial recognition cameras and a voice recognition system to identify students at residence halls.

There is a growing number of use cases for examining card system data, and one of the campuses that's helping to blaze the card data trail is the University of Montana.

UM examines its card system data for wide variety of reasons, looking at nearly every function of the card system. In addition to the efforts at Montana's flagship campus, an affiliate campus, UM Western, has also developed a student engagement program that tracks student attendance from tutoring to football games.

To shed more light on the card data efforts at Montana, Blackboard Transact will host a free, live webinar on Wednesday, June 27 at 1:00 PM EST. Webinar attendees will hear from Maggie McCarthy, manager of Montana's Griz Card Center, about how card system data has made the card office an invaluable service center for other campus departments.

"Having this data at your fingertips is one of benefits of running a robust card system," says McCarthy. "The card system empowers our auxiliaries to make operational decisions, whether that be what hours of operation or what meal plans to offer, as much as it allows our student service departments to assess their strengths and show the value of their services."

The conversation surrounding card data interpretation is an important one, and at the center of the discourse will inevitably be the card office. McCarthy and the rest of the Griz Card team have embraced this role, and the results have been immense.

"The card office is here to help our users answer questions to make strategic decisions," McCarthy says. "The most common question that I'm asked is, 'Who is using my service and how often?' This is a great starting point to get an idea of what your department is doing if you’ve never looked at the assessment data."

Over the past year, the University of Montana also underwent a system-wide internal review process designed to assess and prioritize programs and services. "This process identified strengths, where to invest or disinvest campus funding, and pinpoint outdated or inefficient processes," explains McCarthy. "The review required that departments demonstrate the value of their services though measurable results, many of which were able to do so using card system data."

Other departments aren't the only beneficiaries of UM's work with card system data. The card office itself has reaped some rewards. "The greatest direct impact to the card office is that it changed how we are billing new students and issuing cards," says McCarthy. "We're now able to look at card issuance data to make decisions and demonstrate to administration, using card system data, why changes needed to be made."

This is just a small preview of the information to be covered in the full webinar on Wednesday, June 27 at 1:00 PM EST. Register here and tune in to hear more about the above examples and how the Griz Card Center is using card system data to redefine campus operations and assist multiple university departments.

There's now a different take on the campus safety app in the form of Grooop, a student-developed app out of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, that leverages messaging and friend groups to ensure student safety.

As reported by Hypepotamus, the purpose behind the tracking app is to provide a minimally-invasive platform where users create groups of friends, or Grooops, to keep track of each other’s safety status. The app creators call it a “social and safety hybrid app.”

Grooop allows students to set safe zones, like a residence hall or rec center, and then alert their selected group of friends that they’re safe if they’re within that geographical range. Once the student leaves the designated safe zone, their status is automatically changed to “out and about.”

If the user for example goes to a party, they can select “Ready to Go” to quickly find friends without texting and to avoid walking home alone. If an emergency arises or if the user feels unsafe, they can quickly swipe the app's lock-screen widget and activate an alert status that then signals the ‘Grooop’ that you need help.

“If the alert is selected in-app, there will be a countdown from ten in case the user accidentally hit the button, and will then pinpoint the user's exact location and send it to your group. The group will see which person set off their alert, and be offered a prompt to either call or text the person. This is the only time it will send off your exact location, unless someone requests it and you accept,” said app creator Nina Barnett, in a Hypepotamus interview.

Barnett partnered with Durham-based developers, Smashing Boxes, to build the app in the summer of 2016 and beta tested at a number of campuses, including UNC, the University of Alabama, Wake Forest University, UC Berkeley and Vanderbilt University. The app was publicly launched in August 2017.

So far, Grooop has active users on 15 campuses nationwide, with the larger goal to launch at major universities across the Southeast. The app operates on a subscription model with a possible university sponsorship model in the works.

Amazon's voice-activated smart speakers have quickly become a hot ticket item. They're used to set reminders, alarms, control other smart home tech, ask questions to be answered by Google, and more.

Now, a Northeastern University spin-off company is leveraging Amazon's Echo Dot smart speaker to help improve the student experience on campus. As reported by News@Northeastern the company, N-Powered, is providing incoming freshmen with the speakers, equipped with an Echo Skill called Husky Helper. Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa can then answer common student questions that pull data from a variety of university sources.

N-Powered conducted a pilot study of Husky Helper with 60 Northeastern students this past academic year, and upon examining pilot results, found that student feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

One Northeastern student reported using Husky Helper to figure out who their academic advisor was, which was helpful, because the advisor had changed numerous throughout the semester. A different Northeastern freshman reported using the smart speaker to play music, as well as set timers when doing laundry.

The idea for the Husky Helper pilot was in part inspired after visiting the Northeastern University call center and examining the top 20 questions asked by students over the past three years. Some of the most common questions encountered in the call center regarded financial aid, account holds, advisors and balances on meal cards.

Interacting with Husky Helper via the Echo Dot works in the same way as any standard smart speaker. Students can ask Alexa questions from anywhere in the speaker's vicinity regarding relevant campus or student account information.

N-Powered officials stress that protecting student privacy is a top concern of the system. Each student that participated in the pilot willingly signed a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act document that enabled access to their student records. The system is “obfuscated end-to-end,” meaning all data is stored with encryption that is “near impossible to break.” Students can opt out of using the Skill altogether, or pick and choose which of their data is accessible.

Planning is underway to make Husky Helper available to incoming students this fall.

The big news in the campus card space this month is the announcement that the Apple iPhone and Watch will support use of student ID cards on campus for access and payments. The reveal happened during Apple's keynote at the company's recent Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and will see the campus card made an option to be added to Apple Wallet.

We’re predictably bullish on adoption, but it’s pretty early to speculate on specific timing. However, we expect that once a client makes the Blackboard Mobile Credential available, the natural tendency for the mobile-centric student will be a rapid adoption.

The addition of the student ID card to Apple mobile devices has been a pipe dream for some time, with the company's tight grip on the iPhone's NFC capabilities previously acting as a barrier for use of anything beyond Apple Pay. That trend has now changed, and joining Apple on its student ID card initiative is Blackboard, after it was revealed that the two companies have partnered on the project.

With the new contactless credentials via iPhone and Watch primed for action this coming fall at a host of Blackboard client campuses, CR80News was able to gather some additional details on the new solution in a recent Q&A with Blackboard's VP of Global Market Development, Jeff Staples.

CR80News: Which Apple devices and software versions will support student ID card access and payments?

Staples: Using contactless credentials, students will simply present their iPhone with iOS 12 or Apple Watch with watchOS 5 to enabled readers on campus.

CR80News: Can any current Blackboard client participate in the mobile credential initiative? What are the base hardware/software requirements on the Blackboard side needed to support this?

Staples: Initially, our Transaction System On Premise solution will support the Blackboard Mobile Credential, and our roadmap includes support for our SaaS clients, as well. Regarding enabled terminal devices (readers), our clients are well prepared as all Blackboard devices shipped since 2010 feature NFC capability. In addition to our own Blackboard readers, we will continue to expand support for enabled third-party devices, as well.

CR80News: How about new clients that sign with Blackboard? Will this be an out of the gate option for all new clients?

Staples: Absolutely! Our new clients are great candidates for this offering. We have a variety of Blackboard NFC devices that campuses can use to update their infrastructure, leveraging a client’s hardware investments when possible. In addition to interior locks from ASSA ABLOY, we’re working with a growing list of third-party hardware providers to enable their devices also.

CR80News: What is the process for on-boarding a campus card credential to Wallet? Does a student need to interact with the campus card office directly, or can they add the credential on their own?

Staples: It is critically important to provide the user with a simple and efficient experience from the start, and certainly our means of providing convenience in credential delivery meets that criteria. The users will take advantage of Blackboard platform services and self-service mobile solutions to enable a simple and quick experience for obtaining the credential and downloading it to their iPhone or Apple Watch, and interaction or visits to the card office will not be required. We will share more details on this point following the launch this fall.

CR80News: Can you walk me through the student experience? Will the student need to call up the Wallet app prior to reaching the door?

Staples: We have been preparing ourselves and our clients for this capability for years (since 2010), and we have taken a thoughtful and deliberate approach to enabling this user experience. This experience has to be ubiquitous across campus, and incredibly easy and intuitive to use. That means that a student should expect to go from buying lunch, to making copies, to buying a soft drink and then opening a door, all with the same user experience and ease of use. Our leverage of NFC is perfect for this as it facilitates a very secure, fast transaction without the need to open apps, select a door or machine, etc. Just present the iPhone or Apple Watch, and get on with the task at hand.

It’s important that the Mobile Credential not add any friction to the process, or somehow offer less utility than the traditional ID card. That won’t be an issue, and we are working hard with the Apple team to ensure that the user has a great experience. As we are in a pre-release state, we will offer more details after the launch this fall.

CR80News: How does the user experience differ with the Watch vs the iPhone?

Staples: It’s really about convenience and ensuring the user experience is simple, elegant and matched to their needs in each use case. Regardless of the form factor, whether an iPhone or Apple Watch, we will enable the same drop-dead simple user experience mentioned above. Again, look for more details after the program goes live this fall.

CR80News: How will transactions on iPhone and Watch differ from the experience for students using Android devices? Will both ecosystems be supported seamlessly?

Staples: There may be differences, however, the way in which a user transacts at a reader-level will be similar. Both credential types will be supported, along with NFC-compatible cards, which we have supported since 2010.

CR80News: Can other vendors offer a similar mobile ID experience using iPhone and Watch? Is there any exclusivity between Blackboard and Apple for the student ID card offering?

Staples: We generally don’t comment on our relationships with Apple or other companies before a solution is generally available, but we are unaware of any other solution provider that can offer this capability at this time. Blackboard is in this unique position for a variety of reasons, including a long-running commitment to deliver NFC-capable devices, and major investments in platform development, all of which have resulted in a very large base of enabled campuses who also happen to have a majority of users carrying iPhones and Apple Watches.

CR80News: Can you fill us in on how other vendors may participate and add value to Blackboard schools?

Staples: We are pleased to be working with a number of companies as we complement our own array of solutions to help our clients address every credential use case on campus, from payment to privilege management to access control, and that list will continue to grow. We are pleased to continue our long-running engagement with the electronic locks team at ASSA ABLOY, and I know that our clients and users will appreciate the seamless use of the Blackboard Mobile Credential for all transaction types, on and off campus.

Of course, we also have a variety of Blackboard NFC-enabled devices, such as our USB and mobile readers, door readers and point-of-sale devices, deployed in large numbers on our clients’ campuses, making a variety of third-party solutions capable of accepting any of our contactless or mobile credentials.

CR80News: How will credential pricing be handled with mobile IDs compared to physical cards?

Staples: We are providing specifics including pricing to our clients, but as we are in a pre-release state, we can’t offer details publicly at this time.

CR80News: How do you see the utilization curve growing over time?

Staples: We’re predictably bullish on adoption, but it’s pretty early to speculate on specific timing. However, we expect that once a client makes the Blackboard Mobile Credential available, the natural tendency for the mobile-centric student will be a rapid adoption. Incoming freshmen will adopt very rapidly, and existing cardholders are likely to seek out this option for its convenience when they need a replacement card. Given the widespread use of iPhones and Apple Watches, the pace of adoption will now increase dramatically. Our clients will continue to have other options available, including NFC-compatible contactless cards and our Android Mobile Credential, to ensure they address the needs of all students and users.

Food trucks are changing dining services at a number of campuses across the country. Not only are trucks being deployed to previously underserved areas of campus, but they're introducing new and different menu alternatives to a student population that's grown accustomed to such amenities.

But the University of Massachusetts Amherst is looking to add yet another use case for the campus food truck with a summer initiative that will provide free meals to young people around the community. As reported by MassLive, beginning June 25 and running throughout the summer months, UMass Amherst will provide free, healthy meals to kids and teenagers 18-years-old and younger via the university's BabyBerk food truck.

UMass is participating in the federally funded, state-administered Summer Food Service Program. The BabyBerk food truck is collaborating with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the non-profit meal program.

The USDA will provide the funding and develop program regulations, while the Massachusetts DESE will monitor and train BabyBerk employees to process and administer the program. UMass Amherst will also receive a small compensation for each meal in order to fund the project throughout the summer months.

University officials hope that BabyBerk will serve an average of 560 kids each day. The food truck will offer the free meals every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, excluding July 4th, until August 10th when the academic year will begin again. No student ID or registration is required to obtain the meals.

The BabyBerk food truck is a component of UMass Amherst Dining Services. UMass Amherst's Director of Retail Dining, Van Sullivan, saw the university's dining services and the food truck in particular as a good fir to the Summer Food Service Program as it has established experience in providing a large number of meals on a daily basis to UMass students.

Following a social media poll comprised of students, faculty and the public, the University of Alabama's card office recently revealed the new-look Action Card. The new credentials will continue to feature Denny Chimes -- a bell tower and campus landmark -- but will now add the university's mascot, Big Al, in the foreground.

According to a report from The Crimson White, Alabama's Division of Strategic Communications narrowed the design finalists to six that were then put to a public vote. The votes between the top two designs were so close that the Action Card Office then worked with its card vendor to decide which look best fit the new contactless chip technology in the new card.

The new card will introduce contactless chip technology, and all new and incoming freshman will be issued the new card design. Per the Action Card website, card readers on Alabama's campus are also being updated to support card tap, including Action Card, Bama Dining, Network Printing, SUPeStore, Dining Dollars and Bama Cash off-campus merchants.

Alabama's faculty and staff Action Card.

It had been twelve years since the Action Card was last redesigned. The reason for the design update was a desire to give the credential a refreshed aesthetic, as well as provide students with the opportunity to offer their input in the design of their credential. In addition to student IDs, the new design will carry across faculty and staff credentials as well.

A new photo is required with the new card, and students will not be able to submit a photo online. Instead, students will visit the Action Card office in person where staff will take student photos and issue the new cards on-site. Students will not be charged for the new card design, and as the new credentials are issued over time, the old cards will remain fully functional.

Though details are not available at this time, CR80News has confirmed that Assa Abloy is working with Apple on their efforts to add student ID cards to Apple Wallet. The company shared the following statement exclusively with CR80News:

“This fall Apple is bringing the ability to add student ID cards to Apple Wallet. ASSA ABLOY are excited to be working with Apple to help facilitate some of the new capabilities. When student ID cards are added to Wallet on iPhone or Apple Watch, students and faculty will have an easier and more convenient way to open doors, make payments on and around campus and enable contactless student ID functionality.”

Stay tuned to CR80News as we will continue to update as more information is available.