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Card, mobile credential, payment and security
A new campaign from Active Minds, Crisis Text Line, and The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is advocating for students to lobby their universities to print mental health hotlines on student ID cards. The"Transform Your Campus: ID Cards Campaign" is the first of its kind and will support high schools, colleges, and universities in their efforts to add mental health and suicide prevention crisis numbers to student ID cards.
The three mental health organizations jointly developed the new resource to provide students with ideas and action steps for lobbying campus administrators and other policymakers. The end goal is to make crisis hotlines like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Crisis Text Line clearly visible on all campus cards.
The initiative traces its roots back to 2012, when Active Minds students at the University of Dayton successfully petitioned campus administrators to print a crisis call line on the back of all student ID cards. Just this past year, legislators in California successfully passed State Senate Bill 972, which requires the addition of crisis numbers to ID cards in schools across the state.
“No campus is immune to mental health issues,” says Alison Malmon, founder and executive director of Active Minds. “Each student ID card should have crisis information printed on the back so if someone needs help, they only have to look as far as their pocket.”
The Transform Your Campus: ID Cards Campaign is part of a six-part series of free online resources. Each campaign guide provides practical, proven advice on how students can properly advocate for mental health support resources. In addition to campus cards, students have also used the guides to successfully advocate for including mental health awareness in new student orientations, and to hire additional counseling staff.
To date, more than 235 campuses have participated in Transform Your Campus initiatives. More than 60 campuses have so far successfully changed their policies and as a result of the program, including at least 22 campuses which updated their student ID cards. In total, the policy changes now impact some 892,000 enrolled students.
Transform Your Campus was funded through a grant from the Peg’s Foundation. The initiative was further developed through advice and insight from students, researchers, and administrators at The Healthy Minds Network and the following universities:
HID Global recently announced its FARGO HDP6600 printer, and we discussed the card printer/encoder for its impressive throughput capabilities. Now, the printer has been recognized for its environmentally friendly impact.
In a release from HID, the FARGO HDP6600 High Definition Printer/Encoder is the first and only retransfer printing solution for ID cards to achieve GreenCircle certification. The printer’s power-efficient design enables users to save thousands of dollars in annual energy costs for large projects spanning many printers.
The HID FARGO HDP6600 card printer.
The HDP6600 printer delivers on this energy efficiency and sustainability through an optional wasteless lamination module that dramatically cuts the waste byproducts that other printers generate. The module cuts consumables costs nearly in half for printed and laminated cards.
“By combining our patent-pending iON 'instant on' technology with an innovative design that permits simultaneous film printing and card retransfer processes, we’ve created one of the world’s fastest solutions while also eliminating the need for continuous transfer heating,” says Craig Sandness, Vice President and Managing Director for Secure Issuance with HID Global. “This advancement enabled us to achieve best-in-class energy efficiency that has now been independently validated through the GreenCircle certification program.”
HID Global’s sixth-generation HID FARGO HDP6600 printer halves the time required to print the first ID card as compared to many alternatives, while doubling overall throughput to up to 230 cards per hour. The company also lauds the device for being easier to service and more flexible to use across a wider range of applications, all while being less expensive to operate with a lower printing cost per card.
The printer offers true 600 DPI resolution with precision color panel registration for sharper text, crisper barcode edges and more vibrant colors than products that use dithering techniques and can only approximate this image quality.
Northwest Missouri State Campus Dining has implemented a new, web-based point-of-sale system on its campus. The new POS system replaces an on-site POS system that backed up using various forms of storage devices.
As reported by Northwest Missourian, the transition to a web-based server is intended to make the system more flexible and personal. The university's food service partner, Aramark, had been planning the POS update for about a year.
“The unique piece of the puzzle to solve at Northwest was the integration of the existing vending program," said Spencer Martin, Aramark spokesman, in a Northwest Missourian interview. "With the previous system, we were able to allow students one card that could be utilized everywhere on campus and wanted to keep this piece.”
Along with the new point-of-sale system, Northwest Missouri Campus Dining is introducing the new Bearcat Account Center. Using this new account interface, students can now view meal plan information and deactivate a lost or stolen Bearcat Card.
While there were some problems with the implementation of the new update, Aramark is looking forward to the new features of the update including increased security and flexibility. As part of the system update, Aramark has also updated the card system to a 16-digit ISO number scheme.
The process of updating the system caused some minor hiccups with student ID cards, prompting some students to be issued new Bearcat Cards -- an issue that has since been resolved.
Meal plans also weren’t showing up for some students, leading to unauthorized meal charges at the student union. For those students, cashiers wrote down their student account numbers and meal plan and manually resolved the purchases with the university's accounting office.
The new update removes Domino's and Pizza Hut from the list of locations that accept Bearcat Cards as a form of payment. Prior to the system update, students also reported a desire for the campus Starbucks to accept gift cards. Aramark’s new update now addresses that request and will accept gift cards both standard magnetic stripe and on mobile apps, according to Martin.
“The upgrade will allow us to grow with emerging market trends in the way we are able to provide dining options for students and campus as a whole,” Martin said.
George Mason University is now the first academic institution to deploy autonomous robots for the purpose of delivering food to students.
In a statement from Starship Technologies, the company that has developed the robotic delivery system, all of George Mason’s 40,000 students, faculty and staff can access the Starship Deliveries app. Available on both iOS and Android, users can order food and drinks to be delivered anywhere on campus within minutes.
The robots had been on campus for weeks prior to going live to stress-test the system and work out any potential kinks. The initial agreement with George Mason includes deliveries from Blaze Pizza, Starbucks, and Dunkin’ Donuts, with more merchants to be announced in the coming weeks. Each on-demand delivery costs just $1.99.
“College students understand the benefits of technology on campus and expect it to be integrated into their daily lives,” says Ryan Tuohy, SVP, Business Development, Starship Technologies. “Students and teachers have little free time as it is, so there is a convenience for them to have their food, groceries and packages delivered to them. Commuters can even meet the robot on their way into class.”
Mason's delivery initiative will deploy a fleet of 25 robots at launch, making it the largest of autonomous robot food delivery system on a university campus. Also included in the initiative is George Mason's food-service provider, Sodexo. The service works in conjunction with student meal plans and accepts meal plan dollars for purchases in addition to normal credit/debit cards.
“We’re excited that our students, faculty and staff get to be at the forefront of this pioneering campus food delivery service,” says Mark Kraner, Executive Director for Campus Retail Operations at George Mason University. “This will enhance life for everyone at the University, and that’s something we’re continuously looking to build upon.”
The robots use a combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence and on-board sensors to use sidewalks and navigate around obstacles. Onboard, vision-based navigation helps the robots to map their environment to the nearest inch. The robots can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow. The robots can be stored in pods located around campus where their batteries are automatically switched out so they can continue to operate independently, with no human involvement.
To get started with robot deliveries, users first download and open the Starship Deliveries app, choose food or drink items from participating merchants, then drop a pin on an interactive map on their device where they want the delivery robot to be sent. The robot's path can then be tracked via the interactive map as it makes its way to the student.
When the robot arrives to its delivery destination, the user receives an alert to their device, and can then meet and unlock the robot's door through the app to retrieve their items. The process from order to delivery completion typically takes 15 minutes or less, depending on the menu items ordered and the distance the robot must travel. Each Starship robot can carry up to 20 pounds worth of items.
Starship Technologies' autonomous delivery service operates commercially on a daily basis at locations around the world. The company's robots have completed over 25,000 deliveries and logged more than 150,000 total miles to date.
Sodexo and Starship plan to expand the delivery robot program to additional college campus locations in the future.
In early 2015, the results of an internal student dining survey indicated a need to change the University of Maryland’s dining program. But rather than simply refresh meal plan offerings, the university decided on a large-scale revamp that, among other improvements, incorporated advanced biometric technology.
“We were moving to an all-you-care-to-eat plan with unlimited access, meaning we had to support students with legitimate dining plans entering the dining hall as often as they wanted,” says Fuller Ming, Assistant Director for Information Technology at University of Maryland, Dining Services. “We needed a way to definitively identify the person with an active unlimited dining plan.”
Maryland Dining Services worked with a consultant and card system vendor, CBORD, where initially iris biometrics was suggested for dining hall access. But Ming and his team felt that a solution that leveraged traditional fingerprints would be more broadly accepted. That decision led Ming and Maryland dining to IDEMIA’s MorphoWave product.
IDEMIA's MorphoWave reader is a 3D fingerprint technology capable of scanning fingerprints and identifying people with a simple wave of the hand. The reader boasts high speed, touchless fingerprint acquisition. Users simply wave their hand above the device’s touchless sensor in order to be positively identified and gain access.
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Related: Tune in for the FREE webinar FREE webinar Wednseday, January 30 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST hosted by CBORD. Hear more from Wes Urban and Fuller Ming about Maryland’s use of MorphoWave. |
MorphoWave biometric readers went live at University of Maryland dining halls in August 2016. The university is now entering its third academic year, and sixth full semester with biometric access. “With MorphoWave and the selected dining hall turnstiles, we did all the procurement through CBORD by the middle of the spring semester 2016,” says Ming.
Without an established relationship between vendors, troubleshooting can be a challenge. In this way, CBORD’s partnership with IDEMIA is vital.
“CBORD has partnered with IDEMIA to provide the Morpho product line that can include a finger, finger and vein, or hand wave type of biometrics, says Wesley Urban, Solutions Architect at CBORD. “Solutions may include biometric only, biometric and card, biometric, card and PIN and card only options.”
"The lines actually move faster than before, nothing has to be rung-up by a cashier, and we cut the number of POS terminals to only one per dining hall."
The hallmark of the MorphoWave reader is fast, efficient and touchless throughput. “A major concern for a campus when introducing biometrics to a dining facility is the ability to process a large number of students during those peak hours between classes,” says Urban. “The speed and efficiency of MorphoWave is ideal for crowded dining halls and can be used in conjunction with turnstiles for quick and easy access.”
Biometrics has long been a key roadmap item for card system vendor, CBORD, with an increasing number of campus clients now looking to the technology for a wide array of use cases.
“CBORD was an early adopter of biometric solutions, but in the past college campuses only considered them viable for special situations,” says Urban. “Now, biometric devices can address a variety of campus needs with greater efficiency and lower cost than before.”
IDEMIA's MorphoWave biometric reader.
As part of CBORD’s smart campus vision, biometrics can be added to the company’s ID card, meal plan or access control systems, says Urban. “Access to dining halls for meal plans or all-you-can-eat facilities and rec centers is very popular,” he adds. “Residence hall access and access control to athletics facilities like locker rooms are quickly growing in popularity as well.”
Urban has also seen biometric solutions being incorporated for attendance tracking and niche applications like elevator control for luxury suites in stadiums. “Biometrics can be used in almost any situation where a standard card reader is used, which makes the technology attractive for any campus looking in the future to go cardless,” he says.
During the summer orientation leading up to the system’s full deployment, Maryland enrolled all of its incoming freshman that attended orientation so that when the fall of 2016 arrived, some 90% of the students on a dining plan were already enrolled.
We were promised flying cars, but pizza ATMs will have to suffice for now. Ohio State University has installed a pizza ATM in one of its campus dining halls that enables students to use their student ID card to pay for and make pizza withdrawals.
As reported by local NBC affiliate WCMH Columbus, students can visit the kiosk at the campus' Morrill - North Dining Room, swipe their BuckID, and in a few short minutes, pull out a hot a pizza. In its coverage, WCMH gives a full demonstration of the pizza ATM in action from the ordering process through to pizza delivery.
Students can pay for the $8 pizzas with their choice of campus currencies, including meal plans, guest visits, BuckID Dollars, or dining dollars.
The machine, still in its pilot phase, currently serves only two pre-made pizza options. Limited to cheese or pepperoni, the 10-inch pizzas are pre-sliced and ready to eat. There are plans to expand the machine's toppings in the future as the pilot matures.
Cook time for the pizzas is three minutes, with menu navigation and transaction process currently taking around four minutes to complete. The machine houses up to 70 pizzas at full capacity.
The machine at Ohio State is just the third of its kind in the United States, with the other two also stationed in Ohio in Cincinnati and Cleveland respectively. Abroad, the kiosks are bigger hit with some 500 of the pizza dispensers dotted across France and a host of other European nations.
In an era when universities look to stand out from the pack with prospective students, initiatives like the pizza ATM offer inventive ways to capture student interest, all while diversifying campus dining offerings. Ohio State dining services plans to have its pizza ATM running 24 hours per day by the start of the fall 2019 semester.
Texas' Copperas Cove Independent School District is helping ensure the safety of its students by issuing ID badges to be worn at all times.
As reported by local ABC affiliate KXXV, the student credentials will be issued to all junior high students and will be used throughout the school day for checking into class, getting lunch in the cafeteria or checking out books from the library.
District officials say the reasoning behind the new credentials is safety and the ability to know who and where students are.
"We started this semester with student ID cards as another form of an added security measure for our campus, as well as helping us out in a lot of different ways," said Dr. Jimmy Shuck, Principal at S.C. Lee Junior High School.
The student IDs are color coded to easily identify students by grade level and other campus-specific groupings. Lost or damaged student IDs carry a $2 replacement fee.
The new ID cards will denote to school staff who is supposed to be on school premises, along with what grade the cardholder is in. The cards will also include school-specific grouping information and function as a library card and meal card.
The new student IDs will also aid school officials in times of campus emergencies. For school fire drills depending on when a drill occurs, the cards will be help staff members to quickly identify students, get headcount and identify any students that are present or missing.
The issuance process takes no more than a couple of minutes, and could help prepare students for what's to come in high school.
"A lot of the area high schools students are wearing ID cards there, as adults we have our drivers license," said Shuck."We don't necessarily have to wear those around our neck but in a lot of the work forces where you go to in different jobs they are going more and more to wearing or having some form of ID, this is the same thing for our kids."
Washington State University has, among other inclusivity efforts, instituted updates to its student ID card policies to add support for preferred names.
According to a university release, the policy update to CougarCards is now included in WSU's Business Policies and Procedures Manual (BPPM), and will enable any WSU community members across the system to use a chosen first and middle name to be printed on their CougarCard.
Prior to the preferred name policy, members of the WSU community were required to use only a legal name on their CougarCard.
“We’ve involved a large number of departments and individuals in this process, to gain their input and shape what this change would look like,” said Craig Howard, director of Information Systems and the Cougar Card Center, in the university release.
Following the preferred name policy students, faculty and staff can enter a chosen names in their MyWSU portal, and can have their chosen first and middle names, along with their legal last name, printed on their CougarCard.
The preferred name policy will recognize two types of name changes in the form of a nickname and an official name change. The first updated student ID card will be issued at no cost, but no fees were disclosed regarding subsequent replacement cards.
One of the most valuable additions to NACCU's repertoire in recent years has been the New Professionals Institute (NPI) -- a workshop designed to provide newcomers with a comprehensive overview of the campus card industry. The NPI offers a top-notch learning experience for NACCU members on-site at the Annual Conference as a precursor to the conference's scheduled events.
This year, NACCU is offering a new attendance option that enables individuals to attend the NPI even if they cannot attend the full NACCU 26th Annual Conference. In addition to bundling NPI registration in with full conference registration, the NPI will now also be available as a standalone offering. In decoupling event registrations, NACCU hopes to extend the reach of its NPI to better include those who may not have the budget or approval to attend the full Annual Conference, or who are within driving distance of Hartford, Conn. -- this year's conference location -- and have additional staff who want to attend the NPI.
"The content and speakers were excellent. NPI was a great program for first time attendees and was wonderful to meet so many knowledgeable and friendly professionals in the field." - Janice Dixon, The University of Alabama
Until now, those that wished to attend the NPI or have a staff member attend, were required to register for and attend the entire NACCU Annual Conference. Those who choose to attend the NPI as a pre-conference workshop this year will still receive the discounted rate on their Annual Conference registration.
The NPI is for anyone new to the campus card transaction industry, along with anyone who would benefit from an overview of the basics of campus card programs. NPI sessions and events are specifically designed to help attendees learn the fundamentals of campus card systems, industry best practices, and communication techniques.
"If you are new to card services you MUST do this! You'll make great contacts and find that you are not alone in this crazy world of cards." - David Camden-Britton, University of Idaho
Those attending the NPI in Hartford will learn about industry terminology, leadership, the tools and resources available to NACCU members. Attendees will also benefit from participation in roundtable discussions with industry leaders about topics that cover card system technology, operations, marketing, finances and accounting, and more! The NPI also offers a great opportunity to connect with fellow campus card professionals.
"I am almost two years into my position managing the carding office with no prior experience, and the information I learned during NPI is invaluable." - Katherine Escandón, University of Texas at El Paso
This year's NACCU Annual Conference will be held in Hartford, Conn. on April 7-10. Registration information can be found here.
For those interested in NACCU's New Professionals Institute as a standalone event, registration information can be found here.
Anyone entering into the Duke University community is issued their own Duke Unique ID number. The university has been issuing the seven-digit number and printing them on the back of every DukeCard since the early 90s, and now the program is nearing a milestone: the one-millionth number.
As reported by Duke Today, every Duke student, employee, alumnus and affiliate are represented in the university's information systems via the Unique ID number. Now, with more than 940,000 numbers in use, the university expects that 2019 will see the Unique ID number 1000000 finally issued.
“Hopefully it’ll be someone who will be at Duke for a long time,” said Kirk Rouser, interim manager of the Identity Management group in Duke’s Office of Information Technology, in a Duke Today interview. “They’ll always be able to brag and show off their Duke ID card.”
Duke's Unique ID number links users to the wide range of information that the university keeps on record. For students, this includes things like grades and financial records. For employees, payroll and benefits information. Even guest scholars from other institutions who collaborate with Duke appear in university systems for research materials or scholarly work.
The Unique ID on the back of the DukeCard.
All of these information streams are kept online in a number of different systems. But the Unique ID is the single identifier that spans all systems, connecting disparate data sources for each user.
Rob Carter began working for what would eventually become the Office of Information Technology in the 1980s and now serves as a consultant for the system. He recalls that the program began with an rush of tens of thousands of numbers being issued to employees, students and alumni. “We generated IDs for everyone we could, including anyone who was a student as far back as the mid-80s and every former employee that we had data for,” Carter told Duke Today.
In its earliest years, Carter estimates that the system churned out as many as 30,000 Unique ID numbers annually. But reflecting the overwhelming growth of higher education, that pace has picked up dramatically over time.
For example, a more recent change to the system's protocol – which has since been reversed – dictated that students merely applying to Duke also received Unique ID numbers. There were just shy of 100,000 Unique IDs issued during each of the last two years, suggesting the total should easily eclipse one million in 2019.
Carter doesn't expect any Y2K-like catastrophes after the milestone. Only when the system issues its billionth Unique ID could things get dicey. The billion mark -- likely centuries away -- might lead Duke’s 10-digit identification numbering system for non-human entities like buildings, departments, machines, etc., to issue duplicate numbers.
Ultimately, the one-million milestone will come and go causing little more than a blip on the radar for the campus community. Such is the nature of the campus card system, operating in quiet anonymity. Still, for one of the first campus card systems ever established, Duke's one millionth Unique ID will be a proud and noteworthy event for a pioneering program and those close to it.
