Card, mobile credential, payment and security
A growing number of universities in the US are prepping for a return to campus this fall. Among them is the University of Arkansas, where new precautions have been revealed that will help ensure student move-ins remain healthy and safe.
As outlined on the University of Arkansas' Housing website, the university will enact multiple steps to make the student experience on campus as safe as possible. The university will welcome student athletes back to campus as soon as June 8 for voluntary workouts, while the general student population will be welcomed back to campus in August.
The precautions that Arkansas is implementing for its campus move-in procedures include:
In addition to its campus move-in procedure, the university has also compiled an extensive phase-back plan that it calls its Research Return Overview. The overview includes a multi-level return schedule for all aspects of campus, and is being updated in real time as changes occur.
Many universities are now formulating and implementing phase-back plans that will see students return to campus in time for the fall semester and a new Touchnet webinar explores this important topic. This means that campus services and infrastructure will need to be back up and running. But what challenges does this pose to campus card administrators in the near term?
Touchnet’s recent webinar, “The Evolution of Campus Credentials,” discussed many of these new challenges in detail, offering perspectives on modern credentialing solutions and real-world examples of how campuses are benefitting from newer credentialing technology now during unexpected circumstances.
In the webinar, Dave Falldien, OneCard Sales Engineer at Touchnet, discusses some of the unpredictable challenges brought about by the coronavirus and subsequent campus closures, including the difficult pivot from normal life to remote system administration.
CR80News recently caught up with Falldien to talk about some of the new difficulties campus card admins are facing and ways to cope with new workflows.
“Overnight we all started working from home,” says Falldien. “It’s an adjustment, but there are ways that admin work can be done from home. It’s possible to remotely manage all aspects your system.”
“A web-based interface simply makes these workflows device agnostic. It’s about being nimble and meeting card admin needs in this changing environment.”
Falldien points out that many campus card administrators are expected to maintain the same or similar workflow despite the work environment changing. So the challenge becomes how to empower that remote work, and ideally, do so without a steep learning curve.
“We can’t afford to install another system, so moving to a web-based platform is key,” explains Falldien. “We can provide a singular interface that enables card admins to access their work from anywhere. They’ve already invested their time to learn these systems, so we want to maximize that expertise.”
Falldien stresses that campus card administrators can continue remotely managing all aspects of their system. “From an admin standpoint, we want staff to have complete access to all the same resources throughout this transitional period,” he says.
"A web-based interface simply makes these workflows device agnostic,” adds Falldien. “It’s about being nimble and meeting card administrators’ needs in this changing environment.”
With so much of the campus experience for both students and administrators now changing, a number of conversations around system and infrastructure upgrades are being reignited.
“The new normal is really going to, whether we want it to or not, be heavily focused on a contactless environment and experience,” says Falldien. “App-based resources, using phones to check into events or make payments, leveraging mobile credentials for access or to check out materials from a library – it’s going to be vital to empower students to do these things for themselves.”
One way to help deliver this experience could be an increased focus on self-service options for students, which are growing in importance now that campus services are more distributed.
"We need to expand self-service for students -- buy an event ticket or check-in online. Everything that we want our students to do they now have to be able to do themselves, particularly if they can’t visit an office or go to a POS."
“Universities are notorious for being ships that are hard to turn. Administrations are now having to reassess systems that may have been overlooked for far too long and are out of date,” says Falldien. “A lot of times these are actually things that card offices and auxiliaries have wanted to do for a while, but now the pandemic has shined a glaring light on it.”
The same premise also applies to the end user.
“We need to expand self-service for students -- buy an event ticket or check-in online. Everything that we want our students to do they now have to be able to do themselves, particularly if they can’t visit an office or go to a POS,” says Falldien. “And we want them to be able do that in a safe and secure way.”
Despite all the things that remain uncertain right now, Touchnet wants to help universities maintain a desirable student experience. "Really what we’re doing is we’re ensuring that all students, whether they're on campus or remote, are getting the same level of service that they’re used to," says Falldien.
For a more detailed discussion about how modern campus credentials and software can address the challenges mentioned above, check out Touchnet’s “The Evolution of Campus Credentials” webinar.
HID Global is offering its higher education customers a new support program to help provide information and guidance for technology migrations. The program will draw on HID experts to provide support and resources to address topics like creating a connected student experience, modernizing credential issuance, tightening campus security, and prepping for mobile.
"We have seen a lot of institutions running into roadblocks planning for migrations or just needing assistance to complete projects in process," says Tim Nyblom, End User Business Manager, Higher Education, PACS at HID Global. "We found that universities needed a combination of budget help,migration strategies and education on what’s out there."
"Many campuses want the latest secure credentials like Seos, MIFARE DESFire or even to an NFC or Bluetooth mobile solution, but it can take some planning," says Nyblom.
HID’s promotional program will target the solutions that underpin credential issuance needs and security requirements for the incoming class – whatever that may look like. It’s also an opportunity to learn about available and emerging technologies like mobile.
HID has created resources designed specifically for unique needs in higher education. As part of the program, HID is offering:
"Universities are increasingly investing in infrastructure that’s versatile and compatible with mobile credentials, over-the-air issuance and other next-gen solutions," explains Nyblom. "A little guidance can go a long way in making sure investments pay dividends in the years to come."
Interoperable readers, like HID’s recently launched Signo line, can save universities from choosing a specific technology right away.
"Our readers will support a variety of credential technologies along with mobile for both NFC and Bluetooth," explains Nyblom. "Adding readers and newer technology now, at a lower cost, puts universities on a long-term migration path to move away from legacy technologies like mag stripe or prox to more secure options like contactless and mobile."
The promotional program is designed to help campus card administrators in a number of ways beyond just selling hardware.
"Our solutions are designed to be open. So, our perspective is to be flexible on the both the technologies that institutions use and the technologies HID can provide," says Nyblom. "Our goal with this program is to bring best practices to the conversation, bring stakeholders together, and start a dialog about migration plans and strategies to help facilitate upcoming projects."
With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic came a number of questions about how universities will return to on-campus life this fall. It’s a set of concerns that Nyblom and HID are well aware of.
"Uncertainty is the biggest thing we’re hearing," says Nyblom. "What we’re trying to provide with this initiative is a versatile program that sets our universities up for whatever that next phase or new normal may look like."
"We’re seeing that this new uncertainty is pushing some universities to reexamine available options and reprioritize some aspects of their access control plans," explains Nyblom. "That could mean new ways of handling building occupancy, visitor management and contact tracing, remote badging and batch printing, or accelerating timelines to be able to offer mobile identities and over-the-air provisioning for credentials."
These are all complicated questions to answer, but are concerns that nonetheless need to be addressed. And keeping an eye on the horizon now could be invaluable as universities phase back into campus life.
"There are some things that will need to be done now – like planning for the fall – but we want to make sure those plans include investments that will be flexible enough to adapt beyond 2020," says Nyblom.
"The best support we can offer is our expertise," adds Nyblom. "HID works with hundreds of institutions to explain migration needs from many different perspectives and technologies, and we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t."
HID will presenting a webinar June 3 with the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU) and a group of premiere universities. The session will detail how institutions are adapting to changing landscapes in access control. Registration is now open, and the event is free for all NACCU members.
Penn State students have a new alternative to the move-out process this summer, as the university is now offering to pack, store and ship belongings for students unable to return to campus.
The announcement comes from Penn State Housing and Food Services, and explains that the university has partnered with a third-party firm, Storage Squad, to offer the new storage and shipping options to students on the flagship campus. The service also extends to the other Penn State Commonwealth Campuses, where separate partnerships with College Boxes and U-Haul will support the initiative.
The program is intended to offer assistance to those students who are unable to return to campus at this time to move out in person.
“We know some of our students are unable to return to their campus to move out of their residence hall, so we’ve developed an option for them to consider,” says Chad Henning, associate director of housing operations at Penn State.
One of the option will enable students to have their belongings packed and stored locally until they return to campus for the fall semester. Students can also elect to have their items packed shipped to their permanent residence.
Penn State Housing staff will be responsible for packing student belongings, while the students can make arrangements for storage or shipment directly with the partnering companies.
Students will need to complete a waiver form giving permission to the university to pack the student's personal belongings. Housing staff will then pack student's items and will complete an inventory sheet to document the items packed.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is implementing a plan for students to return to its Daytona Beach campus next month for summer classes. The plan will implement a number of measures including the use of the student ID card to facilitate daily temperature checks for students.
According to a report from The Destin Log, Embry-Riddle will use the student ID card as the means to verify that students have completed daily temperature checks, as well as implement larger classrooms, and staggered schedules. The university plans to officially reopen the campus to students on June 30 for summer classes after a three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The university will use larger rooms in its administration building as classrooms this summer, while students and faculty will all go through daily temperature screenings upon entry. During the summer session, the university will conduct mandatory daily wellness checks, pre-screenings for all returning students, and visible ID badges will be worn at all times.
“It’s mandatory for everybody on campus, even visitors. We have a number of temperature scanners at different locations," says Dr. Barry Butler, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University President. "After that, you run your ID card through a reader and it gets you in the database saying that you have been checked that day. Then we give the individual a colored wristband or sticker to put on your badge."
The wristbands and stickers will be color coded, with the idea being that if a person doesn't have that day's color on their badge or wristband, they haven't had their temperature checked yet.
Embry-Riddle also has a fairly thorough coronavirus resource and update page. Further precautions to be instituted to combat the spread of coronavirus on campus will include mandatory cloth face coverings for all students and teachers on campus, limited classroom capacities, and adjusted class schedules that will minimize contact between students and faculty.
Transact Mobile Credential is now fully available for use via Google Pay on Android devices. The integration with Google Pay was initially revealed in early 2020, and now students, faculty, and staff can use their Android mobile phones to easily access facilities and make contactless payments on and around campus.
Using Transact and third-party NFC-enabled reader hardware, universities can facilitate a variety of mobile ID transactions at dining halls, athletic facilities, libraries, campus events, bookstores, laundry rooms, as well as off-campus locations where student IDs are accepted.
“We are excited to work with Transact and open up contactless access to campus services across universities in the US,” says Josh Woodward, Director of Product Management for Google Pay US. “Students, faculty and staff can now add their ID card to Google Pay to enter secured areas such as labs, classrooms and dorms, borrow books from the library as well as pay for lunches and other essentials in a seamless and secure way.”
Transact’s Mobile Credential for Google Pay leverages NXP Semiconductor’s secure MIFARE 2GO cloud service, designed to manage digitized MIFARE product-based credentials. The service enables scalability across all compatible Android NFC-enabled phones and now gives students convenient mobile access to campuses.
“A critical next step in our journey towards a mobile-first environment was ensuring we could equally serve all of our constituents. With the release of Transact Mobile Credential for Google Pay, we can now offer our Android users the campus-wide Mobile DukeCard experience they have been asking for.”
-- Charley Kneifel, Senior Technical Director, Office of Information Technology, Duke University
“We are continually innovating to help schools meet the expectations of students for frictionless, secure transactions, and the launch of Mobile Credential for Google Pay is another exciting example,” says Jeff Staples, Senior Vice President, Market Development, Transact.
“Additionally, with the changing reality of campus operations being impacted by COVID-19, the ability to issue credentials remotely is vital," adds Staples. "Our credential lifecycle management system makes remote issuance of mobile credentials a simple process for students and clients alike.”
“Launching Transact Mobile Credential for Google Pay allows us to meet the needs of our students, faculty, and staff by providing a convenient, secure solution for making mobile payments on campus. Implementing solutions like this contributes to our university’s vision to be recognized for high value, innovation and bold impact.”
-- Kendell Rohrbach, Campus Card Manager, South Dakota State University
An initial batch of sixteen universities have already committed to rolling out Transact Mobile Credential for Google Pay, including:
Check out the Transact Campus website to learn more about Transact Mobile Credential for Google Pay.
A host of universities in the state of Michigan are beginning to lay out plans for students to return safely to campus in time for the fall semester.
A report from the Bridge has compiled some of the measures that Michigan colleges are planning for the fall semester, providing an early snapshot of what life on campus may look like for students.
Both Eastern Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State announced plans to bring students back on campus in September for at least some face-to-face classes. Administrators at both universities have, however, acknowledged that campus life won't be the same as before the pandemic.
In a letter to its campus community, Eastern Michigan said it was “planning for university operations to be held in person on campus this fall including, wherever possible, classroom instruction, housing, dining and similar activities.”
The 19,000-student Eastern Michigan is the first public university in the state to reveal its intention to return to in-person classes.
Oakland University plans to take a hybrid approach to the fall semester, with the majority of classes still being taught online, and classes that require hands-on labs held on campus, but with fewer students in each session.
The state’s largest public institutions, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, have yet to announce formal plans for the fall.
Despite different universities charting different courses ahead, there are likely to be a few common safety measures this fall.
Face masks will be required on the Oakland University campus, while Eastern Michigan and Saginaw Valley's stance on masks will mirror state and federal guidelines. A spokesperson for Saginaw Valley State said that it’s possible hand-made masks will be acceptable on its campus, but the SVSU is nonetheless planning to purchase tens of thousands of face masks.
Smaller classes will also be a reality, with students being seated further apart from one another. Oakland University and Eastern Michigan plan to utilize large lecture halls and ballrooms for classes to enable students to better spread out.
Eastern Michigan will offer some of its classes half in-person, half online. “If you have an English literature class with 24 students, 12 students may be in class on Tuesday, and the other 12 on Thursday,” said Eastern Michigan president, James Smith in a Bridge interview. “On the days you’re not in class, you will attend the class online.”
Several Michigan institutions have noted in their announcements that faculty and students who are uncomfortable returning to in-person education will have the option of continuing remote learning. That formula would be similar to how universities finished this past spring semester after the pandemic forced campus closures.
Saginaw Valley administrators say it's still too early to pinpoint the exact amount of face-to-face instruction that will be offered this coming fall, and that it will be based on "the ability to social distance, and on the professor’s ability to teach in person.”
As for residential housing, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan University both plan to spread students out in residence halls. Central Michigan will place fewer students in each dorm suite, while Eastern Michigan is considering giving each residential student their own room, rather than pairing students together.
Mercer University has announced the availability of its Bear Card Mobile Credential for Google Pay and use on Android devices.
Mercer first launched Transact Mobile Credential for Apple devices in 2019. The addition of Google Pay availability means that students faculty and staff can use the mobile Bear Card on their Android mobile phones to easily access facilities and make contactless payments on and around campus.
“Our program was one of the first in the country to launch mobile credentials last year with Transact and Apple. Now adding the mobile Bear Card to Google Pay allows our program to provide a comprehensive mobile credential solution," says Ken Boyer, associate vice president for auxiliary services at Mercer. "In addition, the Bear Card Mobile Credential further enhances our contactless transaction systems, which is so important in today’s environment."
Using Transact and third-party NFC-enabled devices, Mercer supports Mobile Credential transactions in a number of locations across campus, including dining halls, athletic facilities, libraries, campus events, bookstores, laundry rooms, as well as off-campus locations where student IDs are accepted.
Transact’s lifecycle management capability utilizes NXP Semiconductor’s MIFARE 2GO cloud service to issue digitized MIFARE DESFire credentials to Google Pay.
Mercer is one of 16 institutions that have committed to rolling out the Transact Mobile Credential for Google Pay, joining:
By Robert Lydic, Vice President of Commercial Electronics Strategy, Allegion
Unprecedented times. Unfamiliar landscapes. We’ve heard it described many ways. The fact is that nearly every industry has had to face new challenges and pivot operations because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Higher education is no different. Most universities and colleges closed earlier this year, moving to e-learning in many cases, creating unique pressure for students, their families and universities across the country.
While it’s unclear when schools will welcome back students, campuses need to be prepared for a new normal. There’s a lot of planning to be done while students are away. As your university develops plans to restart operations, you’re likely considering how to decrease opportunities for exposure.
In addition to following recommendations from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two solutions to think about are contactless credentials and touchless access control hardware. These measures can reduce the number of surfaces that people touch on campus and can help reduce contact transmission.
The future remains unclear. It’s hard to estimate what tomorrow holds because enrollment is unforeseeable at this time. Will schools continue e-learning for some or all of 2021? What does this mean for incoming freshman classes?
"Contactless credentials and touchless access control can help reduce the number of surfaces that people touch on campus and can help reduce contact transmission."
We’re dealing with this at home. My son was set to begin his freshman year of college this fall. He was accepted to several prestigious institutions, but COVID- 19 changed a lot for our family. It changed what school choices made the most sense because there are so many unknowns at this time.
Before coronavirus, we were debating over which school had the best program for his career, whereas now we are putting a bigger emphasis on location and costs. Do we send him to a phenomenal school out of state that costs more than double what an in-state school would cost? And would his campus experience even be what it would have been if he had started a year earlier?
My family isn’t unique. A survey by the Art and Science Group found that one in six high-school seniors who expected to attend a four-year college full time before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus now think that they will choose a different path this fall.
This ranges from taking a gap year to attending community college. According to the study, 35% of students said that campuses “closer to home” were now a more realistic option than their first-choice college. Additionally, about one-third of respondents said they were considering a less-expensive institution.
Even with so much out of the hands of universities, it’s still essential to focus on the road ahead. When it’s time to welcome students back to campus, schools will need to prove that they can offer a safe campus experience.
One place to start is by looking at things students touch daily on campus. How can those surfaces be more hygienic? Studies have found that viruses can survive on certain surfaces for days unless properly disinfected. As a result, facilities across the world are elevating their efforts to provide clean, safe environments.
The campus card is probably one of the most frequently touched items in a student’s wallet. Depending on your school’s one-card program, this credential might be used for access to buildings, dining halls, libraries and much more. Upgrading to a contactless solution limits the number of times a student needs to swipe a card, while improving security for your institution.
There are still colleges and universities that are using magnetic stripe technology for their campus card. Not only is this less secure than newer smart technology options, magnetic stripe isn’t contactless. Students touch their cards, swipe them through readers at places like dining halls then put them back in their wallets or pockets.
Proximity cards are contactless, but more secure technologies are available that are encrypted and less vulnerable to security breaches.
My recommendation for most schools is to consider mobile credentials. They’re contactless, which can help reduce contact transmission by decreasing the number of surfaces students touch on campus, thereby decreasing opportunities for exposure. They’re encrypted for added security. And they’re convenient for students, faculty and staff. Universities across the United States are already enjoying the benefits of mobile student IDs.
Mobile credentials allow for contactless deployment. Administrators in your one card office can push out credentials to students without requiring in-person interaction. This could dramatically decrease the amount of people stopping by your card office.
"Mobile credentials allow for contactless deployment, and your card office can push out credentials to students without requiring in-person interaction."
Think about the potential during orientation, whether that be this fall, next spring or beyond. A mobile credential option will make the process more seamless and sanitary.
Smart card technologies offer a similar contactless experience after deployment. Students will still need to receive a physical card, but from there, they can enjoy contactless transactions and access on campus.
Multi-technology readers can read both smart and mobile, so it’s easy for both forms to coexist on campus. Therefore, if your campus is transitioning to smart cards, consider the advantages of making the move to mobile.
Contactless credentials go far beyond access. These are essential for quick, in-and-out transactions. Think back to the dining hall example. Instead of swiping, a student presents his or her phone or Apple Watch near the reader — without coming in contact with it — and moves through the line. The phone goes back in a pocket or purse.
Credentials are just a piece of the puzzle in terms of access. When a student uses their phone for access, they often need to touch something to open the door after the reader verifies their credential. The same is true upon exit; a student will need to press the push bar for egress.
The less students need to touch a door, the better. To achieve this, consider these questions:
From libraries and rec centers to the main entrance of a residence hall, hands are coming in contact with openings all over campus hundreds of times a day, if not more. Touchless solutions can help reduce contact transmission by decreasing the number of surfaces people touch in a facility, which thereby helps decrease opportunities for exposure.
A common way to accomplish touchless operation is by pairing low-energy automatic operators with actuators or readers. Presenting a contactless credential to the reader can automatically open a door without an individual having to touch anything. A similar operation is performed when a person is leaving the building.
Solutions that keep people from handling a door are popular in many industries right now, and there is clear value for higher education campuses. In fact, I’ve found universities are already looking into contactless credentials that work with automatic operators and other hardware to create a more touchless campus.
"Touchless solutions can help reduce contact transmission by decreasing the number of surfaces people touch in a facility, which thereby helps decrease opportunities for exposure."
That said, adoption isn’t going to be uniform. Implementing a new credential platform requires a moderate investment, depending on the hardware that’s currently in place.
Your campus might need to upgrade readers to accommodate mobile credentials. Similarly, moving to touchless openings might require new hardware.
This is where the challenge comes full circle. Schools have been hit hard financially, so implementing new solutions isn’t feasible for all, at least not right now. But for schools who are in a financial position to manage these investments, there is value in taking a proactive approach to create a more hygienic environment.
Start looking for solutions that enable you to bring students back to campus in a safe fashion so they can return to the superior face-to-face instruction, in-person laboratory experiments and as much of a normal routine as possible, while, of course, practicing social distancing and other safety recommendations by the CDC.
There’s also long-term value to be considered. Incorporating contactless credentials will help a university to prepare for future technological advancements, improve security and create a more seamless campus experience.
Getting back to normal will take time. There’s a lot to be done to ensure your campus is a safe, clean environment for students. Moving to contactless credentials and touchless access control hardware won’t solve all of your challenges, but these are important considerations as you’re evaluating best practices during these uncertain times.
Whether students are welcomed back this fall, next spring or sometime after that, it’s going to be imperative that your school shows how it’s working to keep students safe. While campuses are free of students, I recommend using this time to focus on upgrades that promote a healthy environment, like a move to contactless credentials and touchless openings.
Card system vendor, CBORD, announced the launch of CS Gold 8, the latest iteration of its card and access solution for higher education. Available now, version 8 of the CS Gold campus one-card system provides flexibility and customization options.
With universities contemplating ways to responsibly reopen campuses, CS Gold 8 seeks to offer solutions to limit interpersonal contact, manage capacity, track access, and restrict exposure to ensure a healthy return this fall.
An unprecedented spring semester identified mission-critical needs within the field of higher education. CS Gold's emphasis on campus health and safety seamlessly facilitates these transitions colleges and universities are facing.
"The landscape of higher education has been impacted greatly by COVID-19," says Read Winkelman, vice president of sales for CBORD and Horizon Software. "Colleges and universities must create safe environments to protect the health of their campus communities, and new features within CS Gold will allow them to do just that."
CS Gold 8 delivers the following new functionality:
CBORD is also addressing a potential new wave of demand in digitized campus identification solutions.
"Campus credentials are moving beyond your traditional plastic ID card. The future is not a campus card system, but an identity system," says Dave Beckwith, CBORD product manager. "CS Gold 8 is designed for a connected and contactless - and thus healthier - campus, with support for the latest mobile credential and biometric technology."
