Waiting in line is like a rite of passage for college students. Long lines, rather for housing registration, changing classes or obtaining food are many times unavoidable. One company is seeking to change that, at least when it involves housing.

“Check-in historically has involved a lot of time-consuming, one-on-one interaction, with almost every new and returning resident,” says Anthony Zamora, head of IT support for the University of San Diego (USD).

“This can be a long and arduous process with the potential for mistakes and a stressful process for our students and staff.”

Students checking in at USD have stood in line for up to three hours, according to Zamora, but the problem isn’t unique to San Diego. Institutions nationwide have sought to evolve check-in procedures with customizable solutions that can effectively support students and staff throughout the year.

Enter Onity, a global provider of electronic locking solutions, which developed a self-serve kiosk that can be placed on college campuses to allow students and workers to independently change the PINs for their residence hall access key cards. The Onity Integra Kiosk also allows students and faculty to encode and activate their ID cards without the supervision of a personnel member at any time of the day or night.

The University of San Diego found that the Integra Kiosk decreased the University’s check-in wait times by more than 50 percent.

“Students appreciate that ID cards are created and pre-encoded when they arrive, so it cuts waiting in line to as little as 30 minutes,” Zamora says. “They also have the freedom and option to customize their cards using the Kiosks throughout the year – greatly improving
our check-in process.”

According to Stan Duci, director of customer service for Northeastern’s Facilities Division, Boston, Mass., their students no longer need to meet with housing staff for their room assignments. “The Onity Kiosks have decreased check-in time significantly. And while the Kiosks are great for students, our staff love them too because they can be utilized at any time of the day.”

“The Kiosks save the students a lot of time and hassle,” adds Dan Yanna, director of facilities for Shepherd University, Shepherd, W. Va.. It started using Kiosks in 2004 and plans to add more to the five already located on campus.

In addition to convenience, Onity Kiosks also feature customization options, such as Internet access that provide users with campus and community information, university resources, weather, news, restaurants and maps.

Onity, headquartered in Duluth, Ga., also has R&D and manufacturing operations in Spain, Mexico, China, and the U.S., as well as an extensive sales and service network that span more than 115 countries around the globe. For further information about Onity’s electronic solutions visit www.onity.com.