Card, mobile credential, payment and security
As artificial intelligence fuels new forms of fraud and impersonation, universities face growing challenges around identity verification. IDEMIA’s Amit Sharma points out that nearly every interaction on a campus – from building access and classroom participation to payroll and student services – depends on establishing trust in a person's identity. He says biometrics hold the key for both physical and online transactions.
Sharma explains that colleges and universities function as complex ecosystems serving students, faculty, staff, vendors, service providers, and visitors. Whether someone is accessing a residence hall, entering a research facility, making a purchase at the bookstore, receiving payroll, or participating in online learning, institutions must verify that users are who they claim to be.
As AI-enabled fraud continues to grow, Sharma points to emerging threats such as deepfakes, bot traffic, payroll fraud, and ghost student enrollment schemes. He believes biometrics and verifiable digital credentials offer institutions a powerful tool for strengthening security while reducing friction for legitimate users.
He also discusses the growing convergence of physical and digital campus environments. As more services move online, identity systems must evolve to support secure access across both worlds. Biometrics, he argues, can help establish proof of personhood in an era where distinguishing between humans and AI-generated actors is becoming increasingly difficult.
We're already starting from a privacy layer that people assume exists ... that doesn't exist. The question then is, how do we take that cat that's left the internet bag and add a protective cover?
While concerns about privacy remain, Sharma views modern identity technologies as an opportunity to return greater control of personal identity to individuals. By combining biometrics with privacy-focused digital credentials, universities can help reduce fraud, improve security, and create more trusted interactions across campus.
To listen to the full interview, click the image at the top of this page.
TRANSCRIPT – Amit Sharma, IDEMIA:
I'm Amit Sharma. I run the global and digital strategy for IDEMIA, which is just a fancy way of saying, “How do we take our full suite and panoply of identity access management, advanced biometrics for physical and logical access controls, and enable them digitally?”
Universities are a fun space because they're an ecosystem in and of themselves. They’re engaging not just students as consumers of education product, but faculty, employees and staff, vendors and service providers, visitors and the like.
There's a whole ecosystem of services that need to be provided. The access to those services – like your own dorm or research facility or classroom, physical classroom or remote classroom, your access to a stadium for a sports event, you’re buying and selling activities at a bookstore, tuition, payroll, or paying at a cafeteria – every one of these actions requires an identity exposure.
I'm excited about universities as they're like mini countries, mini ecosystems that have providers of services, consumers of services, and both physical and digital access and engagement points.
Everyone is trying to say, “Are you who you say you are? Are you authenticated to be here at this moment in time, acquiring this service?” And those are both vulnerabilities from an identity perspective, but also an opportunity set.
The application of biometrics in this space serves to not only create levels of control and security, but also to create less friction for engagement in those settings.
Fraud continues to rise with AI, online, and web-based enablement. AI-enabled fraud continues to rise. Statistics suggest it accounts for 30 to 40-plus percent of payroll fraud because of spoofing of employees on onboarding, and it extends all the way to student aid fraud.
In California in 2024, 1.2 million actual student applications were fraudulent. Over 200,000 ended up being enrollees that became ‘ghost students.’ This is rampant.
Whether you're talking about the physical location of campus or the online engagement, the through line for vendors, service providers, employees, faculty, staff, students is identity.
How do we ensure that you are who you say you are? That the role or persona you have within the context of the ecosystem is in fact you? And you can either provide a service or access a service in a secure way.
In California in 2024, 1.2 million actual student applications were fraudulent. Over 200,000 ended up being enrollees that became ‘ghost students.’
That's what the advancement of biometrics is doing in the university setting.
We are seeing a couple of trends in the marketplace which I'm excited about, but it should also give us pause.
One, we're seeing a convergence between physical and digital ecosystems. I mean, COVID speedballed us to it. But online access, whether it's remote and virtual classroom settings, down to sharing of research and engagements across different student populations, employee and faculty populations, it's happening almost exclusively online.
So that convergence is happening, which means we must also have an equal convergence of physical, logical and digital enablement in that way.
Biometrics is one of the last bastions against AI deepfakes and whether or not you're engaging with a bot or an agent online.
Last year in 2025, I saw a statistic that 55 to 60% of all online traffic is bots. This is at the elementary level of agentic commerce. That's only going to rise.
Is there a verified person or entity behind that agent or bot? We don't know. So, one of the few ways that we have to be able to do it is to bind from a proof of personhood, which is with biometrics.
The second thing I'd say about biometrics in university settings is we are, in fact, seeing applications in other sectors. In many parts of Southeast Asia and some of the most remote emerging markets, we're seeing leapfrogging technology where you can pay using a biometric.
These things have not arrived here in the U.S., partly culturally, partly security, partly mass adoption and trust. But we're moving into those spaces.
Often people ask, “Oh my gosh, biometrics is scary.” What I'd like to remind them of is, are you holding an Apple, Google or Samsung phone? Congratulations, you’re already being surveilled.
We're already starting from a privacy layer that people assume exists that doesn't exist. The question then is, how do we take that cat that's left the internet bag and now enable the protective cover?
That's where verifiable digital credentials, applied biometrics, binding to your device, binding to your biometric, allows for me to say, do I really want to make that payment? Biometric will unlock it and will enable me to do so in a frictionless way, but also a more secure way.
Biometrics are not just coming. They are here, and they're an enabling environment, not something to be feared.
I'm excited about universities as they're like mini countries, mini ecosystems that have providers of services, consumers of services, and both physical and digital access and engagement points.
There are a whole host of trust, legal, and risk questions inherent in that, that are apropos to be asking.
What I'm excited about in the legal construct is where does identity live? Where should it live? It really should live with me, the person who owns that identity.
The application of applied biometrics and verifiable digital credentials now starts pushing the identity back to where it should be controlled, which is the individual that owns it.
When we can move to that environment, you enhance consumer protection and privacy protections. Remember half of the U.S. states are now actively looking at privacy protections, whether it's child protection efforts or just personal data efforts. This is only going to grow, and university ecosystems are a great, ripe ground for that.
The application of applied biometrics and verifiable digital credentials now starts pushing the identity back to where it should be controlled, which is the individual that owns it.
I think that model is there. What I am excited about is that these technologies are now embedding privacy controls that help with biometrics, prove you are who you say you are, and radically reduce fraud and illicit activity – especially in online environments.
The university ecosystem is a great test case for having these conversations of trust and legal. The more you can push identity back to the user, the more the liability protections need to go down.
IDEMIA would love to work with universities online, offline, from your vendors and services to your student populations, to your faculty, staff, enrollment, employment and payroll.
We're a solutions provider first. We have a host of physical and logical access hardware, software, and digital tools. We'd love to be a solutions provider.
Come visit us at IDEMIA.com Public Security. We'll show you across a lot of the smart biometrics elements. Myself, Amit Sharma, my colleagues like Rami and others can help understand what your pain points are and which hardware and software solutions we can provide to you.
In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Dave Borsheim, Director of Functional Support for Campus Services at Northern Arizona University discusses the institution's journey to mobile credentials. He shares how a campus-wide modernization effort improved security, streamlined operations, and led to remarkable student adoption.
The move to mobile credentials began with a practical challenge. NAU needed to replace aging door readers and wanted greater control over campus security. By implementing mobile credentials, the university gained real-time visibility and control over door access. This allowed administrators to manage permissions more efficiently and strengthen overall campus security.
Launching the mobile credential program required extensive collaboration among internal and external stakeholders. Teams across IT, facilities, access control, and the card office worked alongside TouchNet, HID, Apple, and Modo Labs to bring the project to life. Borsheim credits strong project management and clearly defined responsibilities as key factors in the successful implementation.
Everything that our JacksCard does is available with the mobile credential. That changed the game in terms of access – not only to buildings but also to services – and has made the experience seamless.
As the first TouchNet client to deploy Apple mobile credentials, Northern Arizona University has achieved an impressive 98% adoption rate among eligible students. According to Borsheim, the remaining non-users are primarily limited by device compatibility issues.
The mobile transition has also improved troubleshooting and support.
By leveraging data from credential provisioning systems, access control platforms, and device information, staff can quickly identify and resolve issues. Combined with single sign-on and two-factor authentication, the mobile credential program delivers both convenience and security for the campus community.
To watch the full interview, click the image at the top of the page.
TRANSCRIPT:
Northern Arizona University wanted to go mobile because we faced aging door readers. We knew we needed to replace those, and we wanted to increase the level of security that we had on campus.
Going mobile definitely allowed us to do that, and we've been able to keep tight controls on door access and really have real-time control over who has access to which doors, at which times.
Going mobile at Northern Arizona University was a large effort that took all types of stakeholders, including TouchNet, HID, Apple, and Modo Labs, which is our campus app provider.
Internal teams such as ITS, our access control teams, our facilities teams, and even card office teams.
I think really, it's just following project management best practices. And that's really what was done. TouchNet does a really good job of assigning the right resources at the right time from their side. We also did the same thing.
I think we had a lot of great partners when we went mobile. I'd say that TouchNet, in terms of project management, does a really great job there. Their customer portal had our project being tracked and monitored. We were able to use the portal for any new documentation that we needed for cases.
It was really just a big, coordinated effort across those many different teams.
Since then, we've achieved at least a 98% adoption rate among students who have a mobile credential. The portion that has not adopted is due to technical constraints, such as phones that are not NFC-capable or devices with older operating systems that don't support the functionality.
It's really convenient and seamless. The feedback that we received is, "I already have my ID. It's on my phone. I don't need to carry additional IDs or multiple cards for different purposes."
Everything that our JacksCard touches on campus is available and accessible with the mobile credential.
That really changed the game in terms of access, not only to buildings but also to services, and has made the experience seamless.
We have two-factor authentication through the Duo application on our campus. Along with signing in through our single sign-on system, users receive a push notification that they must accept in order to authenticate.
One of the main insights we've gained in the JacksCard office is around troubleshooting issues. We want students, faculty, and staff to be able to obtain their mobile credential without any interaction from our card office or central IT.
When that doesn't happen, we're able to assist much more quickly because we can leverage data from a variety of sources to identify the problem. We can review provisioning data from HID, check our access control system to see if it's an access assignment issue, and look at device and operating system information to determine whether an older phone or outdated software is causing the problem.
It allows us to rapidly resolve issues.
We do have two-factor authentication through the Duo application on our campus. Along with signing in through our single sign-on system, users receive a push notification that they must accept in order to authenticate.
To obtain a credential, users must authenticate and go through a process that validates requirements and confirms eligibility. Two-factor authentication is definitely part of that process.
When it comes to using the credential in real time to make a purchase or access a door, there are different settings that can be configured to either require authentication or allow the mobile credential to be used without it. It really depends on the configuration.
I think TouchNet does a really good job of assigning the right resources and the right number of people for a project. I've been on other projects where only a few people were assigned to a monumental task, but for our mobile implementation we had the right people from TouchNet, HID, Apple, and our own team. We had the subject matter expertise we needed to get the job done.
College campuses across the country are facing a growing sustainability challenge as takeout containers and disposable packaging become a permanent part of student life. An article in Bridge Michigan, says that while many of these habits emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, university officials say they’ve continued long after dining halls fully reopened.
Students increasingly rely on grab-and-go meals, mobile ordering platforms, and food delivery services. This has created a culture of convenience that generates more waste and complicates recycling efforts.
At Michigan State University, campus waste dropped significantly during pandemic shutdowns but rebounded sharply as students returned. It has continued to rise with current volume at or above the levels immediately preceding the pandemic.
Surveys show students generally support reusable containers, but only when they are as convenient as disposable alternatives.
Sustainability leaders say the widespread use of single-use containers has made waste management more difficult because packaging materials are constantly changing, forcing recycling programs to adapt.
Despite these challenges, universities continue to invest in waste reduction initiatives. At the University of Michigan, waste audits revealed that takeout food packaging accounts for a large portion of trash in student-heavy spaces such as libraries. In response, the university has expanded composting options, launched zero-waste event programs and introduced reusable takeout container systems in dining halls.
The institution has also set ambitious sustainability goals, including increasing its waste diversion rate from the current 35% to 50% by 2030.
Officials stress, however, that sustainability programs must align with student expectations. Surveys show students generally support reusable containers, but only when they are as convenient as disposable alternatives. This reality has prompted discussions about a citywide reusable container system within the Ann Arbor community.
While technology and infrastructure are important, sustainability leaders say behavior remains the greatest challenge. Reusable container programs have shown promise at universities nationwide, but their success depends on consistent student participation and convenient return systems.
As students continue to prioritize convenience, colleges need to design sustainability programs around modern dining habits rather than trying to restore pre-pandemic behaviors.
Financial limitations add another layer of complexity. Reusable programs require staffing, equipment and ongoing management, resources that are often limited.
As students continue to prioritize convenience, colleges need to design sustainability programs around modern dining habits rather than trying to restore pre-pandemic behaviors. The goal must be to make environmentally responsible choices as easy and accessible as possible.
Many campus card offices struggle with the same challenge: getting large numbers of students through orientation without creating long lines and bottlenecks. Stephen Courchane, Director of the U Card Office at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, explains how his office tackled the issue. They did it by partnering with the orientation office to make photo submission a required step for orientation registration.
The team knew that increasing pre-arrival photo uploads was key to streamlining card issuance. They went through multiple iterations, ultimately requiring students to submit the photo before they could sign up for an orientation date.
The results were significant. Photo submission rates increased from roughly 50-60% to more than 80%. During the most recent period, 95% of students received their preprinted U Card during orientation check-in rather than waiting in long lines at the card office.
Our office used to have hour-long lines during orientation. Now we're busy from 8 to 10 a.m. handing cards out at check-in, but the rest of the day is quiet.
The improvements extended beyond operational efficiency. With permanent credentials in hand, students could access residence halls, meals, and classroom buildings during orientation without the need for temporary cards. That familiarity also helps students return in the fall already knowing how and where to use their credential.
Courchane's advice to peers is simple: identify campus partners that can tie photo submission to an existing student requirement, remain patient, and continue building support over time. Small process improvements and strong cross-department collaboration can ultimately transform both operations and the student experience.
To learn more about how they did it, watch the full interview by clicking on the image at the top of the page.
TRANSCRIPT:
I think we've faced the challenge that a lot of people have, which is figuring out how to get students through the card line without having long lines and long wait times.
For years, we have just been trying to think about how we can optimize that. We've talked to partners at NACCU as well as other schools and organizations that have had luck with that. One of the big things that we've heard from them is getting 100% of students to upload their photo ahead of time makes a big difference.
We've struggled with figuring out how do we get all of our students to upload their photo before they actually come for orientation. Talking to partners like Scott Brennan from Temple University and learning that they were requiring the photo upload step within their process for getting signed up on campus really helped.
We had this opportunity with the orientation office to make it a requirement that students upload their photos before they could sign up for an orientation date. By locking students into actually having to complete that step to move forward, we were able to increase the number of people uploading a photo ahead of time. This made it much easier for us to have cards ready to go at orientation.
We were able to eliminate having a line of people at our office. Instead, students go in one line. They get in line to check in for orientation, they get their U Card, and then they leave. It's a much more seamless experience for them and for us.
We built integrations with our systems so that if a student already has a photo in our system, they can skip that step entirely. They don't even see the step to upload their photo.
Specifically, what we did was we partnered with the orientation office to have them include a link to the photo upload site as a requirement. In the first year that we did that, students simply had to click the link to move on, but it didn't really require that they actually take the action once they clicked it.
This last year, we were able to make it so that students have to click the link and submit their photo before it unlocks the next step in the orientation checklist. That took us from maybe 70% of students completing the process to closer to 80% of students getting it done.
They also were able to create some integrations with our systems so that if a student already has a photo in our system, they can skip that step entirely. They don't even see the step to upload their photo. If they don't already have a photo in our system, they get locked into having to complete that step before they move on.
Now when orientation arrives, we've already preprinted the cards. We grab all those cards for that day and orientation session, hand those cards out to each student as they come through check-in, and then away they go.
The primary partnership was with the orientation office. They got a new director a few years ago, and when she came in, she asked, “Is there not a better way to do this?” We said, “We'd love to talk to you about that.”
Additionally, we've worked really closely with the conference and event services group out of the housing department because they're closely tied into orientation, summer conferences, meal access, and residence hall access.
There are other benefits to increasing the photo upload percentage and getting U Cards into students' hands before orientation. Students can immediately use their U Card to access meals, residence halls, and classroom buildings. Instead of carrying multiple cards and being confused about which one to use, students arrive, receive their U Card, use it throughout orientation, and then return in the fall already familiar with it.
Before linking our photo upload process with other departments, we were seeing maybe 50% to 60% of students upload a photo ahead of time. We spent a lot of time trying to get students to upload photos during orientation so we could issue cards before they left.
During the first couple weeks of orientation last summer, close to 95% of students were able to receive their U Card at or before orientation began.
Now we're seeing upwards of 80% of students upload their photo ahead of time. During the first couple weeks of orientation last summer, close to 95% of students were able to receive their U Card at or before orientation began.
Our office used to have hour-long lines during peak orientation season, and now we really don't see any lines. We're busy from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. handing cards out at check-in, and then the rest of the day is very quiet.
My primary advice is to seek out departmental partners on your campus who can help connect photo uploads to a required student process. If you can find that partner, you'll make significant progress in getting students to complete the process before they arrive on campus.
Other than that, be patient and wait for opportunities. It took us years to get to this point. We kept looking for partners, implementing small improvements each year, making requirements a little firmer, and demonstrating the benefits to other campus departments. That increased buy-in and helped further streamline the student experience.
On July 14-15, the New York University Kimmel Center will be the location for this year's ColorID Identity Summit. The event agenda explores the latest in identity management, mobile identity, and advanced credential technologies.
Ideal attendees include professionals from higher education, healthcare, enterprise, and other vertical markets who are responsible for identity and credentialing at their institutions.
The event is designed to spotlight real-world experiences and provide practical insight into how organizations are approaching their identity journeys.
“We designed the Summit to explore the full spectrum of identity technologies, including physical credentials, mobile credentials, biometrics, and the platforms that bring them together,” says Mark Degan, VP of Marketing at ColorID.
Moreover, he notes that every organization is at a different stage in its identity journey. So rather than promoting a single technology, they wanted to help attendees understand how these technologies can coexist and evolve over time.
According to ColorID, space is limited so register now.
The event agenda includes presentations from end users actively navigating credential modernization initiatives, along with leaders from the identity and security industry.
Sessions will focus on identity strategy, operational best practices, mobile credentials, security technologies, and future planning. Additional discussions will cover approaches organizations are using to help fund modernization and migration initiatives.
According to ColorID, this is not a tradeshow or product pitch.
“It is designed to spotlight real-world experiences and practical insight into how organizations are approaching these transitions today and what is next in their identity journeys,” says Degan.
NYU was a natural choice for this year's Identity Summit, because they represent the type of identity transformation many organizations are working toward.
Additionally, there is no charge for event registration. The site – the NYU Kimmel Center for University Life – is located in Manhattan in the heart of the NYU campus.
"NYU was a natural choice for this year's Identity Summit, because they represent the type of identity transformation many organizations are working toward,” says Degan. “Since 2019, NYU has worked closely with ColorID to implement solutions that are more streamlined, efficient, scalable, and future-focused. Their willingness to share both the successes and lessons learned from that journey provides attendees with practical insights that can be applied within their own organizations."
Hear directly from organizations that actively working to modernize identity within their organization. Learn what worked, what they would do differently, and what comes next. Sessions include:
Register Now
In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, George Davey, Partnerships Director at Grubhub Campus, discusses how the company’s campus dining platform is designed around partnership, flexibility, and convenience for both institutions and students. The company now partners with more than 400 campuses nationwide and continues expanding its capabilities in 2026, with improvements to offline functionality and enhanced data integrations for campus partners.
He says they focus heavily on listening to customer feedback and working collaboratively with colleges and universities to improve the dining experience. That approach extends across support services, customer success management, and product development. The goal is to create a smoother and more connected experience for campus administrators, dining teams, and end users alike.
The platform enables students, faculty, and staff to connect campus payment methods directly within the Grubhub app, including declining balance accounts, meal swipes, and meal equivalencies. Users can then order from participating campus dining locations while skipping traditional lines. Because the system is powered by the broader Grubhub marketplace, students can continue using the same app experience off campus or while traveling during breaks.
Students can add their student tender, declining balance, meal swipes or meal equivalency, and then order from their favorite merchants on campus while skipping the line.
Davey also highlights Grubhub’s wide-ranging technology ecosystem, including kiosk solutions, POS hardware, kitchen display systems, robot delivery partnerships, reusable container initiatives, lockers, and frictionless technologies.
TRANSCRIPT:
My name is George Davey. I'm the Partnerships Director at Grubhub Campus. At Grubhub Campus, we take a partnership approach to everything that we're doing.
Whether that's our support function, whether that's our best-in-class CSMs, or the products we're delivering, we're always listening to the voice of our customer to make sure that we enhance the experience on college campuses for our partners, and also for the end users.
The Grubhub platform allows students, faculty and staff to affiliate with their campus. They can add their student tender, declining balance, meal swipes or meal equivalency, and then they're able to order from their favorite merchants on campus while skipping the line.
Because we're powered by Grubhub, we have access to hundreds of thousands of restaurants in the marketplace as well. So, when students are perhaps visiting home or it's spring break, they're able to jump into the same app they use on campus and order from their favorite merchants off campus as well.
Some recent exciting developments is further enhancing our offline mode across our kiosks, POS and KDSs. This will continue to improve our platform stability.
Grubhub has what we call our Ultimate Solution, which provides hardware to a front of house staff through our POS and also for customers with our kiosk solution. We also have KDS's (Kitchen Display Systems), so orders are easily seen and you can pick up your order when it's ready.
Grubhub currently partners with over 400 campuses across the United States, and we're continuing to grow in 2026. As well as our campus partnerships, we also have partnerships with ancillary providers such as robot delivery, frictionless technology, reusable containers, and lockers.
Some recent exciting developments is further enhancing our offline mode across our kiosks, POS and KDSs. This will continue to improve our platform stability.
Moreover, we understand the importance of data, so we've enhanced our outgoing data feeds to our partners while also working on projects where we can actually ingest your data and publish it to our front end.
To find out more, please visit grubhub.com/about/campus.
Each year at the NACCU Annual Conference, a series of awards are presented to individuals and institutions for innovation and dedication to the profession. At the 2026 Annual Conference in Covington, Kentucky, three institutions and five individuals were recognized. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.
The University of Utah has earned the NACCU 2026 Best Video Award, recognizing outstanding use of video to promote campus card programs and related technologies. HID’s Amy Surprenant presented the honor to Bryon Buchmiller, Director of the Ucard program. Chosen by popular vote among NACCU members, the winning video creatively showcased the advantages of mobile credentials while humorously highlighting the inconveniences of physical cards. To check out this extraordinary marketing piece that combines education and humor, click the image at the top of this page.
Georgia Institute of Technology is the recipient of the NACCU 2026 Best Card Design Award, recognizing excellence in the visual appearance of a campus card. The award was presented by Jennifer McNeill of TouchNet, and it was accepted by Jennifer Rocke of Georgia Tech’s BuzzCard office on behalf of the institution. Selected by popular vote of the NACCU members, the award celebrates card designs with strong visual impact, creativity, and institutional representation. NACCU praised Georgia Tech for its innovative design and highlighted the creativity and passion consistently displayed across the campus card community.
Xavier University is the winner of the NACCU 2026 Innovative Technology Award for its creative approach to addressing campus food insecurity. The award recognizes institutions that develop innovative technology solutions supporting campus card services. Michelle Dietz, Assistant Director of Auxiliary Services, accepted the award from Josh Bodnar, Ohio State University and NACCU President.
Xavier’s solution leverages the institution’s existing meal plan and transaction system to enable anonymous meal donations and requests through the university’s mobile app. Students with unused meal swipes can donate them, while students facing food insecurity can request assistance discreetly. When a donated meal becomes available, it is automatically added to the recipient’s mobile credential and they receive a notification.
The program removes barriers and stigma often associated with food assistance while promoting student belonging, engagement, and retention. It also helps reduce food waste and maximizes existing campus resources.
CoCo Dean, OneCard Specialist at the University of California, Irvine, is the recipient of the NACCU 2026 New Professional Award. The award, presented by SECANDA’s CSO Sebastien Dayer, recognizes emerging professionals with five or fewer years in the campus card industry who have made significant contributions to their institutions, the profession, and NACCU.
Dean was honored for her leadership and commitment to building community within the industry. Though relatively new to the industry, she has been actively involved in NACCU through programs such as the Industry Essentials Institute and the Data Summit, chaired the Engagement Committee, and presented at conferences and webinars. Her student-centered approach and dedication to collaboration have made a lasting impact on both NACCU and UC Irvine.
Emily Dieker, Director of the GWorld Program at George Washington University, is the recipient of the NACCU 2026 Outstanding Volunteer Award. The honor recognizes exemplary volunteer service, leadership, and commitment to the NACCU community.
Entrust's Julie Beckius presented the award to Dieker for nearly a decade of contributions to the association. She has been a frequent presenter at NACCU conferences, webinars, and round tables, while also supporting conference operations, facilitating networking groups, and contributing blog posts.
Perhaps her most impactful role is as a faculty member for NACCU’s Standards and Guidelines (SAGs) program. In that role, she has mentored and encouraged professionals across multiple cohorts, helping shape the future of the industry.
Cassie Bruner, Director of Cougar Card Services at the University of Houston, has been honored with the NACCU 2026 Campus Card Champion Award. Introduced in 2025, the award recognizes professionals who advance campus card programs through advocacy, collaboration, and strategic leadership. It was presented by Allegion's Jeff Kozior.
Bruner was recognized for transforming Houston's ID card into a strategic campus asset. By partnering with departments across campus, she has improved card distribution processes, expanded attendance and event tracking capabilities, and generated valuable data to support student success initiatives. She has also played a key role in the university’s transition to mobile credentials, helping ensure the campus ID remains innovative and relevant.
David Anthony, Executive Director of Finance and Chief Business Officer for Student Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, is the recipient of the NACCU 2026 Distinguished Service Award. Illumia's Rachael Sepcic presented the award that recognizes individuals who have advanced the campus credential industry through leadership, innovation, and active involvement in NACCU.
Among his many contributions to the association, Anthony was recognized for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping NACCU navigate financial and operational challenges and positioning the organization for long-term stability. Known for making complex financial concepts accessible and actionable, he has played a key role in supporting NACCU’s strategic decision-making. He is a former board member and current chair of the association’s Investment Committee.
Janet Rauhe, Director of Phoenix Card Services at Elon University, is honored with the NACCU J. Paul Melanson Award, one of the association’s highest recognitions. Named for one of the organization’s founders, the award celebrates individuals whose leadership and innovation have helped shape both the campus card industry and the association.
Atrium's Sami Takieddine presented the award to A NACCU member for nearly 30 years, Rauhe was recognized for her exceptional service, leadership, and commitment to helping others succeed. Throughout her career, she has contributed to NACCU through committee work, mentoring, conference support, and service on the Board of Directors, including two terms as Board President during a critical period of transition.
At Elon University, Rauhe built Phoenix Card Services from its initial implementation into a comprehensive campus credential program, supporting thousands of users and a broad network of campus and community partners.
In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Audra Forsberg discusses a growing challenge facing campus card offices – fraud risks created by misplaced trust and weak internal controls. While trust is necessary in any organization, Forsberg emphasizes that trust without oversight can create opportunities for both internal and external fraud.
Forsberg shares examples of internal fraud that can happen in campus card environments, including unauthorized access changes, printing cards for friends, and adding funds to personal or outside accounts. External threats can also emerge through stolen credit cards used to fund guest cards, creating difficulties in tracing transactions.
A major theme throughout the discussion is that many issues arise not from malicious intent alone, but from weak processes and a lack of accountability. Training, written policies, and clearly documented procedures help staff understand what is allowed and what crosses the line. Managers also need to pay attention to employee pressures and warning signs that may indicate risk.
If people don't know policies and procedures, they don't know what is and isn't allowed. One common response when fraud is investigated is, "I didn't know I couldn't do this."
Forsberg stresses the importance of practical safeguards such as daily and monthly reconciliations, activity reporting, and requiring multiple people to review financial transactions. She also highlights the importance of leadership setting the right example through ethical behavior and policy compliance.
TRANSCRIPT:
I'm going to say this out first, trust but verify.
We're seeing card office fraud because people are overly trusted in their positions. Card administrators are not verifying that they're doing the work or making sure people are not taking advantage of the system. Ways people can take advantage of the system include adding access onto a card, printing out a card, and giving it to a friend for access into a residence hall room.
They may also have access to stored value accounts for student, faculty, and staff transactions and add money to their own account or a friend's account. Some external fraud includes credit card fraud. Someone might buy a guest card from a machine and use a stolen credit card to add money to it, making it difficult to track who used those funds.
Card office fraud can be common if organizations don't have internal controls in place.
One important control is training. If people don't know policies and procedures, they don't know what is and isn't allowed. One common response when fraud is investigated is, "I didn't know I couldn't do this."
Managers also need to recognize pressures people may be under. Students may experience financial stress, and there can be red flags managers miss.
Opportunity is often the biggest factor. Organizations can create opportunities for fraud by over-trusting people and failing to run daily or monthly reconciliations.
Another important control is tone at the top. Leaders should set an example by following policies and procedures themselves and not misusing resources.
Opportunity is often the biggest factor. Organizations can create opportunities for fraud by over-trusting people and failing to run daily or monthly reconciliations. Reports should track who granted card access, printed cards, added money to accounts, or changed meal plans.
These systems and reports should either be automatically delivered or consistently reviewed. Sometimes people become too busy and overlook them.
Written policies and procedures are critical. Organizations should define how transactions should be processed and when access should or should not be granted.
Reporting is also essential, particularly for financial transactions. Even when business managers are involved, trusted individuals still require oversight.
For financial transactions, a second person should always verify deposits. This not only prevents fraud but also catches mistakes and errors.
Resources are available through the NACCU Vault, which provides sample policies, procedures, manuals, and onboarding guidance. Universities also have their own ethics guidelines and policies related to financial transactions and access control.
The biggest takeaway is trust but verify.
Internal audit teams can provide ethics and fraud training. Universities also provide anonymous reporting systems so employees can safely report concerns without fear of retaliation.
Atrium Campus and the Identification Systems Group (ISG) announced a new partnership that will enable ISG member companies to promote Atrium’s cloud-native campus credential solutions in higher education and other market verticals.
ISG is a North American network of identification, security, and identity-management solution providers that has served customers for more than 40 years. Initially an association of photo identification system dealers, ISG was created to help organizations access high-quality ID card printers, supplies, and expertise at competitive prices. Today, member companies deliver a full range of identification and security solutions to sectors including education, government, healthcare, hospitality, and more.
ISG is recognized for its extensive regional distribution network. Their dealer network will expand our reach by connecting us with institutions who are not current Atrium clients.
Currently, 26 ISG member companies are spread across the U.S. and Canada, each serving a dedicated geographic region. In addition to product sales, members provide local installation, technical support, and consulting.
Manufacturers and solution providers of both hardware and software are vetted at the organization level, and approved products become part of the dealer offerings.
The latest partnership will enable ISG’s local sales and service network to offer the Atrium platform to new and existing customers. According to a joint announcement, together, they aim to help higher education, corporate campuses, and residential communities … transition from legacy hardware to flexible, mobile-centric systems.
“This partnership allows our members to offer the most innovative cloud-based card management technology available today,” says Brian Swistak, Executive Director of the ISG. “Through our agreement with Atrium Campus, our nationwide network of member dealers can now deliver a seamlessly integrated, high-engagement experience for all our clients.”
“Atrium was built to free institutions from legacy proprietary campus card systems,” says Sami Takieddine, Director of Partnerships at Atrium Campus. “Through our partnership with ISG, clients gain access to leading physical security solutions and local expertise, ensuring a seamless and secure transition to cloud native, agnostic, mobile-first solutions.”
CampusIDNews spoke with Sami Takieddine, Director of Partnerships at Atrium Campus, to learn more about the new partnership. Here’s what he had to say.
“ISG is recognized for its operational excellence, extensive regional distribution network, and long-standing enterprise client relationships. Their dealer network will expand our reach by connecting us with institutions who are not current Atrium clients. We believe ISG will want to refer Atrium to their accounts just as we will want to refer our clients to ISG dealers. This will act as a catalyst for mutual growth.
One of our core principles is a “one size fits one” philosophy — taking the time to understand each client’s unique needs before recommending the right solutions or providers. ISG shares this customer-first mindset.
Additionally, while Atrium’s client base has traditionally been concentrated in higher education, we’ve been actively expanding into sectors such as healthcare, corporate dining, and the government/military. Partnering with ISG will accelerate this growth, as many of their dealers operate across a wide range of industries and verticals.
Legacy OneCard providers typically lock clients into to their card issuance and access control ecosystems, which limits flexibility and increases costs. At Atrium, we believe clients are best served by having access to a range of best-of-breed solutions and partners.
One of our core principles is a “one size fits one” philosophy — taking the time to understand each client’s unique needs before recommending the right solutions or providers. Because ISG shares this customer-first mindset, we believe this partnership is a natural fit that will deliver meaningful value to both Atrium and ISG member clients.”
In this episode of CampusIDNews Chats, Alex Khamu, Global Business Development Manager at Unicard Systems, shares how the company is helping colleges and universities modernize campus card issuance through cloud-based software, online photo submission, digital IDs, and self-service kiosk technology.
With more than 40 years in the industry and a strong presence across Australia, the U.S., and Canada, Unicard provides a flexible suite of solutions that can operate as a full campus card ecosystem or as standalone modules. He explains how institutions can integrate Unicard’s platform with existing one card systems, student information systems, HR systems, access control, and library platforms through single sign-on and interoperable integrations.
A major focus of the conversation is the growing adoption of self-service campus card kiosks. He highlights how students can complete much of the issuance process on their own, including remote photo submission, authentication, and kiosk-based card pickup. In many cases, the only manual step left for campus card staff is approving a submitted photo.
We have over 80% of the universities in Australia, and we've also got many solutions running in the US and Canada as well.
Alex also shares examples of institutions using the technology, including MIT, Confederation College, Amherst University, and Howard University. He explains how these deployments are helping campus card offices reduce administrative workload while improving efficiency and scalability for institutions of all sizes.
TRANSCRIPT
Hi. I'm Alex from Unicard Systems. I'm the global business development manager. I've been with the company for 15 years, and our company's been around for 40 years.
We're an HID partner locally in Australia. We are one of the biggest there, providing all the hardware there and overseas as well. We also provide all the software for campus card issuance. That is a whole suite of products, not just one solution. We provide the ID system which is cloud based, U.S. locally hosted here. It's not only the cloud issuance portion of it for campus card physical issuance and digital issuance, we also actually supply the range of products to go along with it for online photo submission, physical kiosk printing, self-service printing, and also digital ID wallet issuance as well.
We are quite interoperable. We work with all the common one card partners. If you have a one card solution, we can integrate to all these different types of systems.
We offer single sign on and data in through your H.R. and student management system as well as data out through to your access control system or library system. And then also pushing any information we need to things like your one card systems as well. So our solution is there to be used as a whole solution, or we can use it as a modular solution as well.
We can provide our card issuance or just our photo upload module or just our kiosks. So we're very flexible in how we work and scaling it to each institution's needs. In saying that, our solution is used mainly in education.
We have over 80% of the universities in Australia, and here in the US and Canada we've also got many solutions running as well.
We've seen a really great interest and uptake in our self-service kiosks. There is a real return on investment on those. It takes out a lot of the manual work for the campus offices. The students essentially are able to do the whole process themselves. When they're onboarded, they're going through that system automatically, and they receive an email to essentially pick up their card from the kiosk. The only manual task that the campus card office will have to do is click approve on a photo. We handle all the other processes automatically through integrations and the self-service portions of our solution.
Recently we've been partnering with Atrium, and two of their sites – Amherst University and Howard University – are going live next month with our kiosks integrated directly with the Atrium solution.
Our solution is used in all sorts of different industries.
We have a lot of systems here running in the U.S. and also Canada – varying between our ID system, photo upload, and kiosks. We do have a great focus here in the U.S. with our kiosks, our self-service campus card kiosks.
That ranges from universities, such as MIT, that are using eight of our kiosks for card issuance. And then it can go to smaller colleges like Confederation College in Canada that was using just one of our kiosks for issuance.
Recently we've been partnering with Atrium and two of their sites, Amherst University and Howard University, are going live next month with our kiosks integrated directly with Atrium Campus. Students will be able to visit the kiosk, scan a QR code, login with single sign on, authenticate themselves at the kiosk, and have their own campus card issued. That really takes out a lot of the manual tasks for the campus card office and the ROI is something that has really been proven across not only here locally in the U.S., but proven in Australia, UK, and other parts of Asia, that it really is a great product.
If you want to learn more about the Unicard Systems offering, please feel free to get in touch at any time. We're always here to help and provide our experience and our knowledge on our complete solution offerings, whether it's just one part of our system or the whole package.
We can definitely assist, no matter the size of the college. Very flexible. Get in touch with me any time. Again, my name is Alex Khamu, Global Business Development Manager at Unicard. My email is pretty easy to remember. It's Alex at Unicard dot com dot AU.
