Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS
slider OZZI merced 1

Going green, saving green

Campus cards power reusable container systems in campus dining

Andrew Hudson   ||   Mar 03, 2017  ||   ,

For those users who received the final credit, the program ended up costing nothing. It actually saved the user money over time by not charging the previous $0.50 per-meal takeout surcharge that the university assessed to cover the cost of take-out containers. Later, the university made refinements and launched what it calls “OZZI v2.0.”

With v2.0, the university eliminated the $5.00 deposit at the point of sale when checking out a container. Users can check out up to three containers at a time and are sent periodic email reminders to return them. A $5.00 fee is assessed to users meal plan accounts for any containers not returned within 72 hours.

As for checkout, dining hall cashiers identify whether a student has an OZZI container and asks which form of payment the student wishes to use. If the student opts for campus card, the system will automatically track the container and no fee is charged. Even if they choose to pay for the meal and container with cash or a credit or debit card, they must still present their CatCard for container tracking purposes.

OZZI at Virginia Tech

OZZI has been thriving on campus at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg since the fall of 2014.

“We first heard about OZZI through NACUFS and a visit to the University ofMaryland,” says Bill Hess, Associate Director, Virginia Tech Dining Services. “Dining Services was the lead department on the project with assistance from the Green RFP student submission process, which is run by the Office of Sustainability at Virginia Tech.”

Virginia tech first trialed OZZI in 2014, and has since expanded its deployment. “In the first year the program was only available in one dining center so it wasn’t convenient for students if they were not a frequent user of that location,” Hess explains. “We currently have three operational OZZI units in our three busiest dining centers, and there’s a fourth on the way.”

Following the successful trial period, Virginia Tech doubled down on the program in 2015, in part, with funding from the university’s student government association and Housing and Resident Life, Hess says.

“In 2015 the program saw a green container in every on-campus resident’s room, one for each resident,” he adds. “While successful in driving the program forward, we only saw a return rate of about 40% on the initial 10,000 distributed containers.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4

|| TAGS:
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT ARTICLES

Brista Hurst UT Tyler

Learn to analyze card system data at NACCU’s popular Data Summit

In a recent CampusIDNews Chats interview, Brista Hurst-Kent, Business Technology Services Manager at the University of Texas at Tyler, shared her experience attending the NACCU Data Summit. This two-day workshop focused on empowering participants to use common reporting tools – specifically Microsoft Excel with Power Pivot and Power Query – to create interactive dashboards that […]
Credentials 101 Series banner

Understanding chip options for contactless campus cards

Three main components underly modern credential technology – chips, formats, and encryption. Each are applicable to both cards and mobile credentials and understanding them is key to making informed decisions for your campus card program. In this series of articles, we will dive into each component, but first a brief preview. Chips are the core of […]
Apex OrderHQ Array modular lockers
Jul 02, 25 /

Modular locker solution streamlines campus order pickup

Apex Order Pickup Solutions launched a new modular system of automated order pickup lockers that can be stacked or setup in custom configurations. The OrderHQ Array Series lockers work in any floor plan without expensive remodeling. In an interview with Food On Demand, Kent Savage, founder and executive chairman of Apex Order Pickup Solutions, compares […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Attn: friends in the biometrics space. Nominations close Friday for the annual Women in Biometrics Awards. Take five minutes to recognize a colleague or even yourself. http://WomenInBiometrics.com

Feb. 1 webinar explores how mobile ordering enhanced campus life, increased sales at UVA and Central Washington @Grubhub @CBORD

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2025 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.