The University of Connecticut has moved to Seos smart cards and HID FARGO Connect issuance solution from HID Global to optimize card issuance and strengthen security across UConn's network of campuses. A cloud-based platform, HID FARGO Connect will enable UConn to move to a distributed model for ID issuance and eliminate student wait times, while Seos card technology will add new layers of security not present in UConn's legacy system.

The new card issuance formula at UConn leverages iCLASS SE readers, multi-technology Seos cards, the HID FARGO Connect platform, and the HDP5600 card printer. The university’s One Card office partnered with identification solutions supplier, ColorID, to upgrade its Husky One cards with Seos credential technology to combat card duplication and fraud.

“The biggest challenge for UConn was it needed to re-card its campus to bolster security,” says Cassie Bunner, Higher Education Account Manager at ColorID. “We wanted to present the university with a technology we knew and had confidence in. HID was exactly that.”

UConn's previous card solution leveraged legacy proximity and magstripe technologies, which can easily be cloned. The university's new batch of 40,000 Husky One Cards retain the old magstripe and proximity technology to minimize disruption to campus life in the near term, but vitally add Seos technology for a phased university-wide transition to iCLASS readers. Once that phase is complete, UConn will remove proximity technology, and further reduce its card issuance costs.

To accommodate UConn's card technology migration, ColorID selected HID’s triple-technology card featuring magstripe, proximity, and Seos. This enables UConn to complete a phased transition of access readers and software across the university’s network of five campuses. ColorID's in-house service bureau custom printed, laminated and encoded the magnetic stripes, and inspected and confirmed the data for every credential shipped.

“Setting up our university with HID FARGO Connect will allow regional campuses to print cards directly for students—no wait, no temporary card. The mobility of being able to take pictures and print wherever we need was a big factor in selecting FARGO Connect.”

-- Stephanie Kernozicky, Director, UConn One Card Office

“HID Global is leading the way in providing universities with trusted identity solutions so they can revolutionize processes that are vital for student success,” says Craig Sandness, Vice President and Managing Director, Secure Issuance with HID Global. “With our HID FARGO Connect solution and Seos smart cards, UConn leverages best-in-class credential technology to secure its campus and simultaneously consolidates and streamlines its student ID issuance process.”

In the future, the Husky One Card office will manage its own high-volume credential requirements and expedite student delivery using HID FARGO Connect and HDP5600 printers. UConn administrators plan to encode, print and issue some 18,000 credentials annually from any device on campus with a web interface.

“Setting up our university with HID FARGO Connect will allow regional campuses to print cards directly for students — no wait, no temporary card,” says Stephanie Kernozicky, Director of UConn’s One Card Office. “The mobility of being able to take pictures and print wherever we need was a big factor in selecting FARGO Connect solutions.”