College campuses are a rough testing ground for plastic cards. Cards
may be used up to 20 times a day and will be carried in pockets and
bags along with keys and coins, other cards which may be embossed, lint
and sand. They most likely will be bent and flexed, put through the
washer and drier, used to scrape ice off windshields and put into socks
or shoes while playing intramural sports, adding the elements of sand
and sweat -- and inevitably, students' dogs will chew on them.
This first hand knowledge comes from my years in the University of
Florida's ID Card Services department. At UF, located in Gainesville,
we ordered and issued between 25,000 and 30,000 cards a year with one
third of them replacements for lost or damaged cards. UF started back
in 1990 with a digitized image Polaroid picture in a laminated pouch
and moved to PVC cards five years ago.
Most college campuses in the United States are moving from many cards
to a one-card system for cost savings and administrative efficiencies.
One database where information is kept is always easier to manage than
keeping several in sync or not even talking with each other. Some of
the various uses you can see an ID Card do on campus are:
- picture identification
- access a database of campus information and student records and
financial aid
- open dorm and other university building doors
- act as a library card
- serve as either off-line or on-line vending debit for copiers, drinks,
snacks and laundry machines
- debit account for dining services
- use athletic facilities and purchase tickets to events
- vote in student government elections
- when tied to a bank, become an ATM/debit card
- use the computer labs
- cash checks on campus
- access records at the infirmary
- test identification
- time and attendance systems, parking gates and security access (popular
among the staff and faculty)
A successful campus card program depends on many factors such as use,
acceptance, on and off campus relationships, numbers of uses, card office
personnel and one of the most important û quality of the card
stock. If the card falls apart or the magnetic stripe is easily damaged
or undependable, the card program will not be tolerated and therefore
will not work.
Most college and university campuses use a CR80 graphics quality PVC
or combination card with a bar code for library usage and at least one
magnetic stripe which is usually high coercivity; and a color digitized
image on a pre-printed card stock. On the card can be the logo of the
university, picture of the person, name and ID number of the student,
staff or faculty, affiliation with the school and on the back, an ownership
statement and banking and telecom partner information.
The campus card industry is moving toward the smart chip, and campus
administrators who are just starting an all campus card should be looking
toward a card system which can contain a chip or easily add one in the
near future. Current campus card systems are run off a magnetic stripe,
and most systems will not be replaced any time soon. A combination card
with bar code, mag stripe or stripes, and a smart chip will probably
be seen on college and university campuses for the next 10 - 15 years.
Most applications still reside on the mag stripe and are only slowly
being written for the smart chip. Adding a smart chip to the current
card can expand the capabilities with GSM phones, retail loyalty programs,
transportation, small purchase debit programs both on and off campus,
stadium concessions, secure electronic ID for distance learning via
the internet and secure electronic commerce.
With the rapid changes in technology, the lack of standards and changes
in key player alliances, the campus administrator feels it is difficult
to keep up and make a decision on smart cards at this time. A campus
would be very interested in a multi-application, multi-function card,
and in the future you will probably see the student choosing the size
of the chip and the applications which they want on the chip.
The students on a college campus expect their campus card should perform
as well as their less frequently used ATM and credit cards. The administration
expects to be able to purchase a four-year life card with an unscratchable
magnetic stripe, a smart chip which won't pop out, and a card which
will automatically straighten out the curve which it has acquired in
a wallet.
When I spoke at the ICMA Workshop in Chicago in March, at the end of
my talk I asked, "With what you have heard, realistically how long
can a campus card be expected to last?" -- and a voice from the
back said, "Two weeks." Fortunately, most campuses are getting
much better wear than that! An outcome of the workshop had been identifying
some companies who are willing to test failed cards and work toward
developing a more robust card for the college market, and identifying
someone to put together a card standards document for our members to
use when bidding the card stock. Information on these test results will
be released when it is available.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lyn White is executive director of the National Association
of Campus Card Users (NACCU), a nonprofit educational association providing
knowledge to colleges and universities in the US, Canada, Australia
and Norway. She acquired her knowledge of campus card systems at the
University of Florida where she pioneered the University's Gator 1 Card
program, participating in every stage of the system's development. The
Gator 1 Card has an active card base in excess of 60,000 students, faculty
and staff at the University, the Health Science Center and Shands Hospital.
Contact her at NACCU, 21 Colony West, Suite 270, Durham, NC 27705; Phone:
919-403-2273; Fax: 919.403.1324; e-mail: execdir@naccu.org