Two new members of the Student Advantage team were announced recently, Ed Vargas as Director, Business Development and Mark Egan as Director, University Marketing and Relations. The new additions help round out the team under Richard Libby, the company’s recently appointed Managing Director. 

University parking problems could eventually be just a memory due to a car sharing system that is being implemented at some colleges and cities. With just a “flexcard,” students, faculty and even neighborhood residents at Johns Hopkins University, the latest to sign up with Flexcar, have access to one of four shared vehicles parked around campus. 

PockeTracker, the popular handheld ID card verification application from Visionbase, now includes support for HID prox and contactless credentials. The application will read the prox or iCLASS card and check against an onboard or external database for access, eligibility, loyalty, and mustering applications. PockeTracker runs on Motorola Symbol devices, or any PocketPC device paired with an appropriate card reader. An intuitive red or green display permits or denies entry. The product will be demo’d at the ISC West show in Las Vegas next week. 

Integrated Engineering, one of the industry’s leading manufacturers of 13.56 MHz contactless readers, will be acquired by access control leader HID. The Dutch company, with a specialty in Mifare and DESFire products, will bring a range of PIV-compliant and e-Passport ready readers to the HID product line. 

Access, attendance tracking, lunch programs drive the implementation provided by Scholarchip
Andy Williams, Contributing Editor Colleges have been using campus card ID systems for years. But with increasing security concerns, similar products are moving into public schools. One example: Philadelphia, Penn.’s school system where high school students at 60 schools have been provided a contactless ID card needed to gain admission to school property, track attendance, and, in some cases, buy lunch in the cafeteria.

The newest printer from Evolis, the Securion, offers a series of new features to aid in secure ID issuance. Password protection to avoid unauthorized printing, physical locking of the feeder to deter theft of cards and ribbons, as well as full-card lamination for durability and holograph application. 

Instant issuance solutions like CardWizard let campuses produce branded plastic

by Chris Corum, Executive Editor

If you have a bank-issued debit card in your wallet, chances are that it has a MasterCard or Visa logo on it. But if you have a campus card with a bank account attached, odds are it does not. More likely you will see ATM network logos like Pulse, Cirrus, or Maestro. A major reason for this is that students need the ID card the day they get to campus but you can’t just print a MasterCard or Visa card from your card office … or can you? A growing number of campuses are doing just that and it may well be the wave of the future. 

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