Card, mobile credential, payment and security
The University of Washington is preparing to implement mandatory two-factor authentication for access to campus platforms. The university is encouraging students to begin using 2FA through Duo now ahead of required campus wide use this November across all UW campuses.
As reported by UW's student publication, The Daily, the university is on par for its November 2 deadline as it continues to convert all UW NetID accounts to two-factor authentication. All UW faculty have been using 2FA since June 15, and the November deadline will add all undergraduate and graduate students to the two-factor process.
Washington will leverage Duo for its two-factor authentication process. Duo Mobile is free to download and offers students the option to send notifications with an internet connection, a passcode generated by Duo Mobile without an internet connection, or a “Call Me” option that works with phone numbers in the US and parts of Canada.
In addition to Duo Mobile, UW is also offering a standard phone call option for any mobile phone or landline, as well as a hardware token option. UW-IT will provide a hardware token at no charge to the student, or support compatible devices. UW provides Feitian OTP c100 hardware tokens -- one-button hardware tokens that display a one-time passcode for signing in with 2FA.
According to the UW-IT website, required use of 2FA on the web is to better protect personal and institutional data. The university has now expanded two-factor authentication to include all resources that rely on a web browser for single sign-on with the UW NetID.
The university says that the decision to implement two-factor authentication came in part out of concern for students being affected by phishing schemes.
“As with faculty and staff, students will be able to opt in early starting now, before we make this required for our students in the fall,” said Andreas Bohman, vice president for UW Information Technology and chief information officer, in an email.
“Messaging to students has already begun, including through the University Registrars’ communications and our own student-facing channels. Outreach is underway with other stakeholders at all University of Washington campuses to ensure we reach students in as many avenues as possible.”
Two-factor authentication is being implemented on a number of campuses across the country. Duo is among the more popular platforms being used, though there is some variance in the methods campus IT departments are using.
UW-IT warns its campus community that if students suspect an email from someone claiming to be affiliated with UW to be fraudulent, never click any links provided, avoid entering your UW NetID if prompted, and always remain skeptical about opportunities that seem too good to be true.
Campus credential and payment solutions provider, Transact Campus, has acquired campus mobile ordering provider, Hangry. Hangry was already an established Transact partner, and the company's mobile ordering platform for higher education will play a role in a larger strategic growth plan for Transact.
The Hangry platform has been built to serve the specific needs of the campus environment and is fully integrated with the Transact platform. To date, Transact has processed 24 million mobile order transactions totaling over $200 million using the Hangry solution.
The mobile-first platform delivers a fully featured app that is custom-branded to reflect each university. From the mobile app, students can place food orders, access secure lockers for pick-up, place orders for delivery, make dining hall reservations, filter dietary restrictions and track nutrition.
In addition to flexible mobile ordering features, the Hangry platform also delivers a campus-wide loyalty and rewards component with capabilities for push messaging, automated marketing campaigns, intelligent up-selling, targeted inbox announcements, surveys, and user feedback.
“We are excited to welcome the talented Hangry team and to combine their innovative R&D culture with the continued successes of our Campus Commerce solutions at Transact,” says Nancy Langer, CEO at Transact. “The acquisition will enable us to build on Hangry features and functionality, as well as incorporate them into the wide array of Transact solutions that already provide a leading mobile-centric experience for millions of students.”
The acquisition of Hangry will ensure that the mobile ordering capabilities offered by Transact will be even more effectively incorporated into the company's commerce point-of-sale strategy. Key existing Hangry industry relationships are expected to broaden Transact's roster of mobile ordering clients, while consolidation of the operations and product development teams will see campus clients of both companies benefit from uninterrupted service and ongoing platform enhancements.
Founded by Fabian Raso in 2012, Hangry is a full-featured mobile ordering platform built for higher education institutions. The Hangry solution provides campus customers with complete control of a university-branded mobile app that includes food ordering, delivery, reservations, dietary filtering, and nutrition tracking.
The solution also offers a campus-wide loyalty and rewards module with targeted marketing and push messaging. According to Hangry, the company's platform is active on 180 campuses across North America.
All campus tender types are supported on the Hangry platform, including declining balance, cash equivalency, meal exchange and board plans.
For credit card payments, students can use their existing merchant processor through one of Hangry's payment gateway integrations. Hangry also integrates with popular campus POS systems for menu synchronization, order printer/KDS routing, and unified reporting.
“Key Hangry components are already tightly integrated and user-tested with hundreds of Transact clients, so we expect a very seamless transition,” says Fabian Raso, Founder & CEO of Hangry. “We have established a solid record of success working closely together. We anticipate that by joining Transact, we will leverage our common strengths, continue to improve the student experience, and expand Transact product capabilities.”
Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
Duke University is expanding access to its late night van service with a newly added feature to an existing mobile app. The newest addition to Duke's TransLoc mobile app is the ability to book on-demand rides from student smartphones for safe campus transportation after hours.
According to an official university release, the TransLoc app is currently available to community members to track Duke transit buses in real-time across campus. New to the app will be the ability for Duke community members to schedule a ride between the hours of 6:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
“The biggest impact will be that students, faculty and staff will see a really improved experience in being able to request a van much more easily and much more conveniently since it’s all contained within the same app as our transit data,” says Tyler Dewey, alternative transportation lead and associate transit planner for Duke Parking & Transportation.
“Having that ability to have our vans and transit in one location will be much clearer for our users," adds Dewey. "I think it will make it an easier and much more comfortable experience for those who rely on it.”
The TransLoc app is free to download on the Apple App and Google Play stores. In addition to the mobile app, the service also enables students to book a ride from the desktop version of the software.
Duke Vans, the service connected to the app, offers free rides between Duke facilities during hours when the standard university buses are not in service. The Duke Vans service is intended as a supplement to the university's primary transit options.
Once an account is created, the TransLoc app and desktop version are both available to Duke students, faculty and staff to book on-demand rides. After first selecting the Duke University campus as the chosen service area, users must then verify their identity using their university login credentials.
Using the familiar ride share app formula, students can select their pickup and drop-off locations by typing in the desired addresses. Users will be assigned to the nearest van and provided with an estimated time of arrival once the ride has been confirmed.
Users can track the progress of the van along its route and make changes to the reservation, including canceling the ride if necessary. The TransLoc service will also send text message notifications to users updating them on the progress of their ride.
HID Global recently named Tim Nyblom to a new position within the company that will expand its focus on the higher education vertical. CampusIDNews caught up with Nyblom to discuss the new role, expectations for HID campus clients, and what the company is envisioning for higher ed.
Tim, congratulations on your new position as Director - End User Business Development for HID Global’s higher ed market. What does that mean for you and our campus audience?
“Thank you very much! I’m ecstatic and honored to take the lead in the higher education vertical market here at HID under our Physical Access Control Business Unit (PACS). It’s hard to process, but I got my start in this industry back in 2006 and I’ve never left.
It’s really an exciting time for campuses. I’ve seen so much change in the past 16 years, and we are at a turning point as mobile takes center stage. I have a strong passion for this industry and welcome the opportunity to help institutions migrate to mobile credentials as they recognize the value it delivers to their campus.”
What about the higher education market makes it so special for you?
“Our higher education community is one of a kind – from the institutions to the partners and the solutions to the conferences. There are always challenges, but there is also never-ending camaraderie. It’s been a roller coaster ride, and it’s certainly not going to slow down!
For those that know me, one thing I’ve always prided myself on is being that trusted advisor. The good, the bad and the ugly – just providing as much information as possible so each institution can make the best decision for themselves. I came across a quote recently that has really resonated with me – “I never thought in terms of being a leader. I thought very simply in terms of helping people.”
Tell me about the higher education team at HID and who our campus administrators should be looking for.
“Yes, that’s enough about me. For those who haven’t met her yet, Nicole Fikes joined us in 2021 as our End User Business Development Manager handling the West. She has really hit the ground running, and I am really excited to be working with her.
Nicole Fikes, HID
Before Nicole joined HID Global, she worked as a Regional Director of Commercial Development for a security integrator, tasked with new business growth for large clients and national accounts. Prior to that, she was the Director of Client Partnerships, selling identity authentication SaaS to national accounts and financial institutions.
Nicole started her career in security with Stanley Security Solutions selling mechanical security solutions into National Accounts. She was excelled as a Global Accounts Business Development Leader and National Account Manager with Stanley’s security integration division.
She is an active member with ASIS Women in Security (WIS) global group. Currently, she is on the WIS global steering committee as well as the ASIS Indianapolis chapter WIS chapter liaison.
Nicole and her husband have two teenage sons that keep them busy attending high school cross country, track, and golf events. In her spare time, she runs marathons and walks her dog Lucy, the cutest black golden doodle ever.
Nathan Cummings, HID
Another important name to introduce is Nathan Cummings. Nathan is our technical lead dedicated to the Higher Education vertical market. He’s been at HID for 22 years, and as you can imagine, has seen it all! If you want to get down to the bits and the bytes, encryptions, keys and in general how it all works, Nathan is your guy.
Nathan has spent a majority of his time at HID in Product Management. He’s held several other positions, but the last 6 years have focused on pre-sales engineering, specializing in reader and credential technologies and more recently a focus on the Higher Education Vertical supporting mobile wallet credential implementations.
He enjoys his off time traveling, hanging with friends, and spending time with family in the High Desert in Southern California.”
Your promotion and expanding team would suggest that the company’s focus on higher ed is really strong, perhaps even growing, at this point. Would you agree?
"Yes, 100%. Our leadership recognizes the importance of the higher education vertical, including our strong partners and end users.
I say it a lot, but it bears repeating: The market for mobile credentials is forecasted for explosive growth over the next 5 years. We’re seeing a trend and believe that an increasing number of our clients will choose to migrate from plastic to mobile credentials because of the value it delivers to their business.
We believe the higher education market is positioned to continue to lead this charge and we are investing heavily to ensure that HID customers and partners have an easy path of transition at their own pace.
Adding to that investment, we are also actively looking to grow our team. We have some phenomenal candidates, and we look forward to welcoming new team members soon.”
HID has been working with universities for a couple decades at this point. Can you give me a sense for the number of campuses you serve?
“Under our PACS Business Unit, I’d say 1,000 campuses give or take. On these campuses, you’d see everything from older legacy style proximity cards and readers, iCLASS, Seos, Signo, Mercury Panels, HID Mobile Access via Bluetooth and NFC, Credentials in Apple Wallet and more.
That number certainly increases if you wanted to factor in our Secure Issuance/Printer lines and our Extended Access Technologies (EAT) Business Units. Our Fargo Connect solution is red hot right now and institutions are migrating to this platform all the time. As you can imagine, our groups collaborate quite a bit, and I’d like to give big kudos to the Fargo Connect Team and the solution they have brought to the market!
The same goes to our EAT team as they play a central role in supporting credentials for all other use cases across campus – POS, copy/print, vending, bookstore, rec center, parking, laundry and more. The Omnikey 5427 reader is becoming a major staple for campuses as they plan for the future.”
Are there any industry trends that will guide your efforts going forward?
“I think it will be important to streamline the mobile conversation. We understand that not every institution is going to make the move to mobile in the next few years, but everyone needs education on what they can do now to prepare the infrastructure to support mobile when they are ready.
I am also dedicated to educating the value that mobile can deliver to their students, their departments, their leadership and the campus as a whole. It can’t be highlighted enough; mobile has the ability to re-shape the campus as we know it.
I want to make sure our customers understand that they have choice and flexibility when working with HID. Lots of changes are happening in this industry right now and there is no one better positioned to help campuses protect their future than HID.”
With this market under your wing so to speak, what do you plan to accomplish in the new role over the next few years?
“Put simply – help as many institutions as possible. I want to continue to grow our team and our reach. The mobile conversation will continue to grow as more campuses make the move. Being able to provide all the necessary information campuses need to make an informed decision becomes imperative.
I understand that everyone has choices, and I look forward to talking to more and more campuses about the value that HID can deliver. I also want to continue to grow our relationships and leverage our partnerships. I firmly believe that we have the greatest customers and partner channel network in this industry.”
The University of British Columbia will offer a new meal plan option for students this fall, adding an all-access dining for first-year residences. The new all-access model will take effect this September, and will be a departure from UBC's existing declining debit dining plan.
According to a report from student publication, The Udyssey, the current dining plan for residential students at UBC is a declining debit system that sees students pay a fixed price for their meal plan at the beginning of the year. The plan then enables students to purchase food at campus dining halls and other on-campus locations on a per-item basis.
The new all-access plan will remove the itemized pricing system for residential first year students and instead offer unlimited access to dining halls in an all-you-care-to-eat fashion.
The new dining plan carries a higher up-front cost at roughly $6,500. From that fee, $6,000 goes toward all-access, in-residence dining. The plan sets aside the remaining $500 as Flex Dollars, which can be used at select on-and off-campus locations.
Campus visitors not on a meal plan can pay a door rate to access the all-you-care-to-eat dining halls. The door rate varies by meal time, charging $12 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, and $19 for dinner.
University officials say the meal plan change came in response to feedback from first-year students. The university included annual benchmarking surveys and student focus groups as part of the decision.
Recurring concerns with the old plan highlighted by students were limited variety, small portion sizes, and high prices of food in first-year dining halls.
“They would tell us that they're making choices based on price as opposed to nutrition,” said Colin Moore, director of UBC Food Services in a Udyssey statement. “They don’t believe they were getting great value out of the meal plan.”
Another change under the new meal plan is a slightly scaled back to-go meal option for students. To-go will be limited to fruit, coffee and baked goods at breakfast, and pre-ordered take-out lunches ordered online via Nutrislice.
Last year, UBC's Okanagan campus implemented a similar all-access dining plan for its residential students with positive results. The new all-access dining plan is designed to address the key student concerns.
“You come into the dining room and you don’t see prices. You never have to think about price," said Moore. "It significantly improves food equity and student well-being. There’s tremendous social, environmental, and sustainability improvements."
Campus credential and payment solutions provider, Transact Campus, has reached a new milestone adding its 100th mobile credential campus client. Across the now 100 mobile credential campuses, students have completed an estimated 100 million contactless mobile wallet transactions using the Transact Mobile Credential.
These milestones underscore the company's focus on mobile credential not only as a technology, but as a meaningful addition to the university ID ecosystem.
Mobile credential are secure, contactless, and fully integrated into the campus transaction system. The company says that over half a million students have now added the NFC-enabled mobile credential to their Apple Wallet or Google Pay.
Mobile credentials provide the capability for students to, with a tap of their smartphone, make purchases or securely access dorms, facilities, and classrooms.
Administrators enjoy providing a simplified campus experience for students, while benefiting themselves from robust integrations with student information systems and features like remote issuance and building lockdown.
“Understanding and responding to our clients' needs is a critical part of our suite of products and our success," says Rasheed Behrooznia, vice president, Campus ID Solutions, Transact. "We partner with our clients to provide an unbeatable campus experience while building a smart, future-oriented, mobile-centric strategy that is at the core of our mission."
Transact is continuing its efforts to deliver a seamless campus experience for students and administrators. This year, Transact rolled out both Transact IDX, which enables a completely cashless experience for students; and Transact One, an integrated, cloud-native, and mobile-first ecosystem that brings together Payments, Campus ID, Commerce and third-party software all in one view.
Boston College has joined a growing roster of universities to turn to technology in campus dining to both streamline efficiencies in dining operations, and also account for the growing labor shortage challenge in higher ed. To accomplish this, Boston College is working with transaction system provider, CBORD, to leverage Nextep self-service kiosks and mobile ordering through the GET app to alleviate queuing at a new campus dining location.
BC has deployed two new self-service dining kiosks at the campus’ brand new Integrated Science Building. The center is a state-of-the-art building featuring The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, and new dining concept called the Tully Family Café and Commons.
The dining location is a small café that includes a range of coffee offerings along with the ability to prepare limited food options. With a smaller footprint and limited infrastructure, the new dining location inspired BC to look at new ways to boost throughput, while also requiring fewer people to staff the operation.
“As the building was under construction, the idea of kiosks was raised because the counter space was clearly going to be very limited,” says John Connelly, Retail Systems Administrator at Boston College. “There was barely enough space for standard pick up.”
“We also started to look at cashless concepts. And as we explored the cashless idea, we began to question whether we would even need a cashier at all,” adds Connelly. “Our dining services looked at dining robots, pizza making robots, and the like, but we determined that kiosk ordering was the best solution on offer.”
The final solution for BC is a combination of Nextep Kiosks for walk-up ordering, and pick-up lockers for mobile order fulfillment through the CBORD GET app. Student orders placed through the GET app at the Tully café are sent to the pickup lockers, while kiosk orders are sent straight to the counter.
“With the new science center featuring robotics labs and a data visualization space, we thought it would be a great opportunity to implement dining technology for ordering, and revamp traditional ordering at a POS terminal.”
Students can place the same order on GET as they can at the kiosk, but the two are separate systems. The pickup locker system for mobile orders had already been utilized on campus previously, so campus dining knew more or less what to expect from that workflow.
The pickup locker solution is provided by Carter-Hoffman. After placing an order through GET, the student is sent a QR code that they can scan when they arrive at the lockers.
“The locker system will also send additional notifications if the student hasn’t picked up their food after the first five minutes, followed by a notification to staff after 15 minutes at which point the staff can make the decision to expire that order,” says Connelly. “In general, very few orders get expired.”
BC has made the Tully café location a completely cashless environment, with the student ID card playing a central role.
“The Nextep kiosks take the student ID card or any major credit/debit card,” says Connelly. “We knew we wanted to support the student ID card for payment, because if you don’t, then it’s pretty useless to most students.”
“At Tully Science Center, all orders are coming in through either the GET mobile app to the lockers, or via self-service kiosks,” adds Connelly. “There is no POS, there is no cashier, there is no cash.”
Another unexpected caveat to the kiosk deployment, in part brought on by the pandemic, was that the decision to purchase and deploy was made in a vacuum.
“Unfortunately, CBORD didn’t have its User Group Conference with COVID going on, so we didn’t even really get to play around with the kiosks before deploying,” says Connelly. “But there’s trust and faith in the partnership, and we also reserve the right to box it up and ship it back if it doesn’t do what we want it to.”
Connelly explains that any technology he or his team deploy will be tested to its limits.
“In our department we tend to buy solutions that do what we want, and then we say ‘now make it do this, this, and this,’” says Connelly. “We ask a lot of the technology that we implement, and I have to say the Nextep kiosks were pretty good right out of the box.”
Install and set up was also seamless.
“Nextep did a fantastic job of taking our menus and artwork and integrating them on the backend to make them look good on the kiosk screens,” says Connelly. “They’ve been a value-added partner for sure. They didn’t just hand it off to us and walk away, they built it all for us.”
CBORD and Nextep partnered to provide the kiosks, with the latter shouldering the up-front installation. “Techs from both companies were on campus for three days to install, set up and test the kiosks and kitchen printers,” says Connelly.
Once Nextep completed the installation and backend work to get BC up and running, ongoing support has since shifted over to CBORD, says Connelly.
Reiterating the modest stature of the dining location, Connelly lauds the café’s success thus far.
“The downside has been very small. We’re seeing over 400 daily orders,” says Connelly. “If you had a food truck, that’s basically the footprint that we’re working with in this kitchen and dining location. The café is hopping.”
Connelly says the checkout time is about a minute and six seconds per person to place an order; from them first touching the kiosk screen to printing their receipt.
“The lines are now at the kiosks, but even that has tapered down as the initial novelty wore off,” says Connelly. “It’s actually better than interacting with a cashier, particularly when cash is involved.”
While BC is using kiosks in one location currently, expansion is already on the horizon.
“The bigger picture is that COVID, coupled with a lack of people interested in doing cashier and food-service work, has made us look at the kiosk concept as a way to alleviate missing manpower,” says Connelly. “In addition to little counter space, the Tully café space also carried a limited staffing budget.”
Staffing shortages have been a recurring challenge across higher ed in recent months, with dining one of the departments impacted the most. As of yet, there’s little sign of relief.
“We have as many as fourteen temp workers working in a single building, and that’s part of why we looked to kiosks,” he adds. “We’re devoting a lot of budget to temp workers.”
BC has already requested quotes on new kiosks for two additional, preexisting on-campus locations. The additional locations are similar to the science center in that they’re fast casual: walk up, order your food and then sit down or takeaway.
“We’re still dealing with a manpower shortage,” says Connelly. “We’re not looking to replace people with technology, but if we can either alleviate hiring temp workers or use kiosks to shift existing employees from cashiering to food prep or stocking, then it’s a positive."
Stanford University is preparing for mobile access on campus with a new update to its campus mobile app. The Stanford Mobile app has added a new Mobile Key feature that will utilize HID Seos to enable students and staff to unlock doors on campus using mobile devices.
According to an official university release, the update was made live on June 28 for Stanford faculty and staff, with students able to use the Mobile Key beginning July 6. The update to the Stanford mobile app requires software version 10.7.0 for both iOS and Android devices.
The Mobile Key uses secure, encrypted technology, to enable students to use their smartphone in lieu of a physical Stanford ID card to access doors on campus. To use the Mobile Key, students must have the Stanford Mobile app downloaded on iOS 12.2 or newer, or Android 8.1 or newer on a device that supports Bluetooth, mobile data, and NFC.
In addition to door access, Stanford community members can use their Mobile Key in place of their physical Stanford ID cards to access library resources, retrieve print jobs at Cardinal Print stations, and pay for food with meal plan or Cardinal dollars.
Housing access will remain only through the physical Stanford ID card.
The Mobile Key feature can utilize tap, swipe, or Twist & Go commands to interact with card readers:
Open button. Press the Open button on your Mobile ID in the Stanford Mobile app. The range of your phone’s proximity to each card reader may vary.
Tap. Tap your phone on a card reader as you would with your physical Stanford ID card. You can do this without opening Stanford Mobile as long as the app is running in the background.
Twist & Go Mode (turn on/off in settings). Twist your phone 90 degrees right or left, approximately 6 to 8 inches from the card reader as if you are opening a door knob.
Stanford has also posted the setup guide to add Mobile Key to a smartphone.
The Mobile Key is being treated as an equivalent to a physical key card for door access. This means that in the event that a phone is lost or stolen, students and staff must report it missing to the Stanford ID Card Office immediately so that the Mobile Key can be disabled remotely.
The University of Pittsburgh is lifting its on-campus, access control restrictions for university buildings. The amended access control protocols were instated following the arrival of the pandemic in 2020.
According to an official university release, the return to normal access control policies will apply to all Pitt campuses, effective July 1.
The return to normal policy means that a Pitt ID card will no longer be required to enter all campus buildings. Also, campus guests will not have to register in advance to gain access to campus facilities. Both measures were implemented during the pandemic to restrict access to campus facilities.
Pitt buildings that already had restricted access prior to the pandemic will continue to be limited to those students and campus community members with authorized access privileges.
Pitt officials say that the building access rules could revert back to pandemic protocols if health reasons should arise in the counties where Pitt’s campuses are located. All counties are currently at medium or low COVID levels.
Pitt first restricted building access with the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. When students began to return to campus in August 2020, safety concierge stations were installed at building entrances where security personnel and student workers would make sure people swiped their Pitt ID to enter.
Ted Fritz, vice chancellor for public safety and emergency management told the Senate’s Campus Utilization, Planning And Safety committee in March of this year that the security level of Pitt buildings is determined by a committee, which rates the spaces on different tiers.
Tier 1, for example, carries the most restrictive access and includes sensitive areas like labs, research facilities and residence halls, while the less restrictive Tier 3 is for business offices, recreation centers and libraries. Fritz says it’s been a couple of years since the committee last met, but it is planning to do so again soon.
A new survey of university students is pointing to the tangible benefits -- including boosted physical and mental health and improved sleep -- that campus food pantries offer to students in need. A growing number of universities across the country have devoted energy and funding to maintain on-campus food pantries in an effort to alleviate food insecurity amongst the student population.
The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, surveyed 1,855 students in California before and after their use of a university food pantry. Results of the survey were used to analyze the perceived impacts that food pantry access can have on student health.
The survey was inspired in part by research conducted 2015 that indicated some 40% of University of California students were experiencing food insecurity.
“This 2015 data prompted the State of California to allocate funding so that by 2018 all UC campuses had a food pantry," says Susanna Martinez, the study’s corresponding author. "Our study was the first to look at the impact these pantries had on changes in student health."
The study found that access to a food pantry directly improved students' perceived health, as well as reduced the number of depressive symptoms they experienced. Food pantry access also correlated with increased sleep sufficiency, and increased food security.
The researchers behind the survey believe their findings could be used to advocate for state or federal funding to support or establish food pantries on more college campuses.
HealthAffairs.org estimates that some 30% of college students had experienced food insecurity prior to the arrival of COVID-19 pandemic, and it's believed that those numbers have risen in the time since, and are even higher among students at two-year colleges.
Health Affairs echoes the belief that students dealing with food insecurity are more likely to report indicators of stress and depression. The quality of food consumed also drops among those dealing with food insecurity, with cheaper, highly processed, fast foods being the more common choices for their lower price tag.
Different universities have implemented different solutions to stem food insecurity.
Some of the would-be solutions to the food insecurity concern on campus have ranged from short-term food allowances and emergency meal funds, to expanded operating hours of campus food pantries to provide extra cover for students in need.
At a legal level, the Hunger Free Campus bill seeks to provides funding for college food pantries, and there are more options for students to donate extra meals swipes to their peers who can then use their campus card to anonymously use the donated swipes and avoid any potential stigma associated with food insecurity. The bill is being spearheaded by the nonprofit Swipe Out Hunger.
According to information provided by Swipe Out Hunger, the Hunger Free Campus bill has now passed in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota and Louisiana.
Meal swipe donation programs have also grown in popularity over the past two years. Programs vary, with some campuses electing to build their own programs in house, while others have turned to third-party providers like Swipe Out Hunger to provide a more turnkey solution.
