Card, mobile credential, payment and security
The West Virginia Senate has passed a bill that would see suicide prevention hotlines printed on all student ID cards issued in the state. Initially revealed last month, the bill will apply to all institutions of learning, including colleges and universities in the state.
House Bill 3218 will require public middle and high schools, as well as public and private institutions of higher learning in West Virginia to include suicide prevention resources on student ID cards beginning next school year.
According to the official bill, "each public and private institution of higher education shall provide all incoming students with information about depression and suicide prevention resources available to students. The information provided to students shall include available mental health services and other support services, including student-run organizations for individuals at risk of or affected by suicide."
Specifically, the bill will include printing the numbers for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Crisis Text Line. The Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988. Students can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting "HOME" to 741741. The information can be printed anywhere on the campus card.
Michigan State University is prepping for a range of new campus security additions, including increased use of campus card access. Buildings on the Michigan State campus will soon require everyone to swipe an MSU ID card to gain access Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.
According to student publication, The State News, starting March 13, buildings that will be affected by the new policy are the same buildings currently locked from 11:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. Most buildings on campus follow this rule. The planned campus security changes come in response to the recent mass shooting that occurred on campus.
Beginning next fall, MSU will prioritize adding new door locks to its over 1,300 academic classrooms on campus.
The university will also increase the number of cameras installed around campus, including academic buildings and Green Light phones. MSU Police and Public Safety are also in the midst of a calls for proposal process that would centralize the campus camera system.
Last month, MSU was the only member university of the Big Ten to obtain an emergency readiness accreditation. MSU leaders also plan to conduct an after-action evaluation of how emergency personnel and leaders responded to the crisis, as well as solicit a third-party review.
The after-action evaluation is a common practice for institutions that experienced emergency situations as a way to review successful aspects of its emergency response, as well as potential areas of improvement.
Cyber-physical security convergence software company, AlertEnterprise, Inc., has launched its first-ever Guardian AI Chatbot, powered by OpenAI ChatGPT. The AI Chatbot is designed to help security admins to access vital security and access control information using AI and quick prompts.
The Guardian AI Chatbot is developed with OpenAI's GPT-3 platform and is designed to instantly deliver physical access and security insights to security operators by using quick questions and prompts. The company will debut its AI Chatbot later this month at the ASIS Europe and ISC West trade events.
“Physical security and access control systems have always contained a tremendous wealth of data but, until now, accessing it was a tedious and manual process,” says Yogesh Ailawadi, SVP Product and Solutions Engineering at AlertEnterprise. “Our Guardian AI Chatbot is poised to redefine the security operator’s experience, increasing their productivity by over 100 times with instant and actionable insights for not only risk mitigation but real business value.”
Ailawadi says that the Guardian AI Chatbot is part of the launch of AlertEnterprise’s next-gen AI technology and is completely integrated throughout the Guardian platform.
The Guardian AI Chatbot has been trained on ChatGPT’s most recent content and prompts and can understand and interpret text and voice using a natural language processing engine. The Chatbot can answer a range of questions related to physical access, identity access management, visitor management, door reader analytics, and security and safety reporting.
Some prompt examples include:
Using Guardian and its AI Chatbot, security officers and information security officers can boost their team’s efficiency by automating tedious tasks and freeing up time to focus on more critical responsibilities.
Guardian also leverages the company’s current security investments by connecting to most leading access control vendors and over 200 out-of-the-box connectors to HR, IT and OT systems. And if the organization has a complex mix of access control systems, Guardian connects to and consolidates them all under a single platform.
AlertEnterprise founder and CEO Jasvir Gill says there’s no better time for security administrators to invest in hyper-efficiency boosting AI platforms like Guardian.
“With Guardian’s deep forensics and AI data driven insights, CSO's and CISO’s can transform their access control from the stone age to the digital age—making every part of their SOC more automated, expeditious and cost effective, and ultimately the organization more secure," says Gill. "That’s why I view the AlertEnterprise Guardian platform as a deflationary fighting force for companies today.”
Penn State is on the verge of major changes to its campus card, with plans well underway to move to a new contactless credential, dubbed the id+ card. As part of that technology migration, the university has now laid out its plans for a campus wide re-carding event.
According to an official university release, the re-carding event for students on Penn State's flagship campus, University Park, will be conducted on the basis of on last name, and will be held between March 20 and April 7. Separating the re-carding efforts by name is expected to help split the job into more manageable batches.
Penn State's new id+ cards will be distributed for University Park students through the university's campus card team at the id+ Office. Any members of the Penn State community who already received a new id+ card after May 10, 2022, will not need to participate in the re-carding event.
Outdated campus cards must be exchanged for the new id+ card. The university will assess a re-carding fee for anyone who fails to present their old at the time of receiving their new credential. University Park faculty and staff will me mailed their new id+ cards via USPS.
The re-carding schedule for students at University Park campus has been split up by first letter of last name:
March 24 and April 7 will also be open for all University Park campus students to pick up a new id+ card, regardless of their grouping.
The new id+ cards now enable contactless payment transactions and access control.
Starship delivery robots have been roaming the George Mason campus since 2019, when the university became the first in the country to host the then fledgling delivery solution. In the time since, George Mason and its students haven't looked back, growing the program year on year and processing more orders than ever before.
A recent university release commemorated four years with Starship, reflecting on what started as a fleet of 25 robots -- the world’s largest fleet of delivery robots at the time. That fleet has now grown to 60 robots, all delivering on George Mason's Fairfax, Va. campus.
“Starship robots allowed Mason to bring an innovative, safe, and convenient dining solution to students—which was well-received by the campus community and proved to be extremely helpful during the pandemic,” says Pascal Petter, executive director, auxiliary services, at George Mason. “We celebrate the milestones achieved thus far and look forward to our collaborative work in the future.”
Just as impressive as the growth of the fleet are some of the ordering stats that Starship has amassed as George Mason since launching in 2019:
Additionally, the university reports that its campus residence, Whitetop Hall, is the most popular delivery location on campus. And while breakfast has a popular meal for robot delivery, lunch still reigns supreme as the most popular delivery meal each day.
“It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been doing deliveries at Mason for four years,” says Chris Neider, director of business development at Starship Technologies. “We’ve taken what we learned at Mason and have incorporated those lessons across the U.S. We’re looking forward to the next four years and beyond at Mason!”
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire has deployed mobile credentials with the help of Transact Campus. The mobile credential initiative will move student, faculty and staff Blugold cards to both Apple and Android devices.
According to an official university release, the mobile credentials will offer the campus community a ubiquitous use case, mirroring all the same capabilities of the physical Blugold cards.
“The digital ID can be used anywhere your physical Blugold ID card would be used,” said Kent Gerberich, chief information officer and director of the UW-Eau Claire’s Learning and Technology Services.
After first downloading the Transact eAccounts app, Wisconsin-Eau Claire community members can login with their UWEC credentials to begin the provisioning process.
Android users must first enable and turn on near-field communication (NFC), and set Google Wallet as their default payment application. From there the process is the same for both Apple and Android users.
According to Gerberich, the process of moving UWEC to mobile credential is a little over a year in the making.
“The first big step was finalizing the quote and getting everything purchased," Gerberich told student publication The Spectator. "From there a number of backend systems had to be updated."
"But, by far the biggest step was updating all 1000-plus doors on campus to allow for the digital ID to be used," he added.
The university is yet to decide if it will make the mobile credential the only form of student ID used on campus. Gerberich said that the idea of the digital ID replacing the physical card outright has been considered.
In a recent entry to the NACCU Positive IDentity blog, Josh Bodnar, Director of the BuckID at Ohio State University lays out his top reasons for getting more engaged with NACCU. An active and long standing NACCU member, Bodnar knows the value of being involved with the Association, and the many benefits that come with.
"Ask any long-term NACCU member why they love our association and keep coming back, one of the answers you hear over and over again is that they love the connections that we build with each other and the unique way that we come together to support each other," writes Bodnar.
Bodnar goes on to stress that NACCU members frequently reach out, build connections, and lend a hand to one another.
"Whether it be gathering information to solve a tough problem through the listserv, a one-on-one conversation with a colleague to troubleshoot something, or a timely presentation or webinar that helps us to see something from a new perspective," says Bodnar.
Bodnar lists his top ways to get fully engaged with NACCU and benefit from the expertise that its membership possesses:
Bodnar stresses that the Association is a great place for card office professionals to both contribute and benefit from industry experts, and do so in a welcoming environment.
For Josh Bodnar's full write up and industry insights from other contributors, check out the NACCU Positive IDentity Blog.
The Colorado state House of Representatives is considering a bill that would mandate the printing of suicide hotline numbers to student ID cards. The move would add Colorado to a list of states to pass similar legislation, including California, Wisconsin, Nebraska and others.
If passed by the state Senate, House Bill 1007 would require higher education institutions in Colorado to print the phone numbers of both state and national mental health crisis and suicide hotlines on the back of all student ID cards beginning in August 2023.
"I think we’re going to save some lives," said bill sponsor Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder. “If somebody actually needs that number, they have easy access to it. And it normalizes the idea that people do need access to that number."
Suicide is reportedly the leading cause of death for teenagers and young adults in the state of Colorado. In 2021, the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado reported that 10% of Colorado’s suicide deaths were among college-aged adults, age 19 to 24 -- nearly twice the rate of children aged 10 to 18.
The House voted 59-3 in support of the bill, advancing it to the state Senate. Rep. Scott Bottoms, an opposing voice to the bill, stated his belief that the legislature shouldn't force businesses "to do the government's bidding."
"The government is always forcing businesses to spend their own money to accomplish all these extra things. This is about good governance," stated Bottoms, adding that students already have access to and are aware of suicide hotlines.
Last year, Colorado legislature passed a similar bill requiring suicide hotlines to be added to high school student ID cards. In addition to expanding the mandate to colleges and universities, HB 1007 would also require institutions to distribute suicide hotline information to students who were already issued campus cards prior to the change taking effect.
Dickinson College has added GET Mobile from card transaction system provider, CBORD. The addition of GET Mobile -- CBORD's app that supports payments, campus funds management, and dining -- will enable Dickinson students to upload ID photos, add money to their declining balance and view meal plan transactions.
GET Mobile is an extension of the CBORD meal plan and card transaction system already in place at Dickinson. According to a report from student publication, The Dickinsonian, the impetus behind adding GET came in part from parent requests. Specifically, parents were requesting a means to add funds to their student's declining balance accounts without the student needing to visit the Dickinson campus card office in person.
“The acquisition of GET did not go through a committee approval process," says Jessica McBeth, the Access Control and ID Specialist for Dining Services. "We had an opportunity to take advantage of a platform that natively works in conjunction with our existing CBORD system.”
The GET app displays a picture of the student and lists the amount of money they have in various accounts, including Dickinson's Declining Balance, Points, Devil Dollars and Dining Dollars funds. GET also shows transaction histories for campus eateries and an “Explore” section that lists eligible dining locations and which meal plan tenders they accept.
“The transaction information -- amount spent, date and location of the transaction -- is stored on-premise at Dickinson, within the CBORD meal plan and ID card system," says McBeth. "However, it is important to note that no credit card information is stored on campus.”
The credit and debit card transactions are processed through GET’s PCI-compliant merchant gateway.
GET is designed to provide a single app interface to manage a student's campus account. The app supports declining balance account top up, meal plan purchases, mobile credential provisioning, mobile food orders, door access, and more. For more information, visit CBORD.com.
ASSA ABLOY's Tyler Webb discusses his upcoming article series for CampusIDNews that covers some of the most important industry trends for this year. The article series will run over the coming weeks and provide insight on mobile credentials, physical security across campus, expanding access control amid tight budgets, and managing system upgrades.
Webb offers his insights from both the university and vendor sides of the industry. Webb previously worked at the University of Oklahoma where he, among other projects, helped to launch one of the first mobile credential programs.
Now with ASSA ABLOY, Webb works closely with universities to help solve many of the same challenges he knew from his time on campus. It's from these experiences that he has compiled his "Tyler's top tips."
Be sure to check out the full article series with ASSA ABLOY on CampusIDNews.
