Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania is issuing new ID cards, called the OneCard, to the entire campus. The undergraduate student body was re-carded at the start of the fall semester, faculty and staff members are scheduled to get new cards following the fall break.
Cards will be distributed to staff in two phases, with distribution date based on office location.
The card can be used at both Haverford College and Bryn Mawr. Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore College are members of the Tri-College Consortium, which enables students to register for courses at the three schools.
The new card is part of the Seamless Administrative Services initiative calling for better integration of administrative services between the colleges.
Read more here.
The University of Texas discovered an apparent flaw in its emergency text alert system.
An alert was sent out recently regarding a man carrying a rifle and wearing a gas mask. A few weeks prior, the university was evacuated after a caller claimed to have placed bombs throughout the campus. Both incidents turned out to be hoaxes but the university police department said some students didn’t receive either text message.
The problem was caused by some parents also signing up for the alerts. The system essentially knocked the students’ cell phone numbers out of the system.
The university pointed out that the text alert is only for students and staff and that there are other ways for parents to receive this kind of information.
Read more here.
ScholarChip, a provider of smart ID solutions for schools, has updated its classroom attendance solution to meet new state mandates requiring schools to actually track the time a student is present in class.
Its automated student time and attendance reporting, also known as ASTAR, is ScholarChip’s latest version of its classroom attendance service .and provides accurate to-the-minute reporting of a student’s attendance.
The time a student spends in class is now part of a teacher’s performance review. Without automation these mandates are difficult and expensive to implement. ScholarChip automates the collection of this classroom data and supports integration with student information systems.
Students tap their contactless ID cards on a reader as they enter a classroom which registers the student’s attendance. With the new mandates, students also need to tap when leaving class (for example to attend a meeting with a guidance counselor) and tap again when re-entering the classroom. The time a student is absent from class is recorded.
ASTAR is supported on three platforms: a browser based service; a mobile Android App available for use with NFC-enabled tablets and smart phones and a platform that is designed to operate with a wall-mounted smart card reader inside a classroom.
A smart phone can substitute for a personal escort for students walking alone at the University of San Francisco. The virtual safety escort system is called Pathlight and was just launched at the California institution by CBORD, a provider of campus card and security solutions.
Pathlight, which gives students quick access to extra security resources via their smart phones, is an application for Apple and Android devices allowing students to opt in to GPS tracking services for their phones. The phone interface requires three steps by the user:
If more time is needed, students can update their expected arrival times. If a student feels in immediate danger at any time, a help button will notify dispatchers of the student’s location and need for assistance.
Once transmission begins, dispatchers see icons for each student on a map with live tracking. The map shows the traveler and route taken. If a student requests help, does not meet his/her arrival time or if one of several other criteria are met (sudden high travel speed, wrong direction, etc.), an alarm brings the student’s location and information to a dispatchers’ attention.
Because it’s integrated with CBORD’s CS Gold campus card system, Pathlight provides greater situational awareness than a standalone GPS tracking solution. Location information for card usage and devices in CS Gold is correlated with the location information from Pathlight. In addition to a student’s location, dispatchers have access to the student’s ID card photo and contact information, and even nearby cameras where available.
Students without a smart phone, or even a cell phone, can still use the university’s physical escort services. Pathlight does not replace those services, but rather serves as another option when a student wants some extra monitoring but doesn’t feel the need for an in-person escort, said a CBORD spokesperson.
An eight percent transaction fee has caused some businesses in the Boston area to shy away from Tufts University’s JumboCash debit card program. Businesses also have to pay 15 cents per transaction.
“The JumboCash fees are charged by our program to the vendor as a way to offset the cost of the program,” said Patti Klos, Tufts’ director of dining and business services. “JumboCash is not another credit card, it is the campus debit card, a way to conduct business around campus with the convenience of paying with your campus ID.”
One business owner commented that business was “great” without having to accept the JumboCash card. Another reason is the “percentage that would be taken away from our business,” he added.
Despite the high fee, 25 off campus merchants have opted to accept JumboCash. One business owner said that accepting the card was a good opportunity to expand his business.
“The demand was from the students to begin with, so [JumboCash] called me and we accepted it,” he said. “It’s not our best choice for a card [because] regular cards are three percent. It doesn’t help the cash flow, because you’re laying out the money.”
Read more here.
The University of Minnesota may be joining some of the other Big 10 schools by eliminating printed football tickets and storing them on students’ IDs instead.
It’s a growing trend not only in the Big 10 but among other schools as well.
Associate athletics director Jason LaFrenz said he didn’t know when the switch would occur, if at all, but that the university is researching the necessary requirements. He said the school should be ready to make a formal decision by early next year.
Currently, students pick up their football and basketball season tickets using their student ID. Each student is given a season pass that has all of the games loaded onto a barcode, LaFrenz said. Each season pass has the student’s name and customer number on it.
So far, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska have eliminated printed student tickets in favor of electronic tickets.
Read more here.
Students at Ocean City High School in New Jersey will be swiping their student ID card next year as they enter school., which will create an electronic attendance record that will follow them throughout the school day.
In each period, teachers will be able to check actual attendance against the record of which students should be in class.
Students will swipe cards at two stations at the school’s entrance and a teacher monitoring the system will be able to view a photograph produced by the student ID to make sure that it matches the student swiping the card.
Students who forget their IDs will be able to visit two stations in the attendance office to receive temporary IDs or even time-stamped late passes.
Swipe K12 School Solutions will be installing the new technology.
Read more here.
The University of Chicago is reporting on its Web site that “due to an unprecedented materials shortage” with the manufacturer of its specialized university ID cards, the school can’t issue new cards at this time.
The shortage is expected to be cleared up by the first week of October. In the meantime, students will be issued two temporary ID cards–one containing the student’s photo to serve as identification and the other with the contactless chip that enables students to access buildings.
“We will replace these two temporary cards with standard UChicago cards after we receive new card stock,” the Web site notes. “We expect to be able to begin that process in the first week of October, and we’ll notify you with further information at that time.”
The site did not specify why there was a materials shortage.
Read more here.
The recent incident where a 26-year-old woman passed herself off as a Columbia University student shows how lax security can be at many colleges and universities.
Birva Patel had been posing as a third-year biomedical engineering student since December 2011. She went unnoticed by the authorities until several Columbia students reported her for suspicious behavior in late August.
While she was seen inside various campus buildings, sleeping in lounges or walking down the hallways without attending any classes, no one thought to call authorities. Without a Columbia ID or key, Patel entered the buildings by asking other students to open the doors for her. Or, she simply blended in with a large crowd when entering the building.
There are multiple ways of increasing security, including cameras and metal detectors, but the easiest and most effective way to strengthen campus security is to encourage students to remain alert, an article in The Wellesley News points out. “If a student sees anyone who doesn’t belong, or if their gut reaction tells them that something is not quite right, they should report it to the campus police,” The News adds.
Read more here.
The push is on by some Pennsylvania advocacy groups to get voter ID-compliant cards into the hands of students before the November election.
A recent survey by the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group found that student IDs at 95 of 110 Pennsylvania college campuses did not meet the state’s new voter ID law, specifically providing IDs with expiration dates and photos. Student IDs at a few colleges did not even contain photos, PennPIRG reported.
However, since the law was passed, some Pennsylvania colleges have been issuing new ID cards that comply with the law, including issuing new ID cards or stickers with expiration dates, PennPIRG said.
A coalition of organizations, including the ACLU, Rock the Vote and the Committee of Seventy, have been encouraging schools to inform students about the law.
Read more here.
