In response to a recent call for its student ID card to be made voter ID compliant, Purdue University will offer its students a week-long window to exchange their existing student campus cards for a new, voter ID compliant credential for free. Plans for the grace week were developed based on a proposal from Purdue’s university senate to help ensure students had ample opportunity to obtain the new card design.

Southern Illinois University is set to celebrate its 150th anniversary this year, and as part of this year’s homecoming celebration, the university card office is getting into the spirit by offering a special commemorative student ID card. The special edition campus cards are for alumni and other members of the SIU community, and will be issued during the university’s homecoming weekend in October.

Wavelynx’s Jacob Jablonski talks about the LEAF protocol and how universities can use the open architecture approach to forge a vendor agnostic campus card system. Also hear how the University of Georgia worked with Wavelynx to own its own keys. A newcomer to the campus card space, Wavelynx Technologies is championing a different approach to structuring a university card transaction system by promoting an open infrastructure with the freedom to mix and match solutions.

Iowa is the latest state to consider the role of the student ID card for voter identification at the polls. Specifically, Iowa’s two major state institutions, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, are taking different stances on the matter.

Students at the University of Wisconsin Madison are appealing to state lawmakers to make the university’s student ID card, the Wiscard, a valid form of identification at the voting booth. A student group has highlighted the lack of a cardholder signature, and a five year card expiration period as being key barriers to the campus card being valid for Wisconsin state voting.

The Washington state Legislature recently passed a new suicide prevention law that requires all public institutions in the state to provide a suicide hotline number on student ID cards. The ruling applies to this academic year, and Gonzaga University has already complied by printing the suicide hotline on the backs of its student ZAGCARDS.

Together with card system vendor, Touchnet, the University of Houston has created an advanced card transaction environment for its students and campus community. In the video hear from both Deborah Davis, Director of the Cougar Card Office, and Esmeralda Valdez, Executive Director of University Services at Houston as they discuss in detail the university’s campus card environment.