With campuses across the country each in varying stages of digital transformation, all had to accelerate timelines to accommodate remote student services during the pandemic. With this in mind card system vendor, TouchNet, has recently released the results of its first annual Connecting the Dots survey, finding that participating students overwhelmingly believe that technology played a pivotal role in campus life post COVID.

In this episode of CR80News Chats, we catch up with ColorID’s David Stallsmith to talk about how ColorID has been helping universities tackle contact tracing and other COVID-19 related challenges. Contact tracing, in particular, is an emerging conversation for universities of all sizes, so we talk through some of the options available to campuses as they try to implement a contact tracing system that best suits their needs.

Maryville University has launched Transact Mobile Credential for its campus community, moving the Saints ID onto student mobile devices. Students, faculty, and staff can now add their Saints ID card to Apple Wallet or Google Pay to use their iPhone, Apple Watch, or Android device to access buildings on campus, purchase meals, and more.

The University of New Mexico has launched a new initiative that will, in part, use LoboCard student ID scanning to keep track of individuals, including vendors, contractors and visitors, that enter the most highly trafficked buildings on campus. The “Shared Location Entry Tracking” program will capture the identification of all individuals and employees entering select buildings and will eliminate the need for manual collection of contact information shared with the New Mexico Department of Health’s contact tracing team.

Scheduling solutions have quickly jumped to the forefront as a vital campus service – not just for normal times, but even more so now in response to new regulations surrounding COVID-19. Wake Forest University is leveraging ASSA ABLOY Aperio locks and a software-based scheduling solution from Detrios to help coordinate busy day-to-day life on campus.

As higher education grapples with new options for access control and security on campus, issues surrounding credential technologies, reader technologies, future proofing, and open standards are forefront. CR80News caught up with Rich Price, Director of User Experience at WaveLynx Technologies to learn about the company’s work in these areas. We also get an update on WaveLynx’s work at the University of Georgia in an interview with UGA’s director of IT for Auxiliary Services, Bill McGee.

HID Global’s new Signo line of access control readers has been awarded New Product of the Year for 2020 by Security Today magazine. Recognized in the Access Control Devices/Peripherals category, the new access reader line was chosen for features that foster an adaptable, interoperable and secure approach to access control.