Mercyhurst University is the latest campus to join the student food insecurity non-profit, Swipe Out Hunger, enabling students to donate unused meal swipes. Spearheading the initiative at Mercyhurst, is a partnership between the university’s Community Engagement and OneCard offices alongside food-service provider Parkhurst Dining.

Students, campus visitors and other members of the Harris-Stowe State University community will have a contactless payment option for parking using their mobile device and the ParkMobile app. ParkMobile is one of the leading providers of smart parking solutions in the U.S., and has partnered with a number of universities to deliver the mobile payment option for campus parking.

The University of California San Diego is stocking new on-campus vending machines with free COVID-19 test kits for students and campus community members. The initiative will see UC San Diego students use their campus card to access the self-administered COVID test kits.

Card system vendor, TouchNet, discusses some of the measures and solutions that universities can deploy to move to a more contactless campus environment. Contactless solutions have taken on new importance this past year, and with new protocols and guidelines being implemented to limit physical contact between students, the solutions outlined in this video will be great additions.

Oregon State University has partnered with the Oregon Health Authority to test a smartphone-based contact tracing system that notifies users about possible exposure to COVID-19. OSU is the latest in a number of university campuses to serve as a testing ground for a potentially statewide COVID notification app. 

A new initiative from food service provider, Sodexo, and student food insecurity non-profit, Swipe Out Hunger, will bring the meal-swipe donation program to 100 new campuses nationwide. Following a successful pilot program, which provided more than 15,500 meals for 1,100 students during the Spring semester, the pair of organizations has announced the expansion of its Meal Swipe Bank to 100 new U.S. campuses by the end of 2021.

Following a successful pilot of the MI COVID Alert contact tracing app on the Michigan State University campus, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has expanded the app to statewide use. The MI COVID Alert app uses secure Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology to detect nearby phones of other app users to notify individuals when they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Western Michigan University will allow students enrolled exclusively in online classes the opportunity for penalty-free housing contract cancellations next semester. With the fall semester quickly coming to a close, sights are now turning to the spring and accounting for what the coronavirus may bring.

Drake University recently expanded the reach of its Bulldog Bucks off-campus program and declining balance account, enabling students and other Drake community members to make purchases at local businesses. The university hopes the initiative will foster a stronger town-gown relationship by helping to both encourage students to explore more of the Drake neighborhood, as well as support local businesses affected by the pandemic.

A student-led initiative brought Green2Go reusable containers to Carleton College last spring, and despite campus changes amid the coronavirus the containers have been a successful fit on the Northfield, MN campus. Plans for the reusable container program preceded the arrival of COVID-19 as a simple sustainability measure, but changing perceptions around eating in at campus dining halls might be breathing new life into the program.