University Business - January 2012 - (Page 35)

cfo Getting Carded director of card services. Also, the university doesn’t need to buy more printers so that card issuance goes quickly on the first few days. Campus A Look Beyond Campus Cards Given the pervasive use of mobile devices, could handheld technology replace campus card programs altogether? After all, aiming a device at a residence hall keypad, or paying for vending snacks by waving a cell phone at the machine, are already possible, as is automated check-in at events, purchases at tech-savvy retailers, and connection to banking services. With all that functionality, it just makes sense to consider a switch, believes Laura Ploughe, director of business applications and fiscal control in the university business services department at Arizona State University. In a recent pilot program with 35 participants, 90 percent of them said they’d want to use a mobile phone instead of a card to open doors on campus, as well as for meals, event admission, merchandise purchases, transit passes, and other services. Ploughe says, “Mobile phones are at the heart of campus life and play a major role in facilitating student social connections. Mobile phones are 60 times more likely to interrupt a student’s day if they lose it than a plastic card.” Because of that high level of mobile usage, ASU has a vision for the future of moving to an all-mobile platform, where a student is issued a virtual identity at registration. The university would provide a secure means to enable provisioning of the identity via a mobile appli- On the road to a fully mobile cation. Already, the university platform, ASU students will be is working with its card vendor, able to wave their mobile phones HID Global, on the transition to instead of a card for door entry. using mobile phones for door access control, and encouraging mobile app development among students and faculty. “The move away from a campus card is a natural progression,” says Ploughe. “We’d like to have full roll-out within a few years, but it’ll depend on how the tech industry is driving decisions in terms of standards. Still, we see this as the future.” 10. Consider integrating mobile devices with card programs. Although some administrators favor a move to mobileonly programs (see “A Look Beyond Campus Cards”), the switchover from cards to devices will likely take years just to appear on the horizon. “I don’t believe campus cards are going to go away in favor of mobile anytime soon,” notes Watkins, “but mobile does add functionality that schools should consider.” He points out that card users can check their account balances through a secured card office website. Also, the department can issue emails when a balance seems to be getting low, sending the message to a mobile device so that a student can address the issue quickly. Pairing mobility with card usage makes sense, Watkins notes, and part of Emory’s plans for the future involve investigating more interplay between campus cards and mobile devices. In general, administration of card programs can come with numerous challenges. CFOs and other administrators need to address security issues, closed-loop or branded systems, and marketing tactics for increasing usage. But the benefits of a well-run card program can be formidable: greater efficiency in operations, cooperation among departments, connections between students and staff members, and more revenue. “Card programs come with so much potential,” says NACCU’s Adkins. “They present an opportunity to streamline the operations of a school, and enhance revenue in a meaningful way.” Elizabeth Millard is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer. Resources CardSmith, www.card-smith.com CBORD Group, www.cbord.com CI Solutions, www.cicustomcards.com Datacard Group, www.datacard.com Emory U’s EmoryCard, www.emory.edu /studentfinancials/EmoryCard.htm universitybusiness.com Heartland Campus Solutions, www.1card.com HID Global, www.hidglobal.com ITC Systems, www.itcsystems.com Higher One, www.higherone.com Mount Holyoke OneCard, www.mtholyoke .edu/auxservices/card_main.html National Association of Campus Card Users, www.naccu.org NuVision Networks Corporation, www .nuvisionnet.com Wittenberg University ProCard, www5.wittenberg.edu/administration /business_services/purchasing_card.html January 2012 | 35  http://www.1card.com http://www.naccu.org http://www.card-smith.com http://www.hidglobal.com http://www.nuvisionnet.com http://www.cbord.com http://www.nuvisionnet.com http://www.itcsystems.com http://www.cicustomcards.com http://www.higherone.com http://www.datacard.com http://www5.wittenberg.edu/administration/business_services/purchasing_card.html http://www.mtholyoke.edu/auxservices/card_main.html http://www.emory.edu http://www.mtholyoke.edu/auxservices/card_main.html http://www.emory.edu/studentfinancials/emorycard.htm http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - January 2012

University Business - January 2012
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Human Resources
Campus CFo
Getting Carded
Choosing telepresence
boosting the bottom line
Printer Purchase Pointers
Money Matters
Viewpoint
End Note

University Business - January 2012

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