The Technology of School ID Cards

Sally is a sophomore at the local college. A typical day in her campus life goes something like this:

Get up, go to breakfast, use school ID to get into the food hall and pay for her meal. Go to the library, use school ID to borrow a book and make a copy of an old midterm for history class. Go to biology and use school ID to get soda from vending machine and then check into class. Go back to dorm, use school ID to gain access to dorm building. Later on use school ID to do laundry, vote in student government election, have dinner and buy pens at the campus bookstore.

Without her school ID she never would have left her dorm room. She used it for almost every interaction of the day. Sally and millions of students across the country would not be able to get through their college years without their school ID.

School ID cards first had serveral uses in the seventies when students used them for meal plans and building access. Today these cards can be used to identify individuals as a securityh measure but they are also used for building access, meal plans, ven ding machines, laundry machines, copiers, borrowing of library books, internet access and the storage of medical information.

On large campuses one of the greatest advantages is accountability. It allows the campus to protect their sturdents, faculty and staff. Only permitted individuals who live in the dormitories can gain access to them.

The card can also be used for promotional tarteting of certain students by monitoring their buying habits, or to evaluate if a career fair or social event was successful. Students can keep cash balances on their card to be used ofr the cafeterias, vending machines, copiers and laundry machines.

With so much already being available to use with your student ID where can the future lead? many campuses are now trying to integrate banking or credit card systems onto their car, so that students can go to the ATM machine get money out or tranfer money onto their school ID.