Students will no longer have to struggle with fickle proximity readers to enter dorms and department buildings, after OIT begins replacing them this month.
In collaboration with staff members from Facilities, Dining Services and Public Safety, the University's identification card system will be revamped over the summer.
Becky Goodman, manager of OIT software services, said roughly 500 proximity (prox) readers will be replaced — improving campus security and reducing systemic problems.
With a swipe of an ID card imbedded with a programmable prox chip, the prox readers provide access to campus dormitories and academic buildings.
However, the current prox chips do not always function correctly, and the existing technology is patented and available through only one vendor.
"The prox reader for 1938 Hall is very annoying at times," Lee Tien '07 said. "We have to hold the card up, rub it around and change angles to gain entry."
Tien, like many students, prefers to leave the prox in his back pocket and employ a simple "hip-check" to get into buildings.
Only some faculty and staff members currently have ID cards with prox chips, but next year all students, faculty and staff will be given new ID cards with more reliable and advanced technology. The technology will be the industry standard and available through several vendors.
In addition, the encoding map on the card's magnetic stripe will not be identified with the cardholder's social security number.
The new cards will use the University ID number, the Weekly Bulletin reported.
The latest encoding adheres to American Banking Association standards, meaning that the ID cards could one day be used as ATM cards.
The new ID card is also accompanied by a refreshing design. The white background on the current ID card will be replaced with an orange background with black stripes.
Cards will identify student, faculty, and staff holders by their constituency group. Student cards will still have a letter and year to designate a student's residential college and class.
Faculty and staff be able to get their new ID cards the second week of June, and students receive their new cards in September.
"I eagerly await the convenience and design of the new ID card," Tien said.
Those students who will remain on campus during the summer and have received authorization from OIT may receive their cards in June.
Starting September 1, the new ID card must be used in all dining facilities and libraries.
Seventeen thousand students, faculty, staff, spouses, dependents, domestic partners, trustees, retirees and affiliates hold University ID cards, according to the Weekly Bulletin.
Vendors who participate in the Paw Points program also will read only the new cards in June, the Bulletin reported.
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