Episode 103: Creative Campus Cards with Colorado School of Mines

Bob Mask, director of campus card services at the Colorado School of Mines, explains how his campus uses credential cards for more than just identification. He outlines how individual electronic cards are used throughout the summer for many on-campus events and camps with a variety of attendees and visitors. Mask highlights the convenient functions of the cards from building access to meal time checkout and the variety of benefits.

In partnership with Student Conference Services, Mask and his card services team are tasked with running logistics for 30 summer events or camps that bring in over 2,500 visitors each year. Each campus visitor is using housing and/or dining services. To grant building entry access to each visitor, proximity cards are programmed to the correct buildings that each visitor needs access to. The card also allows access on a floor by floor bases. The cards run on a number system, so when a staff member looks at a proximity card, they know exactly which buildings and floors the card is attached to. Having this information encoded through a number system is an additional layer of security if the proximity cards are lost or stollen.

In an effort to streamline the dining process, Colorado School of Mines, has created a “summer conference meal plan” that is attached to each of the proximity cards. By utilizing the TouchNet meal system, they have been able to create a block plan that allows for a single swipe for each meal for each day for each card. It helps control how often the card is used and is trackable for when the card is used. The block plan is still flexible enough for groups to work with food service for specific needs. This method makes it very easy to estimate accurate billing and cost for each group based on their time spent on campus. The inspiration for this process came from the dining process at Disney resorts. It is all centered around the convenience needs of short-term summer visitors and campers.

By combining building access and dining plans onto a single proximity card, Colorado School of Mines is able to streamline security and meal billing. Mask and his team have saved both time and resources, as well as cut down on human error and turnaround time between summer groups, by implementing this new card process.