The UCard, which is utilized by IUS students for services such as making purchases at the bookstore, dining and printing, will be replaced in April by the CrimsonCard according to the IU website. The website states the new resource will be the official student photo ID card for all IU campuses.

Rob Lowden, associate vice president of enterprise systems at Indiana University, said the new card will act as a smart card, providing the same services as the UCard while being more efficient and secure for students and faculty.

“The CrimsonCard will provide all of the existing features and functions that the UCard provides today, including Access, Commerce and Identification,” Lowden said. “What’s more, you’ll be able to use the CrimsonCard wherever it’s accepted across IU, not just at a single campus or location. The CrimsonCard will also meet state voter identification requirements, allowing students to use it as identification to vote in the state of Indiana.”

The CrimsonCard will be used for a variety of university services and features including:

· Secure access to IU buildings and residence halls

· Meal plans

· Campus libraries

· Sports and recreation facilities

· Printing services

· Payment at participating retailers

Lowden said in order to reduce costs and make changes to the card, IU President Michael McRobbie worked alongside University Information Technology Services Vice President Brad Wheeler and various other members on other campuses such as Director of IT Media and Communications, Lee Staton.

“Michael McRobbie looked at the way all of the IU campuses had different campus cards and decided that all of IU should be consolidated onto a single common card, the CrimsonCard,” Staton said. “There are many reasons for this change. Having everyone share one card system will significantly reduce operational costs IU-wide and streamline interactions between campuses.”

The new card will display an expiration date, working to abide by the National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines.

“The expiration date is necessary to meet voter identification requirements,” Lowden said. “The faculty requested that the expiration date be no longer than six years to support the goal of four to six years for undergraduate graduation.”

The transition will affect the IUS campus in more ways than one, as the UITS will be taking the responsibility of creating and distributing all CrimsonCards.

“[UITS] took over because we’re the ones with the access to printing and the servers that hold all of the card data,” Kathryn Combs, fine arts junior and ITS project manager, said. “We have to be ready by March and we’re really rushing to get there. It’s a big change.”

Staton said the UITS customer service window has already been customized to accommodate walk-up CrimsonCard patrons. Staton said he hopes to have a small remodel in the future, but expects to assist students and faculty without any complications.

Most, if not all, financial transactions will move online rather than at the Bursar’s office, according to Staton.

While IU campuses are preparing the new card for upcoming orientations, a transition period will be needed from March 11 through 17 in order to update the systems for the CrimsonCard.

“The transition period was chosen because that is spring break week across all of IU, except here at IU Southeast,” Staton said. “That makes our switch a little more complicated for the [UITS] team, but should result in minimal hassles for students.”

According to Staton, UITS is working to ensure the system changes are complete over the weekend of March 11 so that on-campus card services are operational for the morning of March 13.

Staton said dining services and printing should still be accessible although students will be unable to add money to their printing allotment. While Staton said he anticipates some issues with the vending machine accepting UCards during the transition, he hopes to have it resolved by Monday evening on March 13.

“If the worst happens and dining services is not ready, a contingency plan will be in place so that students on meal plans will still be able to charge meals against their plan,” Staton said.

“We do not anticipate any impact on printing for students, faculty or staff during the transition week. Although, for that week only, students will not be able to add money to the card for additional printing allotment.”

The first to receive the new resource will be incoming students attending orientation in April and May at IU campuses. The IU website states current cardholders will be permitted, but not required, to get an updated card.

The website states that any current cardholders will need their existing student card, government issued photo ID and 10-digit University ID number to update their card to the CrimsonCard.

According to the IU website, CrimsonCards will also be accepted by 250 retailers across the state.

“It is important to remember that everyone’s UCards will continue to work for another year,” Staton said. “There is no need to rush and have a new card made. And there’s no charge for replacing your UCard with a CrimsonCard when you do upgrade.”