Jon Carey
Equinox Staff
The Keene State campus will welcome a new card system for students entering the fall semester of 2012 that promises simplicity and efficiency when it comes to student life.
CIO of the Information Technology Group, Laura Seraichick, said the “one card project” has been a priority of KSC for the last 18 months, getting help from both students and faculty.
“The C-Board Relations is the core of the one card project mostly because the database is so massive, allowing all this activity onto one card takes a lot of space within the system,” Seraichick said.
In the spring of 2010, the KSC cabinet shifted its priorities around campus to focusing on more objective projects, such as the one card system.
To build the foundation of the project, four months were dedicated to surveying KSC students’ reactions to the institution of a one card system. The cabinet later used the data from the surveys to effectively create an access card for the students.
“The card will basically serve as an access card for students on campus, allowing them to check out library and rec center equipment, laundry expenses, on-campus vending machines, building access, and for local use with certain Keene restaurants,” Seraichick said.
The most prominent characteristic of the card is the ability to deposit cash onto the card and manage the card’s information online. Seraichick said the goal is efficiency, that students should be given these responsibilities in hopes that it will make the college experience that much simpler. “The hope is that students can manage the card’s financial information online and that could cover anything from room damages to students just simply having cash on them wherever they go.”
Evan Bennett, a KSC junior, relayed his excitement for the new card system and said once it gets going students will have one less thing to worry about. “I think it’s a hassle trying to manage all these tasks college students deal with, having different cards, trying to remember what goes on what. This way it’s one less thing we have to worry about, having everything on one card is just simple. I don’t know why it’s taken this long to get it going.”
In regards to students gaining access to academic buildings after hours, that is a question of policy for the Keene State campus.
“It is a policy question to be asked if the college really wants to implicate granted access onto a card,” Seraichick said. “Having the ability to allow the building to recognize who is gaining access within that area would be simpler, but that’s a decision the college has to make so they can take precautions.”
Lucas Fiehler, a fitness trainer for the Spaulding Gym, said having a multi-functioning card system would help all facilities around campus when it comes to checking out equipment.
“At the rec center students usually use their ID card to checkout a locker or equipment. The desk helpers usually hold onto the student’s ID until they’re done with the equipment or locker usage, so that’s where having the one card system could help,” Fiehler said.
Along with the one card system, Seraichick also mentioned that the KSC cabinet is instituting a new housing management system for students applying for on-campus housing. “Another implement the college is working on is a more efficient housing selection for when students conduct their room selections at the end of each semester.” According to Seraichick, the room selection implement is still being institutionalized and could be ready for the fall 2012 semester.
“I think a better housing selection would make a lot of students happy. Way too many of my friends have had to search for housing off-campus because the lottery selections wouldn’t allow them to room with who they wanted,” Bennett said. “I have had the luck of getting housed in the Pondside apartments, but I know plenty of students who have been practically forced off campus because of the housing lottery system.”
These new implements being made for the future of KSC are in hopes of making the campus more efficient for the working students of this college. The faculty and staff have worked, and are continuing to work, on ways to make this college more accessible to the students.
“The entire college has been more than supportive when it comes to these projects. I can’t even tell you how many people we have working on making the one card project a reality, and seeing where that can take us into the future,” Seraichick said. “For students, making the college life automated is the best and most efficient way. Having everything on one card minimizes student risk and increases student benefits.”
Jon Carey can be contacted at jcarey1@ksc.mailcruiser.com.