Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Northern Arizona is leveraging Starship delivery robots and the mobile ordering app in a clever way to prop up late night dining, and putting a twist on the ghost kitchen concept. The university has launched its Hole In The Wall dining window that now serves either pickup or robot delivery for students by offering a number of dining concepts all from a single, concession-style window.
As reported by Food Management, NAU's Hole In The Wall is open from 8:30 P.M. to 11:30 P.M. — after the main campus dining hall has closed. The idea behind the initiative was to provide an option for those students whose class schedules conflict with more conventional dining hours.
NAU's Hole In The Wall dining concept started this semester and was designed to serve the late night dining crowd. The Hole In The Wall is just that — a pickup window located outside of the entrance to the student union.
Hole In The Wall stores meals brought from nearby retail dining concepts, including Burger ConFusion, Cobrizo Mexican Grill, wings and sandwiches from The Coupe, The Wedge Pizza, as well as pre-made salads. Pickup orders are brought to Hole In The Wall, while delivery orders are sent direct from dining locations to a desired destination by a Starship delivery robot.
Students can place orders via the Starship app and select either pickup or robot delivery. The initiative is designed to provide additional late night dining options for NAU students without having to keep the entire union — and its dining locations — open and running at full capacity.
"All of the retail locations have a number of bots always waiting to send out deliveries," says William Brandt, NAU Campus Dining Marketing Manager. "Employees prep the order, load it into the bot, and send it out immediately."
Robot delivery orders tack on a small fee, but students can elect to use student dining dollars or a standard credit card for payment.
NAU was one of the very first to implement Starship delivery robots, shortly before the pandemic. "They became prolific during Covid, when nobody wanted to sit next to other people at a restaurant," says Brandt. "Our fleet grew rapidly from there, and this concept became almost an organic next step."
NAU's late night dining solution also puts a spin on the ghost kitchen concept, first made popular when campuses shut down during the pandemic. Some of the retail dining locations that service Hole In The Wall remain open for walk-in customers during the 8:30-11:30 ordering window. But others are closed for walk-ins, and instead staff only the kitchen after hours to prep Hole In The Wall orders.
This solves the problem of offering more convenient dining options for students in a way that doesn't cause financial hardship for student dining, explains Brandt.
Since the start of the initiative last semester, NAU reports that roughly 75% of orders placed are for delivery, while the remaining quarter are pickups. The majority of after-hours orders are placed between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., with the most popular items being cheeseburgers, mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, chicken strips, and fried zucchini.
Order counts are still relatively low at around 60 per day, but Brandt expects that number to rise over time as students become aware of the Hole In The Wall concept. NAU is plotting a "major marketing campaign" this coming fall to boost awareness of the late night dining location. The marketing push will publicize Hole In The Wall on campus TV screens, send push notifications through NAU's mobile app, and post across the university's numerous social media accounts.
Identity solutions provider, HID Global has introduced Seos Bamboo credentials made from sustainably sourced bamboo instead of PVC. The credential is part of HID's Seos security solution and is the first in a range of physical access security Eco Cards designed to support an organization's sustainability efforts.
While the new Seos Bamboo credentials have not yet been issued on a college campus the cards do demonstrate a viable, sustainable proof of concept. The bamboo used to create the cards is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), an assurance that the material comes from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.
HID's recent "State of Security and Identity Report" indicates a majority of organizations rank climate and sustainability as corporate priorities. Higher education institutions are certainly no different. As a result, many organizations are now implementing renewable and eco-friendly materials as much as possible, as well as attempting to reduce energy consumption and waste wherever possible.
The major benefit of creating secure access cards from bamboo is that the plant is a renewable resource that grows quickly and requires less water and pesticides than traditional card materials. The initiative also demonstrates HID's continuous pursuit of innovation without compromising security and customer experience.
Other benefits of the new Seos Bamboo credential include:
"Our journey to offer alternative options to plastic cards and badges began 10 years ago with the introduction of HID Mobile Access — a first in the industry," says Martin Huddart, Senior VP and Managing Director of Physical Access Control at HID. "Seos Bamboo offers an additional option for sustainability within the physical access ecosystem, as it supports a more eco-friendly value chain in areas where physical access cards are still required."
Seos Bamboo cards are also a good option for organizations seeking green building certifications. The credentials are in line with internationally accepted bodies including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), and the Zero Waste to Landfill certification.
For more information on the new Seos Bamboo card, visit the HIDGlobal.com.
Mobile credential and payment solutions provider, Transact Campus has published the results from its most recent study on the technology and payment habits of college students. The study seeks to characterize how emerging generations are driving payment and technology expectations on college campuses.
The research study was conducted in partnership with The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK), and included a total of 1,376 U.S. participants ages 16-30, including 1,099 between the ages of 18 and 30 who are currently attending any type of college — four-year college, two-year college, in-person, or online. In addition, the study included an oversample of 277 Gen Z participants aged 16-18 who are currently enrolled in high school.
The research study was conducted online between October 31 and November 11, 2022 and seeks to paint a national snapshot of the Gen Z and young Millennial generations — the ages where emerging technology expectations and higher education meet.
The study covers a broad range of target areas, including campus recruitment and retention, student experience, as well as payment preferences, frustrations and expectations.
Data acquired in the study suggests that there are trends, behaviors, expectations, and interactions that high school and college-aged individuals consider to be campus essentials. The study also offers strategies and initiatives that campus administrators can implement to meet these expectations.
“At Transact, we believe a better campus experience is created through a better technology experience — from campus recruiting and retention, to payments and security,” says Nancy Langer, CEO, Transact. “Implementing what students want demonstrates innovation and commitment, and we are thrilled that our study is showing what campus administrators can do to improve the student interactions across campus.”
Some of the study's findings include:
“Emerging generations are rapidly reshaping interactions and transactions on campuses. This is particularly true with Gen Z, the fastest growing and most influential generation of current higher education students,” says Jason Dorsey, President, CGK. “They want mobile, real-time options. This creates challenges for institutions that can’t meet their needs. All universities need to listen to new and potential students and provide them with the options that are important to them.”
For more information on the study or to view the full findings, visit: transactcampus.com/research.
Reusable containers have grown in popularity on campuses nationwide in recent years, bringing a sustainable alternative to the often wasteful business of single-use boxes. Now, one of the largest providers of mobile ordering solutions for higher education, Grubhub, has entered the reusable container fray following its recent partnership with Topanga.io.
Topanga.io is a Southern California start up that has spent the last year making inroads in the higher ed market. The company has taken a slightly different approach to the now familiar reusable container idea, opting for an agnostic, software-first approach.
CampusIDNews recently caught up with both Grubhub and Topanga.io to discuss what the partnership means not just for Grubhub university clients, but for campus dining as a whole.
Where Topanga.io adopts a different approach to reusable containers is in its willingness to be a technology company, rather than a container company.
“We’ve recognized the need for technology in order to scale sustainable, long-term reuse programs,” says Page Schult, Co-Founder and CEO of Topanga.io. “We’ve been working in the higher ed space for the past year now, along with clients in meal plan and grocery delivery.”
Schult credits the company’s technology-first nature for offering a seamless integration experience to provide reuse across a range of retail and residential locations.
“We started talking about a potential partnership with Grubhub at the end of 2022 around two of our biggest clients, Ohio State University and Boston University,” she adds. “Both are avid Grubhub campuses and both had been looking at ways to make a reuse program come to life within their Grubhub environments.”
Boston University was used as proving grounds to test proof of concept for the other notable feature of the Grubhub and Topanga.io partnership: reusable containers in retail dining.
We see this as being a solution for all sorts of campus dining locations, be it retail, residential or even catering.
Historically, reusable containers on college campuses have been used almost exclusively for residential, university-operated dining halls. But as this partnership has proven, orders placed at retail locations can be served in reusable containers, too.
“We see this as being a solution for all sorts of campus dining locations, be it retail, residential or even catering,” says Ben Anderson, director of strategic sales for Grubhub. “Because this is something that’s an easy add on to the existing Grubhub platform, we believe this will scale up very quickly.”
There are different workflows for reusable containers in retail dining versus residential dining. In retail use cases, order tickets are printed with a QR code that labels it a Topanga.io reusable order.
“In residential dining applications you’re not necessarily ordering the food, you’re ordering the container,” says Anderson. “But you’re still leveraging the Grubhub app so that you have a way to process the transaction, run it against the campus card system, and ensure you have a credentialed customer picking up the order.”
Grubhub has also built out a “lite” enterprise model for campuses that just want to test reusable containers in residential dining. “It’s ideal for those who don’t necessarily want all of Grubhub mobile ordering, but instead want to take a focused approach initially with the option to upgrade later to the full mobile ordering platform,” says Anderson.
We can pair reusable containers with robot delivery, or place the containers in pickup lockers. That’s the key for us with Topanga, it works with the Grubhub platform and enables us to tie in our existing industry partners more seamlessly.
Another benefit to the reusable container system is that it dovetails with existing Grubhub services. “We can pair reusable containers with robot delivery, or place the containers in pickup lockers,” says Anderson. “That’s the key for us with Topanga, it works with the Grubhub platform and enables us to tie in our existing industry partners more seamlessly.”
“It enables us to have more arrows in the quiver for universities to choose from and helps ensure we’re aligned with how we build out our contactless, digital ecosystem,” adds Anderson.
Another key difference between Topanga.io and some of the reusable container programs that have come before is means of container reconciliation.
“A lot of the previous reuse programs in higher ed have leaned on outdated, analog systems for container checkout and return,” says Schult. “Most students have their mobile phone with them, so with our integrated ReusePass x Grubhub offering, they just open their Grubhub app. Each participating location within the Grubhub app will inform the user that it offers reusable containers as an option.”
In retail dining environments, where orders are fulfilled back of house and placed on a shelf for pickup, the connection between a student and a container is done by the operators back of house, explains Schult. “Once the container is on the shelf, the student doesn’t need to scan anything or show an ID, they just pick up the container and leave.”
A lot of the previous reuse programs in higher ed have leaned on outdated, analog systems for container checkout and return. With our integrated ReusePass x Grubhub offering, students just open their Grubhub app.
Students then receive a text informing them where to return their container. Student’s can check their Topanga.io ReusePass account at any time to see their impact stats and how to return containers. All containers are scanned and marked as returned by Topanga.io’s ScanApp system at the time they are cleaned and sanitized for their next use.
Students can also have as many containers checked out at a given time as they want.
Students have a certain amount of time to return the containers, they will receive SMS messages to remind them of that return window, and then beyond that a campus can choose to assess a late fee. “We haven’t seen any more than three containers checked out by a single student at a given time,” says Schult.
“Each container we use is paired with a unique identifier using either a QR code or RFID,” says Schult. “That allows us to check out a specific container to a specific user and track that asset throughout its lifecycle.”
Another unique facet to Topanga.io’s reusable formula is that the company is container agnostic.
“We’ll work with any container manufacturer that the university wants to use,” says Schult. “If the university doesn’t have a preference, we have a network of preferred partners that we’ll work with based on the type of container needed and the program.”
Being container agnostic is a stance that Grubhub shares. “We know that campuses are all in different boats in terms of their wants and needs,” says Anderson. “When it comes to reusable containers universities either don’t have it and want an all-inclusive offering, or they do have it and want a system that’s compatible with what they’ve already invested in.”
A huge benefit of the Topanga and Grubhub partnership is that we're able to support an existing reuse program, or help campuses start a new one.
It’s this level of flexibility that has Anderson excited for the future of the program.
“This is a cool way for retail dining to replace the non-reusable containers, use whatever container they want to use, and even possibly brand those containers,” he says. “That’s a huge benefit of the Topanga and Grubhub partnership — we're able to support an existing reuse program, or help campuses start a new one.”
One of the first campuses to deploy the Topanga.io and Grubhub partnership is Boston University. Lexie Raczka, Director of Sustainability for Boston University Dining Services at Aramark, offers some insights into how the program got off the ground and how things are going since launch.
“When we were developing the Choose to Reuse program, we knew we wanted a system that had detailed tracking to monitor the participation and success of the program. We also needed a solution suitable for a contactless pickup environment,” says Raczka. “The detailed level of data that Topanga provides, as well the support of a contactless pickup environment via Grubhub, made the program possible.”
BU had been trying for quite some time to find a winning reusable solution that also worked with its Grubhub environment.
“We spent more than two years working on a reusable to-go solution for our retail food hall, where we implemented Grubhub ordering and contactless pickup,” explains Raczka. “Grubhub’s integration with Topanga allowed us to offer a reusable to-go program that operates seamlessly within our existing ordering process.”
Grubhub’s integration with Topanga allowed us to offer a reusable to-go program that operates seamlessly within our existing ordering process.
In addition to launching the right solution, Raczka stresses the importance of encouraging the campus community to actually leverage the service.
“We still offer disposable containers in our retail food hall, but there is a $2.50 surcharge associated with disposables to nudge people towards reusable dishware for dine-in or a reusable to-go container,” says Raczka. “This surcharge has been instrumental in shifting people’s behavior from single-use packaging towards reusables. I would highly encourage other universities that want to offer disposable containers to consider a similar surcharge.”
Feedback from BU students suggests that the program is on the right track, and Raczka has the stats to back it up.
“Students have been very receptive to the program, and commonly share that it’s so easy to participate in the program,” says Raczka. “Since we launched the program, over 7,700 individuals have placed a reusable to-go order, and we have issued more than 45,000 reusable to-go containers, with a 97% return rate.”
Ultimately, sustainability remains at the heart of the Grubhub and Topanga.io partnership.
“Sustainability is clearly top of mind for our university partners,” says Anderson. “So as a technology consultancy, the question for us is how can we help our campuses navigate those concerns.”
The point of what we’re doing at the end of the day is to showcase that there’s true, positive economic and environmental impact from using a data driven reusable program.
Schult echoes the underlying importance of the initiative. “The point of what we’re doing at the end of the day is to showcase that there’s true, positive economic and environmental impact from using a data driven reusable program,” she says.
And while the use of reusable containers in retail dining is a new and exciting development, as Anderson explains, partnering with Topanga.io is about more than providing cool tech for cool tech’s sake.
“I think that there are some innovations that we bring to the market that may be applicable in limited use cases – lockers and delivery robots might not be a fit for every type of campus environment,” says Anderson. “But I think that reusable containers are something that could be a fit for everyone.”
An accidental disclosure of Eagle ID Card information at Florida Gulf Coast University led to the institution recarding a portion of its campus community. Students, faculty and staff members were initially alerted of the incident on February 8, 2023 and that the file containing information about Eagle ID cards had been created prior to August 25, 2022.
According to a report from student publication, Eagle Media, an unauthorized party disclosed to the university that it had obtained access to a file containing names, University Identification Numbers (UIN), and FGCU-specific Eagle ID card numbers. The breach led to the university reissuing a batch of credentials to those campus community members included in the disclosed document.
The university set up pickup locations in campus residence halls for students. Student impacted by the breach needed to pickup the new ID cards prior to April 3, ahead of transaction capabilities being deactivated on the old cards for Flex Dollars and Eagle Dollars use. Meal swipes, food purchases and campus laundry are also tethered to the FGCU ID card and would not work until the new card is obtained.
A university email detailing the incident stressed that the university is improving its detection capabilities to minimize the risk of a repeat incident, reading in part: "FGCU is deactivating affected card numbers for transactional purposes on Apr. 3, 2023. Existing door/building access will continue to function after deactivation.”
Following the breach, the university printed hundreds of new ID cards for those affected. Students, faculty and staff impacted were required to turn in their old ID card at the time of being issued a new one. The newly issued cards remain unchanged, and feature the holder's full name, headshot, UIN and student card number.
FGCU Business Services has since removed any further potential risk of wrongdoers gaining unauthorized access.
The National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU) has revealed the winners of its annual NACCU Awards. The award recipients were officially recognized at the Awards Luncheon during the NACCU 2023 Annual Conference held in Austin on April 16-19.
NACCU has recognized Lynn Ernsting from Seattle Pacific University as the recipient of the NACCU 2023 Outstanding Volunteer Award.
The NACCU Outstanding Volunteer Award is presented annually to recognize an individual who has demonstrated exemplary volunteer service to the mission, goals, and work of NACCU during the current or previous calendar year and encompasses the ideals of vision, diligence and commitment to service to the NACCU community.
Lynn served as the chair of the NACCU Ambassadors Committee, was the 2022 chair of the NACCU Awards Committee, served on the prior Membership Committee, and has coordinated a state-wide campus card group for Washington.
Illinois State University is the recipient of the NACCU 2023 Best Card Design Award.
The NACCU Best Card Design Award is presented annually for the submission which receives the most votes from NACCU members. Voters are asked to consider the visual impact, creativity and representation of the institution when judging the card designs.
The Redbird Card Office worked with the University Marketing & Communications department to create the new layout and design. Once design elements were decided, the Redbird Card Office put the final decision to a campus wide vote, sending an email to all students and staff to select their favorite of four design finalists.
The University of Georgia is the recipient of the NACCU 2023 Innovative Technology Award. The award was presented to William McGee, IT Director of Auxiliary Services at the University of Georgia.
The NACCU Innovative Technology Award recognizes and celebrates the success of a NACCU institutional member that has implemented innovative uses of technology in support of services used by campus identification programs.
UGA made the advancement of card technology a priority, forming a special committee consisting of representatives from different departments on campus to research secure credential solutions and launch an in-depth cost analysis. The committee determined that the best way forward was to move to an encrypted smart card on an open platform with non-proprietary interoperability — a solution that would give the university ownership of their own encryption keys.
The selected platform was an open-source DESFire EV2 card-provisioning format called the LEAF protocol. The university has developed an in-house program for encoding cards, enabling UGA credentials to function with multiple applications and devices and allowing for future expansion.
The University of Alabama is the recipient of the NACCU 2023 Best Marketing Campaign Award. The award was presented to Courtney Petrizzi, Action Card Services Analyst at the University of Alabama.
The NACCU Best Marketing Campaign Award recognizes an institution’s use of a variety of marketing efforts to enhance their campus card’s visibility and value on campus.
The Action Card team was looking to engage incoming students to participate in Online Photo Submission and mobile card download prior to orientation and move in, increase completed student account percentage prior to move-in and find other opportunities to increase complete ACT Card set up and card usage understanding.
The staff created a marketing strategy to achieve these goals, focused on working alongside Bama Bound Orientation to be present at check-in to validate and demonstrate mobile credential usage. As of August 16, 2022 for housing move in, there were a total of 7,798 students that had completed both photo submission and mobile card provisioning — a 99.5% ACT Card completion for move in.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities is the recipient of the NACCU 2023 Best Video Award.
The NACCU Best Video Award recognizes an institution’s use of video to communicate the purpose and intent of the card center. It may promote use of the campus card and other related technology. This award recipient is selected by NACCU member vote.
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities submitted a video entry that showcased its use of technology and commitment to providing the best possible service to its stakeholders.
“We are thrilled to receive the NACCU Best Video Award,” says Stephen Courchane, Director of the U Card Office at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. “Our team worked hard to create a video that effectively communicates the value of our card office to the University community, and this award is a testament to that.”
Nikayla Lampkins from Tufts University as the recipient of the NACCU 2023 New Professional Award.
The NACCU New Professional Award recognizes an individual with five or fewer years in the campus identification and transaction system profession who has made significant contributions to their institution, the industry and to the association during their relatively short time in their position.
Nikayla attended her first NACCU conference in 2022 and has shown initiative by serving as a member of the Engagement Committee and contributing to the Guide to Going Mobile. She has been an active participant on the NACCU listserv and Listserv LIVE! events. Nominations on her behalf stated that Lampkin "epitomizes the leadership qualities of a member who will continue to make a significant impact to both the card industry and to NACCU."
Laurie Harris from Duke University was recognized with the NACCU 2023 Distinguished Service Award.
The Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to an individual who has advanced the industry, exhibited entrepreneurial spirit, is an active member of NACCU, is actively involved in R&D, and who is active in the industry through serving on advisory boards and/or actively educating through presentations and sessions.
Laurie Harris has been an active member of NACCU for many years, and was an integral team member for one of the first three universities to launch mobile credentials. Harris also established user content and terms that serve as a model for other programs as they delve into mobile.
Since 2019, Laurie has served as a NACCU faculty member for the NACCU Standards and Guidelines (SAGs) program and evaluates the program for improvements after each course. She has served NACCU as a liaison to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS), an initiative that provides NACCU with an assessment and evaluation tool that is recognized throughout the higher education industry’s upper administrators, and has elevated the profile and status of the card office.
Laurie has also been a member of the NACCU Professional Development Committee, served as NACCU Book Club facilitator, as well as been a conference moderator, mentor, and presenter. She even authored the Wikipedia article for Campus Cards.
NACCU is proud to recognize Laurie Harris for providing excellence in every Association program she participates in, and is well deserving of recognition at the level of this award for all she has achieved and continues to achieve for NACCU and the campus card industry.
Purdue University is the latest institution to launch mobile credential, partnering with Transact to deliver the new Purdue Mobile ID to students for use on Apple and Android devices. Purdue students can now add their ID to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and use their smartphone or smart watch devices to access campus buildings, purchase meals and more.
According to an official university release, the new Purdue Mobile ID enables students to access residence halls and campus buildings, make transactions using BoilerExpress, use meal plans and pay for laundry. The new Purdue Mobile ID is being supported through Transact, and is being launched specifically for students on the flagship West Lafayette campus.
Beginning this summer, all incoming undergraduate students will provision a Purdue Mobile ID and not be issued a physical ID card. This is part of a "Mobile First" strategy employed by Purdue that seeks to eliminate the need for physical ID cards. The ultimate goal is for all of Purdue's some 50,000 students on the West Lafayette campus to be provisioned a Mobile ID in the next few years. Faculty and staff will continue to use physical ID cards and are not participating in the Purdue Mobile ID program at this time.
Purdue has been laying the groundwork for Transact Mobile Credentials since 2013, beginning with updating campus reader infrastructure and point-of-sale devices to accept mobile transactions. The university is also installing contactless and tap-to-pay technology through Transact in a phased approach across campus.
“We’re thrilled to build on our on-campus experience and roll out Purdue Mobile ID to our students,” says Loribeth Hettinger, senior associate bursar of ID Card Operations/Support at Purdue. “This will greatly simplify some of our bottlenecks by streamlining our ID card distribution processes to our incoming freshmen while also meeting student expectations – and even save them the time and resources they end up spending when losing a physical card.”
Purdue's move to mobile carries with it the expected benefits of a mobile credential, including secure and convenient transactions, as well as remote credential issuance that eliminates the need to print and mail physical cards to students.
Current students will be able to keep and use their existing physical ID cards alongside their Purdue Mobile ID. In the short term, graduate students may need their physical cards in select academic buildings, labs and other facilities that still require the physical Purdue ID card for access.
“We know that Purdue students have high expectations for their technology solutions, and mobile credentialing naturally fits in this space,” says Beth McCuskey, vice provost for Purdue Student Life. “We are excited to launch Purdue Mobile ID as a new way to enhance the student experience.”
Purdue's ID Card Operations/Support office will also work with any university department heads who may have special use cases for the Purdue ID and who want to ensure those use cases can support the Mobile ID. Hettinger and her team are spearheading the work with faculty, staff and student organizations on special use cases and have fielded requests for attendance tracking and door entry, among other requests.
Cal State Fullerton has relaunched a feature in its iFullerton campus app called Titan Bites that links students in need with a free meal. Titan Bites will help to tackle food insecurity among Fullerton students by alerting students in need of excess food from campus events.
According to student publication The Daily Titan, the Titan Bites feature is the result of a collaboration between Auxiliary Services Corporation’s Dining Services, Associated Students, and campus IT. Titan Bites was created to alert students when free food is available on campus.
Titan Bites was first introduced in 2017, following a report about rising food insecurities among college students on CSU campuses. The original iteration of the alert system operated through the student portal and sent texts and emails to students to alert them about leftover food from on-campus events. Students signed up through the university portal to receive the notifications.
In a statement to the Daily Titan, Rommel Hidalgo, vice president of information technology and chief information officer, said that the initial version of the system was tedious because it required several steps to sign up and send notifications. The process was so labor intensive that the free food would often run out or be removed by the time the students in need were notified.
Following the pandemic, university IT began discussing ways to revive Titan Bites, but the system still held phone numbers and emails of students who had already graduated. Hidalgo told the Daily Titan that campus IT had to first clean up that data before refocusing its efforts on how to make the process simpler for both students and those responsible for sending notifications.
Titan Bites now enables clubs hosting events on campus to easily register in the iFullerton app to enable alerts for students about extra food that may be available. The alert includes the type of food available and where the food can be picked up. The app will also send out a second notification informing students when the food is no longer available.
Bunker Hill Community College has installed banks of Quadient smart lockers on both its Charlestown and Chelsea campuses for student use in food pickup. Bunker Hill selected Quadient's Parcel Pending refrigerated lockers to expand the college's existing DISH Food Pantry program that assists students struggling with food insecurity.
According to Quadient, BHCC wanted to provide a flexible, private way for students in need of food assistance to access their food pantry orders. The college decided that a parcel locker solution would solve this need. Following a search, the college opted for three Quadient locker stations to be installed on the Charlestown campus in April 2022. That installation was joined by another locker bank at the Chelsea campus this month.
BHCC is the largest community college in Massachusetts. BHCC officials estimate that more than half of its student population struggles with food insecurity, which prompted the college to launch its DISH food pantry program.
“Our students are incredibly busy. They work demanding jobs and, many times, are only available after business hours or on the weekend,” says Molly Hansen, senior special programs coordinator for Bunker Hill Community College. “We wanted to come up with a way for students to access their food pantry orders within a time schedule that worked for them and for the staff at Bunker Hill.”
Of the three Parcel Pending smart locker banks at Charlestown, two are refrigerated and provide storage for perishable items like fresh produce and frozen items, while the third bank on that campus is available for dry food items and hygiene products. The lockers serve roughly 50-60 students per week and provide discreet access to essential items and reduce anxiety around food insecurity.
When their orders are ready for pick-up, students receive a text notification and can retrieve their items discreetly and at a time that fits with their schedules.
Prior to the smart lockers, Hansen says that the food pantry would schedule individual orders via multiple communication channels, and the process required pick-ups in person, which proved to be inefficient.
With the smart locker system in place now, food pantry staff are able to coordinate and fulfill orders more efficiently. Quadient’s lockers also feature a back-end cloud-based software that enables staff to check on locker inventory at any time. The lockers are also being used to accept food donation drop-offs.
“In the case of BHCC, we are honored to provide a solution that not only fulfills a critical need, but also brings efficiency to the staff and flexibility and dignity to the students," says Austin Maddox, executive vice president, sales and operations North America, Quadient.
Quadient reports having deployed some 18,000 parcel locker stations worldwide in the multi-family property, retail, higher education, corporate and courier verticals.
In this edition of CampusIDChats, Allegion's Senior Director of Product Management for IoT Platforms and Services, Devin Love, details a couple of campus access trends he's seeing in the university space.
Specifically, Love explains why he believes Near-Field Communication (NFC) has established itself as the winning technology for mobile credential. Love discusses the ways he's seen NFC separate from the pack, and his pros and cons for the technology.
We also discuss how Love and the Allegion team are communicating with campus IT professionals in correspondence with campus clients more than ever before. Love offers insights on why IT is playing a more prominent role in conversations with campuses, some typical requests that IT are making, and the major challenges that silo of higher ed is currently facing.
