Denver Joint Campus Upgrading to Contactless Smart Cards

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 07/19/12

Auraria Higher Education Center will be issuing new "contactless" smart cards to students and staff. The Denver, CO campus hosts three educational institutions--the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the University of Colorado Denver--which share common services, as well as students. Currently, about 43,000 students attend classes each year on the 126-acre campus.

The new contactless smart cards, provided by Multicard, initially will be used with the campus' existing door access system. "Contactless" describes embedded circuits inside the card that communicate with the door access system via radio waves. The same cards will also serve as Visa debit cards. With time, the Center expects to integrate the cards with other applications for student services, including parking, meal payment, library checkout, event management, emergency incidents, and lab and recreational tracking.

Multicard isn't new to the campus; this latest project is an upgrade. The Center contracted with the company to upgrade the existing campus identification card system in order to have the option of encoding contactless smart cards for use alongside its existing magnetic stripe cards. The first phase of the work required the vendor to develop secure encryption key technology that would prevent hacking attempts; later, the company upgraded the campus' existing printers to encode both smart cards and magnetic stripe cards, allowing the Center to migrate to chip-based ID cards over time.

"The Auraria campus is establishing best practices for campus environments in terms of implementing a multi-function contactless card," said Hugo Garcia, president of Multicard U.S. "By electing to utilize standards-based smart cards, they are benefitting from the highest level of encryption technology while avoiding the costs and inflexibility associated with proprietary card platforms."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • cybersecurity analyst in a modern operations center monitors multiple digital screens showing padlock icons, graphs, and a global map with security markers

    Louisiana State University Doubles Down on Larger Student-Run SOC

    In an effort to provide students with increased access to real-world cybersecurity experience, Louisiana State University has expanded its relationship with cybersecurity solutions provider TekStream to launch TigerSOC, a new student-run security operations center.

  • flowing lines and geometric shapes representing data flow and analysis

    Complete College America Launches Center to Boost Data-Driven Student Success Strategies

    National nonprofit Complete College America (CCA) recently launched the Center for Leadership, Institutional Metrics, and Best Practices (CLIMB), with the goal of helping higher education institutions use data-driven strategies to improve student outcomes.

  • geometric pattern features abstract icons of a dollar sign, graduation cap, and document

    Maricopa Community Colleges Adopts Platform to Combat Student Application Fraud

    In an effort to secure its admissions and financial processes, Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with A.M. Simpkins and Associates (AMSA) to implement the company's S.A.F.E (Student Application Fraudulent Examination) across the district's 10 institutions.