By By: C.A. PRINTUP
Staff Writer
@DontWriteDown
IU South Bend has joined the other IU campuses in adopting a new campus identification card, called Crimson Card.
Paul Sharpe, executive director of the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, said that the Crimson Card is the “Mercedes of student IDs.”
Students can pay their library bills with the card, Sharpe said, they can use it for voter registration and, in the future, use it at local restaurants such as Pitts BBQ, China House and Martin’s Side Door Deli. The card will also allow students access to doors with card swipes, magnetic scans and chips. Students can also load the card with money from either their bursar account or through Paypal, according to Sharpe.
The new ID will also allow students from IUSB to print on other IU campuses.
“We now have universally accepted funds,” Jeff Stahl, senior manager of systems administrations, said about campus printing. “Our card is now an IU wide fund.”
The Crimson Card rollout hasn’t come without some issues though. At the several Sodexo food vending locations on campus, there have been issues with accepting the card as payment. General Manager of Sodexo Campus Services Andrew Vardell said the Crimson Card will change how students can pay for campus dining.
“I no longer control [Dining Dollars],” Vardell said. “I used to personally handle the funds. As a result you can no longer load it at the register. You must go online.”
Sodexo, reportedly, handled these issues without interruption to students’ dining though.
“We are the only campus that had to make a hard transition,” Sharpe said. “We are completely dependent on external resources. As a result, Andrew [Vardell] made a template to make sure students could eat even though we could not access their funds at the time.”
As of Friday, Aug. 25, the Sodexo restaurants, Sub Connections, The Grille, and Express, were able to accept the Crimson Card.
“I’m really proud at how we responded here,” Sharpe added.
Sharpe said between 1,600 and 1,800 cards have been distributed to students and faculty members at IUSB so far.
One student who has not yet gotten her Crimson Card doesn’t see the benefit in switching from the old card.
“Do they really have that much better of a benefit to them that makes them better than the old card?” Becca Ercoline asked.
But transfer student Caitlin Reeder found some benefit firsthand when using her Crimson Card on another IU campus.
“I was down at Bloomington,” Reeder said, “I just remember it being awesome because it was as simple as swiping your student ID to get things done, like my laundry at the laundromat.”
Students can get their Crimson Card at the Support Center in Wiekamp Hall 1245. Students can also go there to replace their Crimson Card for $25.
