The annual conference of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS) will be held November 2-5 at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO. The conference has a wealth of educational seminars focused on campus ID card technology and the exhibit hall will showcase products from the industry’s leading vendors.
According to Abby Sipe, NACAS Director of Educational Programs and Services, “we have a card technology track with programs to reach all levels of auxiliary service professionals. If you are director there are card technology-focused sessions to provide information to take home and share with your teams and we also offer hands-on sessions for those actually in charge of card program operations.”
Optional tours will enable attendees to experience first-hand the auxiliary operations at local institutions including the US Air Force Academy, The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado College, and Pikes Peak Community College. According to Ms. Sipe, campus tours including the one to Colorado College will showcase the use of the ID card on the campus.
To help you plan your trip, CR80News staff has highlighted the sessions of particular interest to campus card professionals. But don’t just take our recommendations, check out the program as there are many other sessions focused on areas that are impacted by our card programs.
REDEFINING THE BOUNDARIES OF YOUR ONE CARD SYSTEM
Presenter(s):
Learn how The University of Texas at Arlington maximizes its investment in the Diebold CS Gold system with a variety of campus-wide applications. UTA uses the state-of-the-art Oracle based system for meal plans, debit plans, entitlements, tickets, access control, alarm management, demographic tracking and class attendance. In addition, UTA utilizes third party vendor interfaces for online transactions, employee payroll time and attendance and off-campus debit and loyalty programs. Significant time will be spent discussing our recent campus-wide alarm monitoring and video security interface project.
MARKS ON PAPER: A DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION
Presenter:
This session will describe the process of migrating a small liberal arts college from a traditional copier/printer environment to a coordinated document management strategy. Management thinking had to change from one of buying laser printers and copiers to one of buying laser prints and copies.
FOODSERVICE TRENDS: FROM C-STORES TO THE MARKETPLACE
Presenter(s):
What does today’s college student expect from their “dining experience?” How do we keep up with the latest trends? This program will provide an overview of the latest trends in college and university food services with specific examples of how several institutions are meeting the needs of these savvy consumers.
SOARING TO NEW PEAKS WITH YOUR CAMPUS ONE-CARD PROGRAM THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE BANKING SOLUTION
Presenter:
Higher One will demonstrate how you can build a new revenue stream, reduce campus ID card office expenses and totally eliminate ALL student refund checks – approximately 22,000 per year for a campus of only 10,000 students. The Higher One solution turns your campus ID card into a FDIC insured debit/check card that is MasterCard co-branded and can be used for debit purchases worldwide. This innovative financial solution eliminates manual processes for distributing all student refunds, especially those within financial aid that are commonly asked to be delivered onto the student ID card.
VENDING: THINKING OUT OF THE BOX
Presenter(s):
Learn what is happening in the vending industry today. New technology, new machines and specialty equipment to vend ice cream, hot foods, snacks and specialty beverages. Also, what is coming in cashless vending.
UCF SMART CAMPUS: A SUCCESS STORY
Presenter(s):
Since the demise of Cybermark, UCF has successfully carried on and improved the Smart Card program at its Orlando campus. We will address the critical success factors and the pitfalls to avoid. We will present and discuss smart card technology and its place in the university environment. The functions and security features of the chip will be reviewed as well as the hardware and software needed to support this program. We will also present new smart card applications that are being developed and tested with UCF and Smart Centric and what they can mean to your program. There are many directions a campus card can take and smart cards may be one you will want to examine.
COCKTAILS TO COFFEE: HOW TO COMMUNICATE A BUSINESS PLAN
Presenter:
As higher education administrators we are asked more and more to become entrepreneurial and generate new revenue streams for our respective College or Universities. But with each idea, the question comes back, “write me a business plan” and we will evaluate your idea. This program will allow you to learn the basic skills in communicating your idea into an effective business plan by translating it from a “cocktail napkin” to the “coffee bar”.
MAKING MONEY WITH YOUR OFF CAMPUS ONE CARD PROGRAM
Presenter(s):
“Bama Cash,” a declining balance debit function for the student/faculty/staff identification card (Action Card) at the U of AL, has grown greatly since the program started in 1998. Most of the growth of Bama Cash has been off-campus, and the Action Card Office has continued to manage its own on and off campus debit functions. Participants in this session will learn how auxiliary and support services can help support and grown an off-campus expansion as well. The session will also cover development of an RFP, daily operations, and marketing of the off-campus debit program (including online functions.)
FRAUD PREVENTION: PREVENT, DETECT & CONTROL
Presenter(s):
This program will provide information about how to establish internal controls in auxiliary and business units of colleges and universities to prevent and detect the internal theft of funds. It will also discuss real life cases and give practical tips on what to do when theft is suspected.
SECURING YOUR ONE-CARD SYSTEM
Presenter(s):
This program will focus on security issues revolving around card systems, including online transaction control, databases security and vending. It will focus on some of the critical issues facing the industry and look to provide suggestions on protecting wiring, devices, data and operations.