Brigham Young University has added online photo submission to its card issuance process as a means to shorten the amount of time students spend waiting for their campus card. Online photo submission has been one of the most universally beneficial advancements for card offices, and BYU joins a large roster of campuses to have some form of photo submission solution available to students.

According to a report from The Daily Universe, BYU initially launched online photo submission just prior to the onset of COVID-19, which turned out to be a fortunate decision when pandemic related staffing and service challenges arrived. “That is a super exciting change that we initiated right before COVID hit interestingly,” said Elaine Laurizine, ​​managing director for HR and support in BYU's Office of IT.

“We wanted to try and shorten the amount of time people were spending trying to get their ID card,” adds Laurizine, who works directly with the BYU ID Center.

Instead of taking ID photos in the card office, the process now asks for students and faculty to submit their photo through the ID Center website. As with every online photo submission program, there are parameters to the submitted photo that must be met in order for a photo to be accepted. At BYU, that standard is the university's dress and grooming standards. Those standards are provided to students under BYU’s policies and the university's Honor Code requires students to follow them.

The BYU card office estimates that it denies an ID photo submission an average of 5-10 times per week for reasons associated with students not following the dress and grooming standards.

​​“We are one of the only centers that enforces the dress and grooming standards and that can be difficult because students aren’t reminded of it very often,” said Gabrielle Orndorff, a BYU ID center employee. “Sometimes with clothing or piercings or hair it can be a little more personal or sensitive. But usually, people are really nice about it.”

Card office employees are tasked with approving or denying online photo submissions and ensuring they meet the dress and grooming standards. Once the photo is approved online, the student still has to visit the card center to print and activate the card. But future iterations of the card issuance process may remove the need to visit the card office entirely.

“That is a direction we would like to take. Get it all digital,” said Laurizine. "But for the time being, student employees will aid students in the photo submission process."