UK introduces new identification system
August 28, 2013
By Laura Shrake | Assistant News Editor
Previous years’ student IDs are on their way off campus as UK continues the $4.8-million security centralization project.
This fall, all students, faculty and staff are required to obtain a new identification card.
The card is part of an effort to bring the entire campus together in terms of its security.
“The end goal is to have one card do everything,” said Capt. Nathan Brown of the UK Police Department. “We want to be one solid campus.”
Once the overhaul is complete, students will no longer need multiple cards and keys to get them through the day.
Brown said about 20,000 new cards have been issued thus far, which is about 60 percent of what will be issued, not including the ID cards for the medical center.
“We’ve had a large turn out and we haven’t had to push it too much,” Brown said. “Once we are able to explain to students that this is one single card and that they won’t have to (have multiple cards), they’ll understand that it’s an evil worth doing.”
If students have lost their old IDs, there is a $30 fee to replace it.
The goal date to have everyone upgraded to the new IDs is Friday, Sept. 6.
As an incentive for students to get their new card before then, the process will no longer be free of charge after that day.
Brown said each card takes approximately three minutes to make and the longest line reported has been about a 30-minute wait.
The new cards, technically known as a proximity or “prox” card, will feature a photograph of the student on the front and back of the ID, the person’s affiliation with the university and the student’s identification number.
Central Hall I and II are already up and running with this new system, which allows students to use the ID as a room key as well, said Tony Ralph, director of Residence Life. Roselle, Smith, Baldwin and Ingles Halls will also be outfitted with the technology soon after the beginning of the academic year, he said.
The medical center has previously been outfitted with prox cards of its own, but the end goal is to consolidate this card onto the student ID as well, Brown said.
He said the cards are more like a security device, rather than an ID.
“The card in itself is a good change,” Brown said. “It is aesthetically pleasing and contains no personal information.”
