One ID card for three universities
Signing of the contract for the new student ID card in the Senate Hall of the New University on February 18, 2011. Seated from left to right, the sponsors: Christof Grütz (Main-Post), Rudolf Fuchs (Sparkasse Mainfranken Würzburg), Thomas Schäfer and Norbert Menke (WVV). Standing behind them, the representatives of the universities involved: Heribert Weber (University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt), Alfred Forchel (University of Würzburg), Thomas Münch (University of Music Würzburg). Photo: Gunnar Bartsch
Over the coming months, all students in Würzburg will be receiving new ID cards. The new card is multifunctional and forgery-proof thanks to its modern encryption technology. The project has three sponsors.
It can open doors and pay for food in the canteen, it acts as a user ID in the library and as a semester ticket on the bus, it features a personal photo and new encryption technology making it secure against forgery – this is the new student identification card, which all 30,000 or so students of the University of Würzburg, the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, and the University of Music Würzburg will receive by October of this year.
Its launch is being supported financially by Sparkasse Mainfranken Würzburg, Würzburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrs GmbH (WVV), and Mediengruppe Main-Post GmbH.
Why the need for a new ID card?
In the middle of 2008, hackers cracked the encryption technology for a chip that is also used in the card that students in Würzburg currently still use to pay for their food in the canteen, to photocopy in the university library, and to print out their student IDs and semester tickets at self-service terminals. From then onwards, if not before, it became clear that the “Multifunctional Chip Card”, or “Muck” for short, would have to be replaced with a new, forgery-proof card.
The requirements for the new ID card were just as clear: it would need to be able to handle all the existing functions of the Muck – and, if possible, many more besides, in order to enable students to “manage their studies through self-service independently of time and place”, as one of the people in charge of the project phrased it.
What can the new ID card do?
With their new ID card, students in Würzburg will be able to:
• travel by tram, bus, and train within the area covered by the semester ticket. Given that the card comes with a photograph, it will be accepted by drivers as a valid ticket for travel
• pay without cash in the canteen and cafeterias of the student union, and pay without cash to use photocopiers and printers in the IT center
• borrow books and other media in the university library
• open the doors to computer pools, laboratories or even entire buildings – if these are equipped with the corresponding technology and the card owner has the authority to do so.
What is more, other functions can also be added to the chip if needed to meet later requirements. Card owners have no reason to fear that their data may be misused: the chip only contains details such as name, matriculation number, validity, and the user number for the university library.
How will the ID cards find their way to their new owners?
Rollout of the new ID cards will begin when students re-register for the winter semester, which starts at the University of Würzburg on June 20. The documents that these returning students will receive will include a requirements form to which they must affix their passport photograph. This form will be sent to the student registration office, where the photographs will be scanned in. After that, the photograph, together with the other details, such as name and matriculation number, will be printed onto the plastic card, which will then be posted out to its corresponding owner.
The only thing the students will then need to do is to activate the card in a “validation machine” at the university – a process that only takes a few seconds. This will also furnish the ID card with the text “Semester ticket – Valid until” and the relevant expiry date. After that it can be used as a travel ticket on buses, trains, and trams. (Of course, the latter does not apply to students of the University of Applied Sciences in Schweinfurt because there is no semester ticket there.)
Validation machines will be installed in several university locations in Würzburg – from the Hubland Campus to Sander-Uni, and through to the Medical Campus in Grombühl.
In subsequent semesters, students who already have the new ID card will also have to visit the machines after re-registering. There, the new information will be recorded onto the chip and a new expiry date will be printed on the card. So, ideally, the identification cards will accompany their owners for the duration of their studies.
Opinions voiced by those involved
As “a wonderful sign of solidarity between the regional business world and the three Würzburg universities” is how University President Alfred Forchel described the financial commitment of the three sponsors – Sparkasse Mainfranken Würzburg, Würzburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrs GmbH, and Mediengruppe Main-Post GmbH. This collaboration – “a novelty for us” – is a step in the right direction, he added. What is more, it will bring resources to the universities involved that they urgently needed.
The project is of “central importance to the three universities for the decades to come,” said Heribert Weber, President of the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt. He also highlighted the practical aspect: if in future a student or employee loses his card, and this card also grants him access to his work premises, the card can be blocked in a matter of minutes. And this is a significant advantage over the situation today where losing a key means an expensive lock change.
For Thomas Münch, Vice President of the University of Music Würzburg, the new student ID card is “an outward expression of a trend toward increasing links between the three universities.” The uniform card for all reflects the image of “Würzburg as one big university location.”
Why are the three regional companies supporting the “Student ID card” project? “Because students have always been both our customers and our target group, and besides this we feel responsible for the area,” said Dr. Rudolf Fuchs, CEO of Sparkasse Mainfranken Würzburg.
“Because there has always been a close relationship between Main-Post and university. Students are an exciting target group for our media offerings. And Main-Post is an attractive employer for graduates,” said Christof Grütz, Deputy Sales Director of Mediengruppe Main-Post GmbH.
“Given that we are already on board as a function provider with the semester ticket, it made sense for us also to sponsor this project which does makes things much easier for students,” said Thomas Schäfer, Managing Director of Würzburger Versorgungs- und Verkehrs GmbH.
And the students? They have welcomed the project in principle and are delighted “to be able to contribute our points of view to the work ahead,” said the University of Würzburg’s Student Senator, Maximilian Fries.
18.02.2011, 00:00 Uhr