Don't know how many Polar Points you have left? Soon you will be able to go online and find out. Want to get into your dorm? Soon you may have to swipe as opposed to wave your ID card to enter. Want to buy a snack at a store in Brunswick? In a few years, a Bowdoin ID may be accepted as payment.
The College is in the midst of planning various changes to the information technology systems that give functionality to Bowdoin identification cards, known as OneCards.
A student's Bowdoin ID currently allows him or her to gain access to approved academic and residential buildings, to eat meals at the dining halls, at the pub and café, to use school-provided washers and dryers (at a cost of $1.25 per load) and photocopy machines (at a cost of $0.10 per page), to take out library books, to purchase textbooks and other school supplies at the bookstore, and to buy drinks and snacks at vending machines.
Regardless of future changes to the system, IDs will continue to provide these functions. And, if Bowdoin Student Government has its way, students will be able to use IDs to make purchases at select retail establishments in Brunswick?although that functionality is a few years away, according to OneCard Coordinator Catherine Knowles.
By the end of this semester, the College will launch a new web site where members of the Bowdoin community with OneCards can check the balances of their various accounts. According to Knowles, students on board plans will be able to check how many meals they have left for the week and how many Polar Points remain in their accounts. All students will be able log-on to review their purchases at the bookstore and their remaining balance as well as how much "miscellaneous" money remains in their account?that is, the money loaded on their IDs for laundry, copying, and vending.
In the future, parents and students will be able to add funds to OneCard accounts online with a credit card.
"We're looking at different avenues for adding that functionality to the web site," Knowles said. The ability for students and parents to add money "to ID cards via a secure web site is something I would really like to add. That would, however, be something happening for next year," Knowles added.
According to Director of Facilities Administration Del Wilson, besides metal keys, the College currently uses three separate systems to provide access to buildings and rooms: Illco, CS Gold, and Millenium. The Illco locks are used on most interior doors and require students to swipe their cards for entry.
The Millenium system, an older system that has limited support, is used for exterior access on most buildings and requires a card-holder to wave his or her card in front of the proximity reader or enter a PIN code. The CS Gold system requires a card swipe.
According to Knowles, although "CS Gold currently controls access to only five buildings: the two new dorms, East Hall and West Hall, Cram Alumni House, Kanbar, and the Russwurm African-American House...the software has a pretty big presence on the campus already. It controls your meal plans and [Polar] Points, laundry, copying, vending and your bookstore account."
While no final decision has been made, it appears likely that the renovated first-year bricks will have CS Gold installed on their exterior doors. This will necessitate swiping a card for entry.
"The goal is to try to make our investment in CS Gold work," Wilson said. "If it's not the right product though, we will step back and take another look."
"We've already invested a lot in CS Gold, so if they have a product that works, we'll stay with" C-Board, the makers of CS Gold, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration S. Catherine Longley said.