Returning students probably noticed a change in the look of the Carnegie Mellon ID cards, and some may have even seen the new administrative department that came with it, the Card Office. Between these two additions, ID cards have a new role on campus and there are a whole slew of resources devoted to the continued improvement and support of these incredibly important pieces of plastic.

In the past, the ID card was an administrative hybrid. Everything about the card was actually facilitated in the HUB and Enrollment Services, but most of its budget came from Computing Services and Housing and Dining. As of June 2006, the entire ID card project has finally been centralized to the Card Office, which is a subset of Enrollment Services. The Card Office, located in Cyert Hall across from the HUB, sports its own budget and has a full time staff in charge of everything ID. For students, this means that there is now one place to go with any questions or issues concerning any ID card service. 

So what does the new card do? Naturally, the "ID Plus" (ID+) retains all of the functionality that students have come to expect in their ID card. The card provides access to Carnegie Mellon buildings, recreational facilities, and dorm rooms, a system which was completely re-hauled over the summer as a result of a change in the digital encoding. It also allows students to use their meal plans on campus and spend PlaidCa$h dollars both on- and off-campus in a wide variety of locations. Students need the ID Plus to activate print jobs on-campus and receive free newspapers through the Campus Readership program. The card grants free access to several Pittsburgh cultural establishments, such as Frick's Conservatory, The Carnegie Science Center, and all of the Carnegie Museums through the Arts Pass program. Lastly, students still use their ID card to get free bus transportation from the Pittsburgh Port Authority.

The biggest addition to ID Plus is the ability to link it to a PNC Bank account and use it as a debit card (note: this does not involve PlaidCa$h at all). While discussing this feature, Joshua Frederick, the Card Office Manager, stressed the fact that this will only affect students who actively apply for it.

"We do not want students to be worried that all of a sudden their card will be linked to their PNC account," Frederick said. "This is not the case at all – PNC doesn't know you are a student and we don't know you have an account unless you set up the connection."

This means that the card will not have any association with a PNC account unless a student wants there to be one and specifically asks for it. Frederick also mentioned that the card does not become a check (credit) card, but is simply a debit card that will work in places that are a part of the STAR/PLUS financial network (i.e., you can't use it to make purchases online). There are no plans to create similar contracts with other banks.

The design change actually came about as an afterthought. When asked about why the change occurred, Frederick commented, "We knew we would have to re-distribute the cards for the new PNC encoding and figured, if we have to make new ones anyway, why not change the look?" Near the end of the 2006 spring semester, members of the Carnegie Mellon community were asked to submit card designs for a competition. Duen Horng Chau, a research associate in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, created the winning design that we see today.

The Card Office is continually working to add to the benefits of the ID Plus. One way the Office is doing this is through an external firm that works with local businesses and sets up the infrastructure needed to accept PlaidCa$h. In fact, Chili's at the Waterfront signed up to accept PlaidCa$h just recently. Here are a few more particularly useful places that accept PlaidCa$h: CVS Pharmacy, Fuel & Fuddle, Giant Eagle, Jimmy John's, Joe Mama's, Papa John's Pizza, Uncle Sam's, and Wing Zone. The full list of off-campus businesses that accept PlaidCa$h can be found at the Card Office website.

When asked about plans for an "ID Plus Plus" (ID++), Frederick said that the school isn't planning on it, but students may see the addition of smart card technology to the card, because it just so happens that the Port Authority is currently planning to use them by the ID Plus' 2008 expiration date. Smart cards are transportation cards that hold balances or "trips" on them electronically, and they are currently used in other major cities such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, and Boston. And yes, Carnegie Mellon students graduating or leaving school before 2008 will get to use the busses even after their enrollment with their current ID Plus cards.

Things are changing for the best in the world of Carnegie Mellon IDs, so be sure to take advantage of everything that it has to offer. Go take a bus somewhere, check out a Museum, get delicious half-priced food at Fuel & Fuddle with your endless amounts of PlaidCa$h. The options are almost limitless, and with the Card Office, additional ID improvements will come about much more quickly and easily.

For the most recent information about the ID Plus, visit the Card Office website.

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