UW-Madison's Office of the Registrar issued a new Wiscard to incoming freshmen and business school students this semester.
In addition to acting as a debit card, the new one card"" gives students access to some classrooms and computer labs across campus. Freshmen received the first round of Wiscards this summer.
According to Wiscard administrator Jim Wysocky, the university plans to increase key-card access throughout campus, and Grainger Hall, the School of Pharmacy and campus residence halls already have security card technology in place.
""If you're in facilities today that don't have it, most likely down the road it will be an enhancement that will be added to the facility,"" Wysocky said.
Campus residence halls are expected to replace their current electronic key fobs used to gain entrance to the facilities with new Wiscard access in the future. '""'""
""The dorms are doing a transition to the new Wiscard, so they're still giving out their current key fobs, but they will migrate students over to the new Wiscard soon,"" said Karen Hanson, UW-Madison associate registrar and the official in charge of developing the card.
Current sophomores and upperclassmen are not expected to acquire the new Wiscard for residence hall access unless they need to access the buildings that have adopted the new technology.
UW-Madison junior and business major Sarah Schultz said the Grainger Hall administration advised its students to get the new Wiscard.
Since the completion of Grainger Hall's west wing this fall, the ""one card"" will be necessary to access certain areas, including the undergraduate computer lab.
Students seeking to replace their old Wiscard will receive the new Wiscard at no extra fee.
Since the transition to the new Wiscard, the cost for replacing a lost or stolen card has increased to $25 from $15.'""'""
More information on the new Wiscard and its features is available at www.wiscard.wisc.edu.'""'
