Why Campus Card Teams are Unsung Heroes

Why Campus Card Teams are Unsung Heroes

When people think about what makes a college or university run smoothly, they usually picture faculty, advisors, IT staff, housing, or campus safety. But there’s another group whose impact touches nearly every student, every day, yet they rarely receive the recognition they deserve.  It’s YOU and your campus card team!

From powering essential services to solving the most unexpected crises, campus card professionals keep the heartbeat of student life steady and reliable. Here's why you are the unsung heroes behind the scenes:

• Your team keeps the entire campus moving
• Your team are first responders in moments of crisis
• Your team balances technology, security, finance, marketing & student experience
• Your team leads innovation behind the scenes
• Gatekeepers of key statistics that can identify student habits
• You manage all of these huge responsibilities, often with a small team

Think about the day in the life of a student.  A student’s day often starts with one simple action: tapping their campus card. That tap unlocks a building, purchases breakfast, checks them into class, prints an assignment, or pays for laundry. Whether you realize it or not, your team is integral every day that student is on campus. 

• You are supporting access control, meal plans, transit, parking systems, Library checkouts, servers, POS devices, event management and identity verification.
• Crisis management like getting a new credential when lost so they can access their resources, getting a dining hall register back online during lunch hour or managing various access requests that all have their unique needs.
• You are juggling complex technology ecosystems, security and compliance requirements, financial accuracy, user experience expectations, customer service and constantly evolving technology such as mobile credentials and “just walk out” convenience stores all with a limited budget, small team, high expectations and high-volume periods.

Being from the campus card world for over 20 years, I can attest that there are many days where things go wrong, but the campus card team gets them fixed quickly and nobody is the wiser. 

Does this sound familiar?  It’s the first day of the semester.  Your team is prepped and ready for a long day servicing new students, faculty and staff that come into your office needing anything from an ID card to questions about their meal plan and door access.  Here is how your day goes…

• Start with a student losing their ID card and they need to get breakfast and get into their lab ASAP.
• A residence hall door reader isn’t working properly and the reader needs to be fixed.
• A register goes offline at the main entrance to your dining hall at 11:45am – just as a line is starting to form.
• The card printer is being finicky and keeps getting jammed when printing cards.
• A door doesn’t unlock on time for an event.

Your team works feverishly to fix all of these issues quickly.  Everyone’s cards are working.  Doors are unlocking on schedule, all registers are working and the day ends without anyone outside your office ever knowing things were falling apart.  I think a common thought among card teams is “We’re only visible when something goes wrong.  But everything depends on things going right.”

All of these things can be overwhelming, even to a seasoned card team member let alone anyone who is new to the industry.  So how do you do it?  Here is my advice:

• Take advantage of your NACCU Resources!
  • Attend a NACCU Annual Conference (www.naccu.org/events/2026) or regional NACCU Near You event (www.naccu.org/naccu-near-you).  Meet others from the industry and take advantage of some training opportunities.  Learn about the latest technology and keep up with emerging technologies so you can plan for what is next.
  • Don’t try to “re-create the wheel”.  Reach out to a colleague from another institution and ask for help.  See what others in the industry are doing and see how they apply to your Institution. NACCU has some great networking opportunities!  Try joining our newest program:  NACCU LinkUP (www.naccu.org/naccu-linkup) a short-term, high-impact networking program designed to help school members at every stage of their career build meaningful professional connections within the NACCU community.
  • Learn how to use your data to influence decision making on campus such as meal plans, door schedules, locations for card readers and cameras, provide a report to the VP that may provide some insight into student retention.  The Data Summit program is a great tool to learn how to use your data! (www.naccu.org/naccu-data-summit).

At the end of the day, YOU and your team are unsung heroes!  While others on your campus may not understand, your colleagues in the industry understand completely!  When you are faced with a tough day, creating a new process or getting through three months of grueling Orientations…just remember who you are….

• You are quiet problem-solvers. 
• Behind-the-scenes innovators. 
• Guardians of access and identity. 
• Customer service experts who meet thousands of students during their most stressful moments.
• You are a Champion and (maybe quietly and unsaid) among the unsung heroes of higher education!