Digitizing university campuses, a priority to improve student and faculty experience

Bernardo Rafael Caraveo Posadas - Manager Development Vertical Market Education

Technology has always been present in educational institutions, and it is one of the most important assets for students and teachers to develop their activities in an optimal and effective way. Just like the business sector, students need to adopt and embrace the IT culture, making it a vital asset to continue with their education. However, implementing state-of-the-art solutions to facilitate student life and teachers' work is one of the most common challenges.

According to a study conducted by Ricoh1 that highlights the behavior and trends of university students in private institutions in the country in relation to their technological environment, such as printing within their university and the use of software for learning, it points out that 80% of students use the internal cards of each university to access the campus parking lot, while 40% use their card to print documents and only 10% of respondents use it as an electronic purse in the cafeteria.

Faced with this scenario, at Ricoh we have designed the EDU Card solution, a tool capable of helping educational institutions to become modern educational centers, with BYOD policies, access controls to doors, parking lots and lockers among other advantages. The EDU Card helps to integrate services on campuses such as: paying with a single card in order to improve the experience of students and all staff with innovative solutions. such as this service, product or tool.

Although internal cards are available at most private universities in Mexico, 80% of respondents stated that their card can only be used to access the campus. The research also found that in some universities the infrastructure is limited and higher maintenance is required, which is why universities do not exploit 100% the use of internal cards.

Most of the printing services are managed by third parties, such as administrators in charge of the library. The study noted that only 30% of the universities offer self-service printing services. It is noteworthy that some centers do not even offer scanning or printing service, even though they have the multifunction devices to offer it.

Implementing Ricoh's EDU Card will help universities improve on-campus services, provide a unique experience for staff, educators and of course students. This solution will significantly reduce operational costs, reduce the risk of data theft and lack of accessibility.

Universities will undoubtedly provide an unforgettable experience for their students with the proper implementation of cards that cover all services available on campus. Faculty, staff and students will be able to have greater control of consumption with user or department charge, easy to use, accessibility throughout the campus. Likewise, they will be able to choose between chip cards, proximity cards and PIN codes or mobile devices, door access control, among others. A single platform to simplify the user experience, speed in the payment process in restaurants and possible integration with vending machines and the possibility of recharging cards at stations located on campus or through the Internet.

Learn more, write us at bernardo.caraveo@ricoh-la.com

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