Client Success Story - Austin Peay State University

The Govs Card

Austin Peay's campus card is known as the Govs Card, named for the school's mascot, the Governor. The card is used across campus for student and faculty identification, meal plans, door access, library checkout, banking, and more.

Switching to CBORD

Austin Peay converted its campus card system to Odyssey PCS™ after six years of working with another campus card supplier. When the contract was up, Andy Kean, Austin Peay's Director of University Facilities, decided it was time to look around.

"We decided to investigate other card systems for a number of reasons," says Kean. "First of all, it was getting extremely expensive to support our existing system—annual license fees just kept going up. Second, ease of use was a real problem because the system was not Windows based. Basically, we wanted to take the opportunity to learn about other avenues we could take to improve our campus card operations, and CBORD® ended up being the clear choice."

Recarding Made Simple

An important part of the implementation process was the task of recarding the campus.

"Recarding the campus was an absolute breeze," says Kean. "That was the part where we expected a lot of headaches and unhappy people, but I can't think of a single complaint we received. On average, the wait for a new card was under five minutes. We timed it. I almost wanted to put up one of those signs from Disney World at the door—the kind that say, 'Five minutes from this point!'"

Banking Functionality

Another major reason for Austin Peay's switch to Odyssey PCS was the ability to add banking functionality to the card. APSU awarded US Bank the rights to develop a banking relationship with the Govs Card through a separate bid process. With Odyssey PCS, the card works with US Bank as a debit card for off-campus purchases.

"This is great not only for the convenience it affords our students, but also because it helps us promote the school in the community," points out Kean. "Our goal with any service we associate with the card is to make sure it doesn't stay tucked in students' wallets all day. It needs to have real value—we want it to be a part of their everyday lives. With the US Bank partnership, students can use their Austin Peay campus cards for years after they graduate, for purchases around town."

Future Plans

Kean has many plans in mind for the future of the Odyssey PCS system. The school has purchased a Troubadour™ portable card reader from CBORD and plans to use the device for events such as homecoming, pep rallies, and other events that take students and guests away from normal data ports.

He also plans to expand the school's vending program with Odyssey. "Our beverage vending program is up for bid soon," explains Kean, "and a requirement of the next vendor will be to install a card reader on every machine. We are also interested in using the cards with copiers, and exploring new ways to take them off-campus."

Exceptional Service

"From our implementation up until now, we have been very pleased with the level of service we have received from CBORD," says Kean. "We love the support folks we have worked with, and the process has been quite smooth overall." "If another school were to ask if I would recommend switching to CBORD, I would say yes."