For sophomores and upper classmen, phoenix cards are about to get an upgrade, and yes, students may get their pictures retaken.
The university is moving to contactless, nonswipe cards, which first year students have already received. Instead of swiping your card to get into buildings, dining halls and accessing other campus services, students will now be able to tap a device that will unlock doors and allow you to access these services.
According to the Assistant Vice President for Administrative Services Chris Fulkerson, the new system is more secure and efficient.
"They'll [campus services] take your card and just tap it and give it back to you instead of swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, there, it went through," Fulkerson said. "It speeds up the process considerably."
All cards will still have swipe access, as the university upgrades to the new system. Fulkerson said replacing card readers around campus will be a three-year process because of the expense. Each device costs at least $150, but Fulkerson, said this is not a significant cost.
Upperclassmen, faculty, and staff will receive emails notifying them when to come to Moseley to switch out their old cards. As far as replacing those pictures from freshmen year, it's going to cost students $10 to get a new picture.
Fulkerson appears optimistic about the card upgrade.
"There's a lot of potential for the card that we'll be exploring down the road," he said.