Students, faculty and staff will receive new Mississippi State University identification cards beginning in April in an effort to prevent identity theft.
The approximately $85,000 re-carding project was originally commissioned last September by MSU President Charles Lee, associate provost Jerry Gilbert said. The project was suggested by the Social Security office and is intended to greatly reduce the possibility of identity theft, he said.
The re-carding process will continue through Oct. 8, campus card manager Donna Buckelew said. During the transition period, card users will be able to swipe either the new or old card to access any ID-validated service, she said. Therefore, students who are graduating in May will not need to obtain new identification.
All personnel and students must come to one of the card-issuing locations to have a new picture taken and ID made by Oct. 8, Buckelew said. After that date, all old cards will be unusable, she said.
Payment will not be required for the new card if the person requesting one has his or her previous one, Buckelew said. If the person does not already have a card, though, they will have to purchase the new one, she said.
New ID cards cost $30.
The first week of card issuance will take place at the campus card office in 108 Allen Hall, Gilbert said. Another card issuing location is tentatively planned for McArthur Hall for the second week of issuing, he said.
Once the new ID system is in place, Social Security numbers will no longer be the identifying number for students and personnel, Gilbert said. A new nine-digit number will replace the Social Security number to prevent identity theft, he said.
Senior general liberal arts major Loraine Walker said she thinks the new ID system is a good idea although she has not been overly concerned about identity theft.
“I think that anyone in the MSU administration could still access your real security number after the change, and I’m not really worried about MSU employees stealing my identity,” she said.
On March 12, to further lessen the possibility of identity theft, ITS will begin updating university records with the new ID numbers, Gilbert said. Only certain personnel will be allowed access to Social Security numbers once the new system is in place, lowering the chance of unauthorized people gaining access to Social Security numbers, he said.
“The new number will begin with a nine, eliminating the possibility of the number mirroring an SSN,”Gilbert said.
The new ID card will show the person’s picture, name, designation (faculty, staff or student), new ID number, netID and card issue date, Buckelew said.