The Ubiquitous Transaction System: One Server, Multiple Campuses Timothy Gilbert South Dakota State University

Land Grant Institution – Opened ,000 Students –3,000 On Campus 2,200 Faculty and Staff

SDSU Card Services Report to the VP of Finance and Business Office Staff –Administrator –Accounting Assistant –Secretary –Three student employees

SDSU Transaction System 17,000 cardholders 200 Devices 5 Third Party Interfaces 9 Off-campus Merchants 3 Campuses Annual Usage (FY05) –$7 million –Over 2 million transactions

SDSU Transaction System Dining Services Bookstore Off-campus Activities Print Management Copiers Door Access Wireless Load Stations Online Card Office Soda/Snack Laundry

USDSU Located in Sioux Falls, SD –50 miles from SDSU USDSU is a branch campus of: –University of South Dakota –South Dakota State University –Dakota State University Mostly non traditional students and full time students from one of the main campuses 1500 – 2000 students enrolled each semester

Northern State University Located in Aberdeen, SD –150 miles from SDSU 2,800 students –550 on campus 325 FTE

The Driving Force USDSU –Triggered by the need to charge for printing –No transaction system of any kind in place NSU –Previous system only included dining functions –Outdated equipment

Project Scope USDSU –Charge for Printing –Card student population (2,000) –ID Card Production –POS for accepting debit fund deposits NSU –Replace current Scan Plus System –Add Activity readers –Interface current Datacard system with Blackboard

Projected Timeline USDSU –Prior to Summer 2005 Term Pharos (10 labs) Datacard Card student population Business office POS NSU –Prior to Fall 2005 Term Shut Down old DS system Install Dining POS (3) Interface Datacard Activities

Timeline

System Set Up Campuses set up as separate merchants –USDSU Uses Debit Fund only Debit Funds are universal between SDSU and USDSU –Centralized accounting –NSU Uses Debit Fund, Flex, and Bonus Fund Funds are kept completely separate from SDSU and USDSU

Challenges Network Communication –Working with three different IT departments –Network stability between campuses –Communication speed for workstations No dedicated administrator at either remote campus System set up –Treating each campus as their own entity –Formulating policies and procedures within the system to accommodate all three campuses

What went right? USDSU –Relaxed timeline Phased in –System Admin Able to treat it as a branch of SDSU NSU –Replacing an ineffective system Anything looked good to them Excellent support –All three IT departments –Blackboard support –Upper Management at all three campuses

What would I do differently? More technical training and expertise at each campus Bandwidth between campuses More testing –Communication Stability More rigidly defined role at each campus

Cost Savings Start Up –Saved $25,000 per campus Annual Savings –NSU - $15,000 –USDSU - $20,000

Future Expansion Dakota State University –Existing Blackboard client (Windows) Daktronics More expansion at SDSU –Laundry View –Community System –Sequoia Kiosks –Expand Door Access

Thank You! Timothy Gilbert Card Services Administrator South Dakota State University