One-card system now makes purchasing easier

Today students on Missouri Southern's campus have been reaping the benefits of the CBORD one-card system in the form of their Lion Cards this year.  The switch to the system began last fall and was put into place at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester, allowing students to use the same card for financial transactions and access to campus events and facilities.

MSSU students can now deposit Lion Bucks onto their card to make purchases from vending machines, printing, coffee shop, bookstore and more.

"I'm excited that I can use my Lion Card on vending machines now," said Kyleigh Houston, senior management major.  "It's much more convenient just swiping my card across instead of dealing with the hassle of whether or not I have cash on me and, if so, if I have a crisp enough dollar bill to get a water when I'm thirsty."

Before the 2010-2011 school year, MSSU had an ID card that was only used for dining and identification purposes.

"The old ID's had very limited functionality," Jeff Gibson, director of budget and operations, said.  "One very positive outcome of implementation was creation of the Campus Card Service Center.  Students used to have to go to the security office on the west side of campus to get their IDs and parking passes.  Being able to do this now in the Union is much more student friendly."

The university hopes to continue to progress with the one-card system and is considering using it for facility access control in the residence life facilities.  MSSU hopes this could improve security for those students living in the residence halls.