DANBURY, Connecticut — What can you do with your card at WCSU? The answer is: Almost anything! On Oct. 31, 2023, Western Connecticut State University was awarded the One CBORD Award in recognition of its outstanding delivery of system applications and service to its community. Nominations were submitted by colleagues, peers and CBORD team members, and the winners were chosen by committee. The award was accepted by Deanna Cibery-Schaab and Rebecca Devine.
The campus card program at WCSU includes door access, meal plan management, activity validation at various locations like fitness centers, offices, residence halls, etc., shuttle bus use, and mobile food ordering. The program also offers discretionary spending, called CONNect Cash, at on- and off-campus locations. Students can use their funds on-campus at food service locations, the bookstore, Media Services, the Library, Cashiers, and vending machines. Off-campus use includes local merchants and GrubHub. Additionally, all accounts can be managed online including review of balances, deposits, and reporting cards as lost or found.
Deanna Cibery-Schaab, WCSU Director of Access Control and One Card Services, believes in working diligently to provide excellent customer service to the WCSU community. “We are proud to be able to deliver services at our university that students at larger universities benefit from, and to connect our students to the university community in a meaningful way. Every time they tap their card and receive a validation of their student status, it reinforces their connection to WCSU. This award signifies that we have maximized the investment made in our program by WCSU.”
Rebecca Devine, WCSU Card Systems Administrator, is grateful to be part of the WESTCONNect team. “We have a fantastic group of committed professionals dedicated to making a difference at WCSU. Our program’s recognition is a great example of what is accomplished by many professionals at this university every day. I looked forward to implementing future projects and efficiencies we have planned to improve both our student experience and the whole campus community.”
WCSU is always looking at ways to enhance its connected campus. The WCSU team continuously maximizes its use cases for CS Gold, Simphony and GET. And, as a pilot site for CS Gold Data Analytics, the team is leveraging all the information in the CS Gold system to pull into actionable data. The WCSU team is never set in its ways, but rather is always asking, “What’s next?” and acting on it.
“Western Connecticut State University is a shining example of what CBORD calls a ‘connected campus.’ They not only leverage CS Gold, Simphony and GET to enhance the student experience across campus food and retail services, they use that data to identify more use cases. And they’re active participants at our User Conference. We appreciate WCSU’s long-term partnership and commitment to the student experience.” said Lorena Harris, VP Marketing, CBORD.
Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.