Owen Baker, Special to The Denisonian—

With the addition of mobile IDs, students now face a choice: physical or digital?

While having an ID on your phone is convenient—scanning into the Mitchell Center with an Apple Watch, or tapping your phone to your dorm door—the implementation of this new system came with challenges early on.

On Feb. 11, the Office of Student Life adopted the change after a mobile ID pilot program ran at the end of last semester. Unlike the pilot program, however, students must choose between having a mobile ID or a physical ID card, and not both.

“For security reasons, only one form of identification can be activated at a time,” said the Office of Student Life in their follow-up “questions and answers” email.

In the first campuswide email sent to all students from the Office of Student Life, students were made aware they could activate the mobile IDs through the GET app, an application previously used to track students’ meal plan balances, but they weren’t openly told it would deactivate their physical card until a later email, or unless students clicked “learn more”.

Linh Nguyen ‘26 was intrigued by the mobile ID program and its convenience. She wanted to have it on her phone, as sometimes rushing for class in the morning leaves her searching for her ID.

“I went through every step, I added it to my Apple Wallet, and [the mobile ID] still didn’t work,” she said. “And after I added it to my wallet, my physical card stopped working.”

Nguyen found herself at ITS trying to figure out this issue; she had no functioning form of ID and was locked out of her dorm.

“Maybe I will switch back to the physical card,” Nguyen said.

Although the implementation saw initial challenges, access has gone more smoothly since its launch, and making the switch to a mobile ID has been more convenient for students. All building access from a physical ID has since worked for mobile IDs.

In addition, on an iPhone, if “express mode” is checked on a student’s ID, it can be used for up to five hours after the phone has died, although the same might not be said for all other phone models. Using a phone as an ID also means that for students there is one fewer thing needed to carry around – or worry about losing.

“It’s useful,” said Whitney Dow ‘25, a student who made the switch. “It’s really convenient, but I wish the actual ID card still worked,” she said.

“Mobile IDs are a request we’ve heard from multiple students and we’re excited to offer them to the campus community,” said Doug Lisko, director of Student Life operations, in a written response. “I, along with many students and staff, have been using the Mobile ID as part of our pilot program, and we’ve found it reliable, accurate, and handy.”

The Office of Student Life says that “with mobile IDs, you can complete any action that previously required a physical ID card — both on and off campus.”

In its initial stages, some vending machines took time before they implemented the new form of payment. In downtown Granville on the first day of the switch, dining and shopping locations were adjusting to the change too.

Dragon Village, a Chinese food restaurant in Granville, did not have the contactless ID scanner installed until Wednesday, Feb. 12, so were not able to take mobile ID payments on the first day.

Dining is not the only sector adjusting to the change. The Mitchell Center is also having to adapt its equipment policy with mobile IDs instead of taking a physical card for equipment rental.

“As far as checking out equipment at the Mitchell, we’d want to take something in their possession,” said Terrell White, the Athletic Facilities Coordinator at the Mitchell Center. “We have to make sure we understand these logistics,” he said.

At the mailroom, the staff encourages students to still bring their physical ID card to scan after receiving a package, however, a digital barcode can be found on WhatToDU if a physical card isn’t present.

While the adoption of the change faced challenges in the first few days, many are expected to make the switch. 

According to Lisko, over 800 students and staff have already activated their mobile IDs in the opening two days.

”Despite a few bumps, we had a very successful launch day,” he said.

Lisko said the Office of Student Life is continually working with campus and community partners such as vending, and with in-town and on-campus dining to provide a positive experience. They appreciate student input and encourage everyone to submit their feedback to the Help Desk.