In June, the University of Houston is set to unveil its new identification card for all faculty, staff and students.The new Cougar Card will maintain the same individualized campus privileges, such as building access and library privileges, as the current Higher One and Cougar 1 cards.
The university is separating the Higher One black card from the (red) university ID; this necessitates a re-carding for the entire campus community,” said Raymond Bartlett, UH treasurer. “The new card will not contain any third-party banking information, so faculty, staff and students can feel confident wearing or presenting their Cougar Card.
The Higher One card, however, will continue to function as a debit/check card and provide banking services linked to financial aid disbursements and refunds for those who choose to use it, according to Bartlett.
We anticipate printing new cards for faculty, staff and new students through August 17,” Bartlett said. For returning students we will begin printing new ID cards on August 18th and will continue until every student has a been re-carded.
A representative from each college and division will distribute the Cougar Card to faculty and staff. The Cougar Card will include the address of a Web site, where activation instructions will be located. Employees must activate the new ID card within 30 days of receipt. Activation of the card, which will take up to 24 hours, will automatically deactivate the campus functionality of the current card.
The black Higher One card will remain active for refunds and banking, and the Higher One ATMs will remain on campus. In the future, employees and students who have active Higher One accounts will receive new cards at no cost. Visit http://www.cougarone.com to open a Higher One account and request a Higher One card.
The new ID also will have a new modern design—a Cougar red background with white lettering and the card holder’s name, photo and classification (faculty, staff, student or special program).
The Cougar Card office will use archived photos of faculty, staff and students. The office will schedule a time for photo shoots but will assess a $7 charge for new pictures, any person requesting a new picture will need to bring the new Cougar Card with them to the Cougar Card Office.
For more information and a list of frequently asked questions, visithttp://www.uh.edu/cougarcard/.