The University of Oviedo is one of the 12 academic institutions that issue the University Smart Card (TUI) instantly, which is provided with a chip that stores the personal data of the holder. Thanks to the storage capacity of this chip, the user can access a wide range of services, unimaginable with the old systems.  

 

The event to present this new technology was held in the Historical Building of the University of Oviedo and was attended by Vicente Gotor, Rector of the University of Oviedo; Víctor García, regional director of Santander Bank in Asturias; and Amador Fraile, director of University Card and Commercial Development of Santander Universities Spain. 

 

The Rector reminded the audience that this card is one of the benefits resulting from the agreement signed with Santander Bank in June last year. Such agreement has meant "a significant support to the excellence of our institution by means of initiatives that promote research, mobility of lecturers and students and new technologies applied to different services, like the issuance of the university smart card".

 

For his part, the director of University Card and Commercial Development of Santander Universities Spain, Amador Fraile, "has highlighted the relevance and advance of this technology, pioneered by Santander Universities, anticipating the rest of financial entities in Spain and worldwide, and which allows the instant issuance of the university Smart card, facilitating access to all the services provided by this card from the very first minute, and meeting the historical demand that students and staff of the universities have always requested".

 

This card serves as a personal identification card, and can control access to buildings and parking lots, library loans, access to conferences and events, etc.; it may also work with electronic signatures, which in the near future nay be used in administrative procedures, encouraging a modern and quick management. On the other hand, experts are working to create a new mobile application, to access all the services provided by this card.

In the past, university students had to wait for at least ten days to receive their University Smart Card, at the Registrar´s Office or Department, but with this new system students are given their cards instantly in any of the designated offices in charge of issuing the university smart card. 

 

The process is very simple: Students go to one of the issuing offices, with their ID. Through several services, the link to the University is validated. Then, an ID picture is taken with a tablet, which will keep it stored in the information systems of the University of Oviedo for the subsequent identification of the user in the services of the institution. Finally, the university card is given to the student. 

 

The card is provided with a modern QR code system that identifies the type of relationship with the University (PDI, PAS or student) and the period of validity. This way, the process allows the issuance of an active smart university card in only 3 minutes. This challenge has meant a pioneering innovation in the field of issuance of university cards.

 

Since October 2014 around 3.800 cards have been given to first-registration students, in a first phase; in the current phase -PDI and PAS- around 1.600 cards have been given. There are already 5.400 cards among the university community of the University of Oviedo. 

 

The success of this instant issuance of the University Smart Card for new students was first tested in 2013 at the University of Murcia, and it is nowadays extended to other Spanish universities that are developing this initiative in collaboration with Santander Bank, through Santander Universities Spain.

 

The Bank, through Santander Universities (www.santander.com/universidades), jointly issues the University Smart Card (TUI) with more than 300 universities from 12 countries, 68 of which are Spanish universities. At the moment, more than 7,8 million university students use a card developed by the bank, in collaboration with each academic institution.