“We issue ID cards for daily campus uses from checking out library books to accessing doors to paying for on-campus meals,” said Tim Riley, the university’s bursar, in a news release. “Facilitating those uses will always be the primary factors in deciding how to update the cards, but it’s always a plus if the updates also can make life more convenient for students in other ways by adding new technologies or new features.”

The new cards, which will be integrated into the Purdue population over the next several years, will include a unique identifier that will allow them to be read by more electronic devices. This update will add more convenience to users and better position Purdue for an eventual adoption of mobile credentials as universities nationwide are exploring.

The addition of an expiration date to student cards and the continued inclusion of the cardholders’ photo and legal name also means the new versions of the card are more likely to be accepted by Indiana voting officials as valid forms of identification. The expiration date will be set six years from the date the card is printed.

“We are not in the voter identification business, but if we can help make voting more convenient for students, we want to do so, and the design parameters of the new card appear to check all the necessary boxes for a valid voter identification,” Riley said. “But it’s up to state, county and local poll workers to decide whether an identification is acceptable for voting purposes, and the surest way for students to guarantee ballot access is to acquire a passport, an Indiana driver’s license or a free Indiana ID card from a Bureau of Motor Vehicles branch.”