The Facts: The University is considering combining the AllCampus, Board Bucks and Wolfcopy programs into a single overarching system at the behest of Student Body President Jim Ceresnak. The new system would cover almost all of students’ on-campus expenditures.
Our Opinion: A single system for on-campus purchases is logical and is long overdue, students deserve to be able to seamlessly and easily use the prepaid money they’ve already given the University.
The AllCampus, Board Bucks and Wolfcopy programs provide students the opportunity to efficiently and easily pay for services and products on campus — even at football games, in the case of AllCampus. The cashless systems successfully allow students to walk around without change in their pockets but cause a great deal of frustration through their lack of unity.
For years, students have complained that the services are not cohesive — leaving them with three separate systems for their purchases.
A proposal by Student Body President Jim Ceresnak would change the systems so that the three work as one.
The modification would benefit students and simplify what has been a frustrating system — enabling students to pay for all of their on-campus purchases with a single system.
In the past, students and student leaders have proposed changing the systems to little avail. Students collectively have lost thousands of dollars when their Board Bucks reset at the end of each semester and would encounter general frustrations when attempting to use the prepaid accounts. For instance, places like the movie theater in Carmichael Student Center only take All Campus credit despite the fact that it sells food and should seemingly take Board Bucks.
Consider the added irony that the vending machines on the third floor of Witherspoon Student Center — directly above the cinema — take Board Bucks and AllCampus credit. The current system defies reason; two identical soda bottles distributed by the University in the same building require separate payment systems.
Some campus services such as laundry require AllCampus while others such as the C-Stores take either Board Bucks or AllCampus.
The systems are frustrating and need to be consolidated into one system that works everywhere. Student Government and Ceresnak should push for this very simple change, which would save students considerable headache.
Fortunately the University seems to be receptive on the idea and has considered the idea of also adding residence hall entrance capabilities into the all-in-one cards of the future. The system change over would require new card readers on campus but would cause no additional cost to students. The change should be a no-brainer for students and the University — the current system quite simply doesn’t meet students’ needs.