Beginning Oct. 30, main campus students will be eligible to pick up their personal Georgetown One Card, a single card to be used for identification, purchasing goods and services both on and off campus as well gaining access to University buildings. But according to project manager Larry Dupois, students will not able to use the GOCard until spring.
Dupuis said approximately 350 GOCard readers will be installed on the main campus at facilities such as dining halls, copiers, vending machines, the bookstore and building doors.
All Main Campus students should have GOCards by the end of the semester, but according to Dupuis, the entire system will not be set up until later in the spring semester. Installation will begin with campus locations such as Lauinger Library, Yates Field House and dining facilities in Darnall Hall and New South.
Dupuis said GOCard readers will be installed in campus dormitories by February, after implementation at other campus sites is completed.
The Georgetown Law Center debuted the GOCard earlier this semester. According to Dupuis, the Law Center is a “good place to prototype [the GOCard]” because it is a much smaller campus with only four buildings compared to the 36 on the main campus.
“It has gone very well. We have had very few problems from individual devices. As I understand it, the reception of the students has been very positive,” Dupuis said.
The University will transition from using the old identification card to the new GOCard throughout the spring. University Registrar John Pierce said that students will have to carry both cards until the transition is complete.
Vital Vittles, Movie Mayhem, Full Exposure, Uncommon Grounds and More Uncommon Grounds will probably begin accepting the GOCard in January according to Gina Kim (CAS ‘02), president of Students of Georgetown, Inc.
Kim said surveys indicate many people want to use credit cards or Munch Money at all Corp stores, in particular at Uncommon Grounds. She expects that the GOCard will increase business at the Corp.
Students will also be able to use the GOCard as a debit card at neighborhood restaurants and stores. According to Dupuis, GOCard Services expects stores such as the Tombs, Wisemiller’s, Domino’s and Manny and Olga’s to accept the GOCard.
Nabeel Audeh, owner of the popular Georgetown store Wisemiller’s, said he would give the GOCard “serious consideration,” but that no one from Georgetown has approached him about the program as of yet.
According to Dupuis, the system allows students to put up to $9,999 on the GOCard. Students will be able to add money at eight “value transfer stations” on campus, on-line and at the GOCard office.
Pierce said the initiative for the GOCard originally came from students.
Eric Rivers (CAS ‘02), Georgetown University Student Association Election Commissioner, said he has been working on bringing the GOCard to campus since his first year at Georgetown. He said the main obstacle to getting the GOCard has been a lack of funding.
“The GOCard is something we should have had a long time go,” said Rivers. “It will revolutionize the campus.”
