University of Minnesota Introduces New U Card Services with Odyssey PCS from CBORD

For Immediate Release

Ithaca, New York—The CBORD Group, Inc., the leading provider of campus card and integrated auxiliary management solutions to colleges and universities, is pleased to announce that the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis and St. Paul recently expanded its use of the Odyssey PCS™ campus card solution from CBORD® to roll out new card-based services to its university community. Thanks to a newly enhanced solution, students can now take advantage of online account management, as well as make payments for goods and services at more campus venues using their U Cards. The University of Minnesota TC Campus enrolls more than 51,000 students and employs more than 22,000 faculty and staff members.

Odyssey PCS allowed the U Card office to develop and implement a more convenient declining balance program, known at the university as Gopher GOLD™. Previously an offline, value stripe-accessed program, Gopher Gold is now an online declining balance account managed by Odyssey PCS, improving convenience for students, staff, and faculty. Additionally, the U Card office was able to partner with University Dining Services to have Gopher GOLD value accepted at all of their 32 campus venues. Gopher Gold may also be used at 314 snack and beverage vending machines, 13 library-provided copy services, 60 computer labs for printing, 335 laundry machines in its 10 residence halls, and much more.

“Odyssey PCS was our number-one choice as we moved forward in transitioning our Gopher GOLD™ program from an offline system to an online declining balance program,” says Shirley Everson, Director of the U Card Office, University of Minnesota. “We are deeply appreciative of the many CBORD Team Members that provided guidance and support along our journey, and we admire their ability to be creative, patient, supportive and very customer oriented. It took years to convince administrators that we needed to expand our U Card services, but it took only minutes to convince them that CBORD was the best solution for our institution.”

“The University of Minnesota is a long-time CBORD customer, and we have enjoyed the opportunity to assist the school in rolling out new U Card services,” says Read Winkelman, Vice President, Sales, The CBORD Group, Inc. “Shirley and her team have done a tremendous job of listening to students’ needs, carefully evaluating and planning for expansion, and executing a stellar rollout. We are very pleased to congratulate them on a job well done."

Other recent expansions to the university’s use of CBORD technologies include upgrades of the Foodservice Suite® and EventMaster® PLUS! food service and catering management solutions in use on campus. These solutions control costs and ensure quality in food and event management, and they integrate seamlessly for up-to-the-minute data integrity. The university is also implementing CBORD’s Webfood® online ordering solution to provide students with even more convenient dining options.

About The CBORD Group, Inc.

The CBORD Group serves colleges and universities, corporations, healthcare facilities, chain restaurants, supermarkets, and a host of other market segments. CBORD's products are used in campus ID card privilege control, access control, integrated security, housing services, food service, catering, nutrition services, online ordering, and other institution-wide activities. The CBORD Group serves more than 6,000 clients in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, New Zealand, and Australia.

The CBORD Group was founded in 1975. To learn more about CBORD, visit us at www.cbord.com.

“We are very pleased with this [cashless] program, and it has been a great service to our students in buildings where they have long lab hours and have a tough time leaving to grab a bite to eat. They utilize their cards to get a snack or a beverage.”

— Linda Sweely, Director of Food Services
Pennsylvania College of Technology