New 8-digit student ID cards: What you need to know

If you’re a new student to Concordia this fall, you will receive an ID card with an eight-digit identification number beginning with a 2. The longer number is compatible with the new Student Information System (SIS), set to go online in January 2015.

Until the new SIS is launched, only the last seven digits of your ID number will be needed to access services and resources online. In cases where you need to manually enter your number, drop the 2 at the beginning of the sequence when you’re prompted to key in your number.

Drop the 2 for manual processes this fall

7-digit ID numbers will continue to work

During the fall 2014 term, current students who have a seven-digit ID card will have no action to take. When the new SIS goes online in January, however, returning students will retain their existing numbers and simply add the 2 at the beginning of the sequence when entering their numbers manually. New ID cards will not be issued to current students.

An awareness campaign is being launched during orientation as the back-to-school routine kicks into action for the new academic year. Information will be given to students as they get their ID cards made at Birks and during the F.A.S.T. services set-up in the J.W. McConnell Building atrium starting Monday, August 25.

Streamlined services coming with the new SIS

Concordia’s SIS supports virtually all key business functions and processes across the university, including recruitment, admissions, enrolment, academic advising, registration, course and exam scheduling, student accounts, graduation, government reporting for funding purposes, and invoicing.

The new system — based on a packaged software platform from Oracle called PeopleSoft Campus Solutions — will contain a number of benefits for students.

Most importantly, it will centralize many disparate online services, such as tuition payment, applying for financial aid and awards, and registering for courses.

“There will only be one point of entry, and then from the menu, they can pick and choose whatever it is that they need to do,” says Terry Too, project director for the new SIS.

The new SIS will also allow students who want to register for a course that’s already full to add their name to a waiting list. “When a spot becomes available, the system will automatically take the student off the waiting list and put them in the course,” Too explains.

An academic-advising section in the new system will permit students to easily track their progress toward completing their chosen degree programs. As Too explains, academic advisors will also have access to the same information.

“It means advisors will be able to spend more time advising, as opposed to undertaking the clerical exercise of matching the courses students have taken with their degree requirements.”

A team of more than 40 university staff members has been working full-time for more than a year to get the new SIS system ready for its online release. So far, Too says, everything is going as planned for the launch in late January 2015.

Learn more about eight-digit ID cards and stay tuned for details about the new Student Information System on your Student hub.