By Marshall Cearfoss
News Editor
One growing concern for some students at TJC is that teachers calling roll at the beginning of each class takes too much time away from the educational part of class. In fact, at a Student Senate meeting on Sept. 8th, Pauline Gatabazi, a TJC student, brought it to the Senate’s attention stating that she feels like there is too much wasted time. “It’s very annoying, because sometimes you can’t hear [the teacher] when they call roll,” said Gatabazi.
“[Card scanners] are something we have discussed over the last year,” said Rick Besch, the Executive Director of the TJC Information Technology (IT) department.
On the agenda is the plan to install either card swipe technology, card “tap” technology or proximity readers at each classroom doorway. Card swipes would be just like the card swipe you see at any cashier counter (at restaurants, grocery stores, etc.). Card “tap” technology would mean that the students would simply have to touch their ID to the reader to be counted on attendance. The last option on the list is the proximity readers which would add the students onto attendance as soon as they walk through the door.
With the new technology, they will also be instituting more advanced ID cards. The new ones will look the same as the old cards except that they’ll have a proximity chip imbedded in them. Since the chips will only have the students’ A-number on it, there will be no way that hackers would be able to cause any harm if they were to pick up the cards’ information through proximity.
Over the course of the next two years, the IT department will be periodically installing the necessary new forms of technology in each building.
The price of the project is still unknown, but tuition will not likely be affected by it. “Installing a [proximity reader] above one door could cost anywhere from $500 to $2,000,” stated Larry Mendez, the chief information officer.
Although advancements like this are still a few years away, it will be a big step in the progress of TJC as a whole.
