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Get your new WMU ID now and be a winner!

March 17, 2005

KALAMAZOO--New photo ID cards are being issued to all Western Michigan University students beginning Tuesday, March 22, and those who get their new IDs by Friday, April 1, will be automatically entered in a random drawing for one of several valuable prizes.

New cards are part of the university's switch from Social Security numbers to Western Identification Numbers--or WIN--as the primary way of identifying students and employees.

After May 1, existing WMU ID cards will not be valid--they won't work in card-swipe readers, and they will not be accepted for any university services. Students who are going to return in the fall and who do not get a new card now, will have to get one at the beginning of fall semester.

Students will be able to get new ID cards at Lawson Arena from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, March 22-24, and Monday through Thursday, March 28-31, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, March 25, and April 1. Students are encouraged to bring their current WMU ID. That will help speed the process of getting a new card.

All of the parking lots around Lawson Arena will be open to free student parking during the ID registration. Food, snacks and beverages will be available for purchase in the arena.

There is no charge for the first new card issued to each student. There is a $25 fee to replace lost or stolen cards, which is the same as the replacement charge for current cards.

Everyone who gets an ID during this spring semester card drive will be eligible in a random drawing for valuable prizes, including the following.

  • Two free parking permits for 2005-06.
  • Three $250 vouchers for book purchases at the WMU Bookstore.
  • Four Apple iPod Shuffles courtesy of the Office of Information Technology.
  • Two tickets to any show in the 2005-06 Miller Auditorium season.
  • Two 30-minute massages at the Student Recreation Center.
  • A free semester of SRC aerobics classes.
  • A free SRC locker for a full semester.
  • Gift certificates and more.

Similar prizes will not be offered to those who get their new ID cards after April 1.

Faculty and staff cannot get new cards during this two-week campaign, because the equipment is programmed exclusively to process student records. Separate dates in April will be announced later in WMU News and WMU Today for faculty and staff to get new ID cards.

Related story
More than 2,000 new student IDs issued first day

Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
269 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/wmu/news