Penn College to Be 'Cashless Campus' Under 'Wildcat Plus Plan'

Students at Pennsylvania College of Technology soon will be able to use their student identification cards to pay for purchases at dining units, the College Store, vending machines and laundry rooms on campus, as well as commercial restaurants nearby.

With a "Wildcat Plus Plan" activated on their Wildcat ID cards, students even will be able to pay for parking fines issued by Penn College Police and rent videos at the Bush Campus Center Information Center.

Food Services and Information Technology Services at the College are working together to establish an extensive network of card-reader locations for the first phase of the College's Wildcat Plus initiative, which will be launched for the Fall 2003 semester.

With an activated card, a student will be able to "swipe" his or her purchases at the College Store, at beverage and snack vending machines anywhere on campus, at laundry rooms in residence halls, and at copy machines.

Students also will be able to use their cards at any Food Services dining unit, including the main cafeteria (the Susquehanna Room), a sit-down restaurant (the Bistro), two convenience stores (the Wildcat Express and West Side), snack bars (Nature's Cove, Penn Central and the International Cafe and the CoffeeHouse. The card also may be used at the College's fine-dining restaurant, Le Jeune Chef.

Off campus, students may use the Wildcat Plus Card at Burger King, Sheetz and Wendy's on Maynard Street and at "1100 West Cafe" on West Third Street.

Wildcat Plus Plans will be activated at a Web site to be announced next month, after informational brochures are mailed to students.

Once funds are placed in a student's account, the Wildcat Plus Card will function as a debit card: Funds will be deducted as purchases are made. Students will be able to check their account balances, see transaction histories and view a list of participating locations on the Wildcat Plus Web site.

"We're excited about this collaborative effort among Food Services, Information Technology Services and our merchants in the neighborhood," said Linda A. Sweely, director of food services at Penn College. "The Wildcat Plus Plan expands the services available to our student body and complements our current meal-plan offerings nicely by giving commuter students access to food and services while traveling to and from campus. While separate from a meal plan, the Wildcat Plus Plan makes Penn College virtually a cashless campus for students by having all of these services available to them with just a swipe of their ID cards."