DIGITAL IMPROVEMENTS to learning and quality of life are expected to be implemented during the first semester of AY 2023–2024. Among those mainly outlined are the integration of RFID chips in centralized ID cards and digitalization of student processes such as payments.

First discussed in last February’s budget hearing, these plans have notably begun to see implementation with recent shifts to digital modes of payment. Focusing on digitalization, Vice President for Higher Education Maria Luz Vilches, PhD explained how the move is part of making the Ateneo’s systems more efficient and convenient.

“The changes related to the digitization of the ID system and other systems [are] a product of a thorough review, and we monitor the effects of such changes so that we can modify or develop it further,” Vilches said.

Digital services in place

In consideration with existing systems, the University will continue to use Canvas to supplement onsite classes. Vilches expounded that it will be kept to allow for independent study and to assist the flow of face-to-face learning modalities.

Meanwhile, the Ateneo Integrated Student Information Systems (AISIS) is currently undergoing improvements led by the Office of the Vice President for Digital Information and Technology Services (OVP-DITS).

Vilches elaborated that the OVP-DITS is taking its time to finish working on AISIS, as they have to carefully go through the different features and functionalities to make sure the system comprehensively addresses student needs.

Additionally, the OVP-DITS has already started to put other plans in motion. Among these includes the January 2024 deactivation of school emails under the current OBF subdomain in favor of a “consolidated” license linked under Ateneo’s main domain—ateneo.edu.

With regards to other pertinent services being offered, Student Concerns Head Michael Jacinto Mallillin shared that the Office for the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs (OADSA) has automated data collection for student processes such as ID application forms, minor violation databases, and other similar procedures.

“Everything is already automated in terms of collecting data. […] All of these [online forms] have QR codes. […] We have gone paperless in terms of our forms, so everything is done digitally,” Mallillin stated.

Moreover, he said that the aforementioned digital integrations are already in implementation this school year, especially seen with the issuance of temporary digital IDs due to delays in the processing of new IDs.

The new Ateneo ID

Expounding on these delays, Mallillin said that the change in its central issuance from the OADSA to the Campus Safety and Mobility Office (CSMO) is taking time. However, in the long term, the move hopes to streamline and centralize key student services with regard to safety, health, security, and access to campus facilities.

The first instances of this streamlining can already be seen with the Rizal Library’s facilities, which integrates and allows students from all Higher Education Cluster schools to access resources in the Katipunan, Rockwell, and Ortigas campuses through their valid IDs.

To implement a more durable and secure ID card, Mallillin described the new design as “sparse”–only featuring the student’s ID number, photo, full name, barcode, and the newly-added RFID chip. He further explained that this design will be uniform to all units in the basic and higher education clusters.

Elaborating on the RFID chip, Mallillin said that it is designed to facilitate the validation of student campus access through the use of a tapping mechanism in key University entry points in campus buildings and closed-off areas.

Aside from its security features, the chip also includes an e-wallet powered by Maya, an online payment account. Mallillin confirms that when it is linked to an existing digital wallet, it can be used for daily transactions both within and outside Ateneo.

In terms of design, the ID card will now be vertically oriented and color-coded to distinguish the wearer’s school unit. Furthermore, to verify a student’s enrollment status, the semestral validation stickers will be retained.

Despite these new quality-of-life-oriented features, Mallillin disclosed that they may only be implemented by the next academic year.

“We’re asking for everybody’s patience kasi baka magkaroon pa ng kaunting (because there may be some) delays in production, and the features will not be fully activated altogether,” he explained. “This is a new system, and CSMO keeps reminding us that it will take a few years for it to be fairly ubiquitous.”

A digital university

Further expounding on OADSA’s future plans, Mallillin shared that they plan to further digitize other processes such as student surveys and request forms.

Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Rene Salvador San Andres added that they also plan to integrate these developments into their office’s conduct of the sixth iteration of the Ateneo College Survey (TACS), a review of the current state of the Ateneo student body expected to happen in February 2024.

Reflecting on these plans, San Andres believes that these changes are Ateneo’s initiatives to join the wave of the future. “If you look at our overall environment, this [digitalization] is actually the way things are going for much of the world,” he reasoned. 

Similarly, Vilches revealed the challenges of this process, especially in its first year of implementation.“[The integration process] needs listening to people’s needs, appreciating strengths, awareness of resistance and sensitivities, understanding contexts, [and] sharing stories in view of opening doors for collaborative engagements,” she said.

Nevertheless, she remains hopeful about where the University is heading. As the new academic year starts, Vilches said that all these plans are part of a continuing development of the Ateneo community’s culture in the Ignatian tradition. For her, the Ateneo may be diverse, but it remains united in its shared mission of education.