Portland State’s student government is hosting a forum today to discuss concerns with the new ID cards students will be receiving in November that can function as debit cards.
The forum will take place at 2 p.m. in the Parkway North building, representatives from the Associated Students of PSU (ASPSU) and the office of business affairs will be on hand, and all students are invited to attend.
PSU signed a contract earlier this month with Higher One – a New Haven, Conn., company – to create the new IDs in August.
With the new cards, students can choose to activate a checking account that is attached to the card. The card then functions like a debit card that would be issued from any bank. Students can also choose to have their financial aid disbursements direct deposited onto the cards.
Angered by what they called a lack of student inclusion in the decision process over new cards, ASPSU requested last week that the university suspend its contract with Higher One.
In response, the university deferred its contract with Higher One by one month. The current launch date for the new IDs is November 15.
Dee Wendler, director of business affairs, at PSU, said that the university wants to use the next month to get more student feedback about the new IDs.
In addition to the forum held by ASPSU, the office of business affairs plans to host forums for students in the coming month.