UNM to implement ID scanning in high traffic areas

The University of New Mexico is implementing a new initiative called Shared Location Entry Tracking, an ID scanning program to keep track of individuals, including vendors, contractors and visitors, entering some of the most popular buildings across campus. The new method will capture the LoboCard identification of all individuals and employees entering the building and eliminating, in most instances, the need for the manual collection of contact information to share with the New Mexico Department of Health contact tracing team.

In a roll out that begins Friday, Oct. 16, the Student Union Building (SUB), and Zimmerman and Centennial Libraries will be the first buildings to initiate the new safety protocol intended to improve screening and contact tracing processes, both essential in mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 virus. For those individuals without a LoboCard, an attendant at the entrance will utilize a manual entry form on Lobo Check-in to collect relevant contact information. Data will not be permanently retained.

“The impetus behind Shared Location Entry Tracking is to strengthen our ability to do contact tracing should an individual in our community test positive for COVID-19,” said Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Teresa Costantinidis. “We have a good sense of where individuals might be on campus based on our daily “Lobo Check-In” data and what we know about student enrollment in in-person courses. But we do not know if someone had been in a shared space like Zimmerman Library or the SUB, and if someone who was in those spaces tests positive, we want to be able to reach out to others who were there.”

Other benefits and objectives include keeping the entry process simple, minimizing clusters of people at entrances, and protecting the safety of staff monitoring entrances. Additional high-traffic areas, including Johnson Center and La Posada, are also under consideration as well as other buildings across campus.

For more information on UNM’s efforts to keep the campus community safe, visit Bring Back the Pack.