Virginia Tech has the Hokie Passport. James Madison University has the JAC Card. These cards can be used on campus and around town. Longwood has recently debuted a similar system, designed to make student life easier. Lancer CA$H is money loaded right onto your student identification card, or LancerCard that can be used in a variety of ways.
One of the biggest questions that arises from the new system is the difference between Lancer CA$H and Bonus Dollars. Bonus Dollars come with your meal plan, and can be used at any of the locations ran by ARAMARK. This includes Lancer Café, Java City, the Student Health & Wellness Center, Chick-fil-A and Moe's Southwest Grill. Lancer CA$H, however, turns your ID card into a debit card.
Lancer CA$H can be used at all of the places Bonus Dollars can be used. When you swipe your card, it will look for Bonus Dollars first. Then it will search for Lancer CA$H. LancerCard Center Manager Crissy Sampier explained that although it has taken a little while for students to get use to the system, it is designed to make things easier.
"Until you pay your hold, you cannot do anything. You have to go to the cashier office with cash or check to pay for it," explained Sampier. She explained other situations in which this system will make it easier. She uses the example that some students graduate and go home, and then try and call for a copy of their transcripts. They realize they have a nine-cent fine from printing that they have to pay before they can receive those transcripts.
You can add money to your card online, in the cashiering office or at the value station next to the ATM in the Lankford Student Union. Adding money through the website will incur an additional $2 service, so factor that in when you add money online. Go to http://www.longwood.edu/lancercard and follow the prompts to add money to you account. The website has many options, including allowing others to add money to your card as a guest.
The money rolls over semester-to-semester and year-to-year. If you have more then a $5 balance, you can request your balance to be returned to you. You pay a small service fee and the check will be sent to your home address. Student Government Association (SGA) Vice President Brandon Fry said, for example, if you put $20 on today, it will stay there until you graduate.
There are a large variety of locations that Lancer CA$H can be used at on campus. Use it to pay for a new ID at the ID center, for campus dining services, at any of the food location on campus, the Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Starbucks, the theatre box office, Willett gym, Greenwood Library, copiers, printing, printing services, vending machines, and when doing laundry.
The card can also be used off-campus at Charley's Waterfront Café, CVS Pharmacy, Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, Midtown Mailboxes, Papa John's Pizza, Perini's Pizza, Pino's, Sheetz, and Shoney's. Look for the Longwood Post Office, the Campus Recreation Center and Dairy Queen to be added to the system soon. Sampier said using the card is a safe method because your picture is on the card, which makes the process safer than paying with cash.
One of the changes causing the biggest concern is the fact that students must pay for printing at Greenwood Library with the card. You have to have money on the card before you print in the library or in campus computer labs. If you have no money and you attempt to print, the printer will deny your request.
Junior Alexa Oswald started a petition to bring back the option of paying for printing in ways other than LancerCA$H. "I started the petition because I didn't want to be forced into opening a Lancer CA$H account. I have a debit card I can use everywhere else, so I don't need it. I know other students feel the same way. I have no issue with paying for my printing fees in cashiering, and I feel we should have the payment option," said Oswald.
She wants the former option of paying to remain as well as the option of using LancerCA$H. She is not the only student who feels like they should not have to use the system.
"I don't want to have to put money on a card to be able to use campus printers," said senior Bryan Axson.
There have been complaints about students who feel "forced" to use the LancerCA$H system against their will. Senior Victoria Layman said she thinks LancerCA$H is a great option for printing but she doesn't feel like it should be the only option. She feels like she should still have the choice to print, and then go to the cashiering office and just pay for the printing she owed.
"This current process will most likely help the students whose parents help them pay for college and put money in the LancerCA$H, and hurt the students who end up paying for college themselves, and have to be so frugal that they don't want to put extra money that could go to waste on a card just to print a sheet of paper, if they don't have to," said Layman.
"It is nice to be able to print something out without worrying at the time how much it costs-I can take of that later. If I have to create a Lancer CA$H account, it is just one more thing to keep track of. Imagine going to the library to print a term paper, only to find out you're fifty cents short. Then what? I can't print my paper? There is nothing convenient about that," said senior Misty Watkins. She suggested that since the library has two printers, one could be used for the Lancer CA$H system and one can be used for those who prefer to pay in the cashiering office
The system is meant to make student life easier, but the complaints are still being heard. Both SGA President Ben Brittain and Fry want to look into the issue more. Any complaints can be directed to the SGA.
