I’m sure you’ve heard it before. “My picture is terrible,” or “Can I try taking my picture again?” Well, it is that time of the year. New students have gathered to campus to jump-start their career paths, but they can’t get very far without a student ID.

This year the Office of the Registrar and RIT Housing collaborated with RIT’s Information & Technology Services (ITS) on a new process that ensured first-year students would not only be happy with their pictures, but getting their IDs would be a much easier process. What used to be a long line filled with eager students waiting to take their ID photo after carrying their endless boxes on move-in day, has turned into a much more efficient process, thanks to selfies.

Yes, selfies. The quickly snapped pictures of oneself, typically taken with the front camera of a cellphone, have made their way onto student ID cards here at RIT. Joe Loffredo, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Registrar, said that this year for the first time at RIT, “Students were given the ability to self-select a photo and you can tell many embraced the freedom.” All but about 250 of the some 2700 incoming freshmen uploaded their own photo. Matt DeMayo, Associate Registrar, noted that “The process also invited students to enter in a preferred name which really enhanced the self-expression aspect for all students as the preferred name not only displayed on their RIT ID but also displays for instructors and advisors within SIS and other locations.”

Not only were new students able to send in desired photos prior to move-in day, but they were also able to seamlessly check-in and get their IDs from RIT Housing when picking up their residence hall keys. Carla DiLella, Executive Director of RIT Housing Operations and Global Initiatives, stated, “The fact that new student IDs were available at the freshmen move-in tents allowed students to be checked into housing very quickly by scanning their IDs on the Housing iPads. This check-in process allowed Housing Operations to provide real-time move-in data to other departments on campus as we moved through the day.” It was as easy as that.

Loffredo noted, “For many years we thought there must be a better way than making every new student stand in line at the fieldhouse during orientation to get their ID card. This required a sizable investment in extra ID card machines and staff to handle the volume and it still resulted in long lines on a day when new students had many other things to do.” With the new process there was no need for cameras, additional ID card machines or extra staff members. The new students also gained back a large chunk of their afternoon that would’ve been spent standing in line in the Gordon Field House. For the few students that did not upload their own photos, their check-in process still remained efficient, but a visit to the Office of the Registrar was necessary to pick up their ID cards.

The project members I spoke to noted that this was a great example of collaboration between departments across RIT. Loffredo said “the system was built by ITS in a collaborative project with the Registrar’s Office,” and said that Kevin Carpenter, ITS Applications Developer/Architect; Lars Avery, ITS Software/Systems Design Engineer Technology Specialist; and Bryan Meyer, ITS Senior Project Manager, were all key individuals from ITS who helped in the development of the new student ID process.

Loffredo mentioned that to ensure photos were accurate and appropriate, “Prior to printing the ID cards, all photos were subject to a quality control review process.” While all of the photos did undergo a review, the few photo submission guidelines did not take away from students’ ability to express themselves, and embrace their freedom. With self-expression having always been a major part of the community at RIT, this is just another step our university has taken to embrace it.