No. Use your Redbird Card just like you use a credit card for many university services, ranging from check cashing to the library.
UID numbers are being issued to all university faculty and staff ... plus students, applicants for admission to the University, and alumni.
The initial conversion of university computerized records from SSNs to UIDs will take place over Memorial Day weekend, 2005. New students will get their UID on application to the University and new staff will get their UID upon employment.
The Associated Press reports that more than 11,000 Illinois residents said they were victims of identity theft last year—and that’s up 15 percent from 2003, according to a federal report. Identity theft is the number-one fraud complaint made by consumers. Illinois had the nation’s 10th-highest rate of identity theft reported in 2004. And, nationally, identity thefts climbed nearly 15 percent last year to 246,570 complaints.
Don’t lose it—use it! And don’t use your SSN on university forms, records, documents, or for university services, and don’t give your SSN or UID to others.
Make your staff aware of the new UID system, transition away from using SSNs by June 1, 2005.
Follow university policy and purge SSNs from your electronic files...check your computer records for files using SSNs and delete them, archive them to CDs, or convert them to UIDs