IT Services and the University Card

University Cards are supplied automatically to all students. Staff and visitors must apply for a card through their College or Department.

NB: If you apply in person to Bodleian Admissions, the card you get will not give any entitlement to services provided by IT Services.

Retired staff who are in receipt of a University pension can apply directly for a card. A fee is charged for retiree cards.

When a new University Card is issued it triggers the Oxford Username and Single Sign-On account creation process. In most cases a Nexus mailbox and one or more email addresses will be created as well.

If your card is lost, stolen or damaged you must inform your College or Department administrator as soon as possible so that a replacement can be requested. If you do not do this, you may be held responsible for unauthorised use of your University Card. The Card Office charges a fee to replace a lost card. There is no fee for replacing a stolen card where a crime number is reported.

If you lose your Card and find it again after a replacement has been issued, you must use the new card and destroy the old one. Electronic records will only contain the barcode of the new card. Your old card will not be accepted by IT Services or elsewhere.

Damaged cards are replaced free of charge (with the exception of retiree cards where a fee must be paid).

When a person's University Card record is modified, IT Services will receive the information early the next day. Accounts and email addresses will be updated by a combination of automatic and manual actions, depending on what has changed. Individuals can check their own email routings and expiry dates via the self-registration pages. If there is a move to a new department or college, the email records will be updated but the Oxford username will remain the same. Any email addresses which do not match a current affiliation will go ex-directory but will continue to receive email for two months.

Administrators must ask the Card Office to cancel the electronic record of a person's card when they leave earlier than the card expiry date. Even if the card is repossessed, the barcode number can be used to access various library and computing facilities if the electronic record is not cancelled. This applies to Virtual Access status cards as well as physical cards.