Creighton University’s Brenda Hovden Named NACCU-PERSONA Professional Development Award Winner

Brenda Hovden of Creighton University in Omaha, NE, was recently awarded the Professional Development Award by the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU) and PERSONA.

Hovden, who serves as the Director of Card Services, is the sixth recipient of the award.

“I was introduced to the campus card industry in 1991 and energized by everyone’s enthusiasm around the ideas, services, and technology of the business,” Hovden said.

Hovden started her career in the industry in the Dining Services Department of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa when they implemented their first system in 1991. After taking the leadership role of the Creighton’s One Card Program in August 1997, Hovden expanded the application far beyond the original board-dining program.

Today, the program includes snack, beverage and laundry vending, a campus-wide print solution, parking/door access, activities/privilege attendance, off-campus retail and a banking relationship.

As part of Creighton’s One Card Program, students use wireless readers for meals, retail, activity transactions and the web for managing their accounts online as well as traditional delivery methods.

“Brenda has taken an entrepreneurial approach to expanding and improving our campus card program,” said Daniel Burkey, Creighton’s Vice President for Administration and Finance.

Hovden was presented the award during the Awards Luncheon at NACCU’s 12th annual conference in Orlando, Florida from March 12-16, after being selected from a list of nominees by a committee of NACCU members.

Last year’s NACCU-PERSONA award recipient Eugene McKenna, General Manager of Auxiliary Services at the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland, introduced and thanked the committee. Angelo Faenza, PERSONA General Manager, then presented Hovden with the 2005 award. “When one sees one’s own name on a list with industry pioneers and founders it’s a humbling experience,” Hovden said.

The Professional Development Award was created in 2000 as a way to recognize those individuals working in a college or university setting who have contributed to the card services industry as a whole, while also recognizing the entrepreneurial spirit and challenge of the accomplishment. NACCU co-sponsors the award with corporate member PERSONA.

About NACCU The National Association of Campus Card Users was formed in 1993 to provide a responsive, diversified source of campus card related information and services. NACCU membership is open to all colleges, universities, secondary institutions and companies that are involved with the campus card market.

NACCU is a nonprofit educational association that works to provide learning and networking opportunities for campus ID card and card industry professionals. The association offers a monthly newsletter (CardTalk), listserv, website and an annual conference on topics related to campus cards.

About PERSONA Born from VingCard, PERSONA is an international leader in hospitality access control. PERSONA™ is also part of ASSA-ABLOY, the world’s largest lock company consortium. Since inventing the recodable mechanical lock in 1979, VingCard has continued to innovate locking technology solutions in multiple industries.

PERSONA™ is an off-line electronic access control system designed to meet the unique security needs of educational facilities. The PERSONA system utilizes both magnetic stripe and PIN code technologies for maximum protection.