The Commodore Card is the official identification credential for the University. All students, whether full- or part- time, are required to have a valid identification card or mobile credential for any semester in which they are registered. The card is the property of the University, and if a student withdraws, it must be relinquished to the office of the dean of the school in which the student is enrolled. The Commodore Card is not transferable, and altering cards, sharing cards, or falsifying credentials, physically or digitally, is prohibited. Damaged cards should be replaced (for a fee) at Vanderbilt Card Services. Students provision their Commodore Card in a mobile wallet on Apple and Android devices. Undergraduate students may have one active contactless credential at any time (Apple iPhone plus Apple Watch are considered one). Abuse of the mobile credential may result in the student being withdrawn from the program and issued with a plastic contactless card (for a fee).
Students must comply with Vanderbilt Card Services’ policy and requirements regarding photos provided for Commodore Card identification. Failure to comply with such regulations and requirements may result in the disabling of a card, and referral of non-compliant students to Student Accountability, Community Standards and Academic Integrity for corrective action.
In addition to using the Commodore Card for identification, students may use their credentials to access Commodore Cash debit spending funds, to make use of their VU Meal Plan, to gain admission to campus buildings such as residence halls, academic buildings, libraries, athletic events and the David Williams II Recreation and Wellness Center, and to gain admission or record attendance at events across the campus.
Many on-campus and off-campus locations accept the Commodore Card as a method of payment, including dining locations, the Vanderbilt Bookstore, Varsity Markets, vending, VUprint stations and copy machines, Sarratt Ticket Office, the campus post office, athletics concessions, Outdoor Recreation Center and restaurants participating in the Taste of Nashville program. For information on funding your Commodore Cash debit spending account, visit the Commodore Card website.
To ensure that Commodore Cash debit spending funds and access privileges can be protected, students must report lost cards as soon as possible either to Vanderbilt Card Services during business hours, online, or in the GET app. Lost cards may also be reported to the Vanderbilt University Police Department at 615-322-2745.
The University reserves the option of suspending Commodore Card debit privileges, in whole or in part, of any individual for any reason. In the event that debit privileges are entirely suspended, any funds remaining in the Commodore Cash debit spending account will be returned to the individual’s student account, or otherwise returned if the individual has no student account.
The Commodore Card is nontransferable and restricted to use by the person whose name and picture are on the credential. Cardholders may not lend their cards or mobile devices to anyone or ask anyone to purchase items for them with their credentials. Violation of this policy may result in the disabling of credentials and in corrective action through the University’s accountability process. Commodore Card account information will be released only to the cardholder or to the guarantor of the student account, who has been identified as such by the student on documents filed with Student Accounts.
The University has deployed for voluntary use by University community members biometric identification systems to increase security and control access to certain campus facilities and to facilitate meal plan/debit transactions linked to the Commodore Card. If a student chooses to make use of this technology, the student will need to affirmatively consent to such use and provide “Biometric Identifiers” potentially including a fingerprint, or hand or face geometry scan at a collection reader. The technology will use this “Biometric Information” to create a key based on a series of data points across the student’s face or fingerprint and securely store this key on Vanderbilt servers only for use with the biometric identification system. The University recognizes the sensitivity of Biometric Information and takes seriously its obligations to maintain the confidentiality and protect the security of Biometric Information.
The University will permanently destroy an individual’s Biometric Information retained by Vanderbilt within six (6) months of when the initial purpose for collecting or obtaining such Biometric Information has been satisfied, such as: a. The student graduates or otherwise leaves the University; b. the student affirmatively revokes consent to use the Biometric Identifiers; or c. The University no longer uses the Biometric Information. In certain circumstances, the University may need to keep a single back-up copy of the data for audit and compliance purposes beyond the six (6) month retention schedule.
Family Identification Card
Upon payment of a $25 fee, the spouse or domestic partner of a full-time international student (undergraduate, graduate, or professional) may obtain a family identification card from Vanderbilt Card Services by presenting proof of marriage (or proof of domestic partner status for international students). The student's spouse or partner must accompany the individual applying for the card and each must show current photo identification. When properly validated upon payment of the appropriate fees, a family card will admit the family member to home football, basketball, and baseball games (on a seat-available basis), competitions in other sports, or libraries.