Electronic Identity Verification and OWLcard Photo Upload Process for Online Program Students

Collection of Photos

• A student who is registered in an online program will receive a notification in their NEXT Step channel in the TUportal requesting that they upload a current photo of themselves to be used as their official Temple University OWLcard photo for identification purposes.
• In addition a student will have to authorize themselves with a government-issued identification.

Verification of Student Identity

• The OWLcard office will be responsible for reviewing and validating the uploaded photo and the government-issued identification for each student.
• Assuming there is a good verification, an indicator noting the outcome is recorded in the student’s record and the uploaded photo will be stored in the central OWLcard database.
• If a reliable verification cannot be made, the OWLcard Office will reject the submission and indicate a reason for the rejection. The supplied image will be immediately deleted from Temple University systems.

Rejected Photo Protocol

• The OWLcard office will generate a weekly report documenting photo submission rejections. This report will be shared with the Office of Digital Education. The Office of Digital Education will engage the program administrators who have custodial oversight of the student.
• Each individual program administrator will be briefed on the OWLcard’s Office diligence to work with the student to render an acceptable photograph.
• The individual program administrator will be provided guidance regarding acceptable options to confirm the student’s identity prior to the start of next term.
• Importantly, if verification cannot be made during the term when consultations were made, the student may experience a registration or enrollment block for the subsequent term.