Identification Cards

Each faculty and regular staff member will be issued a photo identification card (PennCard) while a member of the University community. The PennCard is the property of the University of Pennsylvania and is not transferable. It should be carried at all times and presented upon the request of any University official.

The PennCard shows the individual's name, photograph, signature, Penn ID number and the card's expiration date; there is also magnetically encoded identification on the card.

204.1 OBTAINING A PENNCARD

All faculty, regular staff, and students can obtain a PennCard at the PennCard Center.  PennCards are issued based on an individual's primary affiliation with the University. For example, a Teaching Fellow would obtain a student identification card.  

There is no charge for the initial PennCard. There is a charge for the replacement of a PennCard, except when replacement is necessitated by a change of name or identification.

The loss or theft of a PennCard should be reported promptly to the PennCard Center during regular business hours or to Public Safety after regular business hours.

Employees do not need to obtain a new replacement card in the following cases:  changing from weekly-paid to monthly-paid status; changing home departments; changing from staff to faculty, or vice versa; or a student's changing from undergraduate to graduate, or vice versa.

204.2 SEPARATION FROM THE UNIVERSITY

A faculty or regular staff member who terminate employment with the University for any reason other than retirement must return his/her PennCard to the home department business administrator at the time of separation.

Employees who retire retain their PennCard as evidence of continued affiliation with the University.

Policy Number: 204
Effective Date: 12/03/2014
Revised Date: 03/19/2019
Last Review Date: 07/01/2019
Supersedes Policy Number(s): 119, 204 (02/01/1990, 07/12/2002, 05/18/2005)
Applicability: All University Employees
Cross-reference: Temporary Identification Cards - Policy 205