St. Lawrence University Dining Services has released new information after unplanned issues with the current online dining ordering system.
In an email sent on Wednesday afternoon, Marijo Haggett, the director of Dining Services, announced that the online ordering system was unavailable due to an issue with the provider. The provider, Microsoft Azure, was experiencing a service outage. A little over an hour later, students received another email that said they could now resume ordering online.
Later, on Wednesday night, students got another email from Haggett acknowledging the issues the new ordering platform has caused despite the necessity of the change. “Even after weeks of troubleshooting and back-and-forth with the vendor, the system still isn’t performing as it should,” she said.
The email also listed the immediate actions that were being taken to accommodate students’ needs.
Grab and Go options at Northstar Café will be extended to include hot food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Students who currently have a campus meal plan will receive a $50 dining dollar credit as a gift from Dining Services.
Haggett also wrote in the email that they have set a timeline for the vendor to fix the issues and have begun researching other ordering platforms if needed. The office of the Dean of Student Life and the Thelomathesian Society are collaborating with Dining Servies to find students who are interested in being involved in the discussions of what the online ordering platform will look like in the future.
In September, students received an email announcing the new online ordering platform for campus eateries as well as a new platform to check meal plans, account balances and transactions.
Some students don’t seem to be affected by the online ordering system being down. “It doesn’t really bother me because I just end up going to Dana or Johnson or getting a snack,” said Charlotte Blake ’27.
On the other hand, some students expressed frustration with the unreliability of the system. Carly Zack ’27 said that recently when she tried to order breakfast for the next morning, the early time slots were already filled. Zack noted that the ordering system being down also adds more work for the Northstar Café employees because they have to take in-person orders now. “I appreciate them trying to fix this,” said Zack.
The new online ordering system replaced the GET app on Sept. 24. In the most recent email, Haggett noted that they “made the switch to stay in compliance with payment security standards.” For the last month, students have received numerous emails updating them on the status of the system, often notifying students that certain options are not available or when the whole system is down.
To end the email, Haggett said, “We appreciate your patience and understanding. Our focus remains on delivering the convenient, dependable dining experience you deserve.”