Late in the summer, dining services announced death to paper ordering in the Pub. The improved GET mobile application would take over the stressful, sometimes confusing, paper and pencil food orders at the NorthStar cafe.

“The GET app was introduced a few years ago to help students manage their meal plan, so it isn’t new. However, until this Fall semester the online ordering component was not available.It took approximately four months to implement the new system, and we finally went live on August 23,” explained David Geleta, Unit Manager at the Pub. “With the Covid-19 pandemic and need to social distance, minimize contact and eliminate the exchange of paper orders, the online system was made a priority this spring,” David added.

Now the online system is here, and it has been well received. When asked how the online ordering system has changed his working conditions, Peter Salego- a long standing Pub cash register said “ it makes it a lot easier… we can monitor the load of orders… we can send a message when food is done! It uses less paper and therefore more economical than the old paper system.”

The students like the app, too. On a student survey, over half the participants gave it a good to satisfied score. James White ’22 said that  “it is very good overall,” essential, easy to use and that he likes that it notifies him when the food is ready. Steven Vega ’22 was impressed by the speed at which the app moved from a concept to reality with very few glitches. Many students like James and Steven were impressed by the different functions of the app as well.

However, James, like other students, did not spare criticism. “I take away 0.5 points [from the score] everytime my order has been lost, ” James said with a touch of seriousness in his voice. Jame’s friend at the same table, Achiad Kalman ’22,  expressed that the app did not have a way for him to indicate that he did not want bacon in some food options due to religious practices. When I asked the three friends about using the text box on the app to indicate that they do not want some ingredients to be added in their food, they responded in unison: “ they do not always read the comments!” The friends also expressed the need to minimize the steps it takes to order an item on the app. They believed that some of the steps were counterproductive.

Other common concerns raised by Laurentians include: unappealing interface, delays, slow in-app speeds,lost orders, not having notifications when food is ready, oddly sequenced food collection times, traffic and the most common concern was the lack of connection between different pub sections. For example, Berenice Castillo Dominguez ’24 thought it would be nice to have a seamless way to order coffee in the Cafe and pizza in the Kitchen, all in one go.

So what can you expect in the future versions of the GET app? “..As for coming improvements, in conjunction with the GET app online ordering we will be adding a kiosk ordering system to the Dining Room for an additional ordering option. And starting next week we will be introducing our “Celebrity Sandwich Series featuring a specialty deli sandwich inspired by a notable current Laurentian.” David explained before adding that “ With any new system we experienced some growing pains and a few glitches the first days of operation and appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during that time.  Since then we’ve made a number of changes to the program to correct issues, and the system seems to be running much more smoothly now.”

Regardless what the improvements will be, Dining Services has done the most to curb the spread of Covid-19 on St. Lawrence campus. Through interviews and conversations, Saints are happy and impressed with the efforts, including GET app, taken by Dining services and other departments to protect every student in this difficult time. The Dining Services kiosk  is surely a must-lookout-for.