Multiple changes to dining facilities on campus have launched this semester, from a new app to scan into the dining halls to the opening of the cafe “So-Full Sisters” inside BiHall to an expansion of the Grille’s offerings.
Previously, all students hovered their plastic ID cards over scanners to check in to the dining halls. Now, they can alternatively use the new app, called GET Mobile. After signing in using facial recognition technology, they open a barcode section of the app and place it in front of new scanners to swipe in.
The app displays a screen that informs students of the remainder of their automatic $30 declining balance, remaining guest meal swipes and swipes on their meal plan in general. Even for students on an unlimited meal plan, the count begins at 2000 and decreases with each swipe they make. A full history of students’ meal swipes from before the app was introduced is also available.
Director of Dining Services Dan Detora said that GET Mobile will digitalize the dining experience for students while making the scanning process more efficient for employees. Students may not realize that ID cards place a significant burden on the Food Service office, he explained.
“It is a big ask to print 2,700 cards for the students in the academic year, and the language schools come in and we print all of those cards, so it’s a huge amount of work which we are trying to eliminate in two years or so,” Detora said.
Dining Services is working with the college to end the need for printing physical student IDs entirely, meaning access to dorms may also be digitized.
Detora said that students shouldn’t feel obligated to download the app, but noted that widespread and consistent adoption would bolster this “trial period” for Dining Services.
Some students expressed positive feedback about the adoption of the app and the digitization effort. Emma McNealy ’28 appreciates the flexibility afforded by the option between the mobile application and the physical ID swipe.
“I really like it. I can see how many swipes I have, I can see how many guest swipes I have and I can see how much of my declining balance I have left. But at the same time I think it is nice how I can also use my ID if I want,” McNealy said.
Liv Fernandez ’27 agreed. “I don’t mind it. It is nice when I forget my ID card and it’s very easy to use and I haven't had any issues with the app not working,” Fernandez said.
Some students, however, contend that it can be annoying to have to wait for the app to load.
“I don’t like the app because it creates a backup at the door…However, I do like it because I don’t have to carry my ID,” Macy Sweeny ’28 said.
Some employees at the dining hall check-in desks have found the app to make their jobs easier, including Lauren Sobczak ’28, who works at the Ross Dining Hall check-in.
“The app is allowing me to engage more with people physically coming into Ross instead of worrying about the system. At the beginning of the dinner rush in Ross, I’m so focused that the [ID card] system is up to speed that I can’t say hi to people I know,” Sobczak said.
She noted that the app has expedited the scan-in process.
“When two people would scan in [using ID cards] at the same time it would take a few seconds for the system to reload,” Sobczak said. “Now I like how students can use both, but there are definitely significantly less people trying to use their IDs.”
Aside from GET Mobile, the cafe So-Full Sisters moved from their initial location in a food truck outside the front of BiHall in the spring to inside the building on the ground floor. They sell Americanos, cold brew, matcha, specialty fall drinks like pumpkin spiced lattes, banana bread matcha and breakfast items, such as egg sandwiches. There is often a line in BiHall formed by students queuing up to order.
“The prices are competitive with Crossroads [Cafe], but it’s better than Crossroads,” Victoria Quagrello ’28 said.
Detora said that dining was excited to transition So-Full Sisters to their indoor spot. It has essentially taken the place of the former Midd Express location in BiHall, he noted. The business leases the space from the school and is an independent operation distinct from other dining services.
On the other side of campus, “Community Table” at the Grille launched during lunch hours from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. this week after midday meals in the restaurant space were completely unavailable last year. However, Detora clarified that "Community Table” is not the same as the regular Grille. Take-out is not an option, and this week, the menu was limited to only two items.
“You are not going to be able to go during lunch and get a ‘Dr. Feel Good.’ There will be no take out — eat-in only — because the goal is to promote communal eating,” Detora said.
“Community Table” will aim to offer a menu of items featuring locally sourced food from farms around Addison Country and to promote communal eating not only among students, but also among the over 200 individuals on the faculty/staff meal plan.
Detora stressed that like the GET Mobile app, “Community Table” is still in a trial period and the student marketing team for Dining Services has plans to increase its marketing for the service in a few weeks. GET Mobile may also eventually allow students access to late-night mobile ordering at the Grille.
