Issue date: 9/17/07 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: Emily Hartwig Sophomores Anna Waters, Michelle Johnson and Ashley Williams enjoy a meal in The Terrace Thursday at noon.

When UW-Eau Claire sophomore Andy Anhalt bought food Sept. 9 at the Hilltop Center Food Court on Upper Campus, he said he noticed something was missing - seven meals on his 14-meal plan, to be exact.

"I had used a double transfer, and it said I had five meals left," Anhalt said. A small amount of worry crept into his mind and stomach, Anhalt said.

"I was like, 'What am I going to do for the rest of the week?'"

Anhalt was not the only one.

Malinda Hebert, Eau Claire's manager of Service Operation, said every student with either a 14- or 19-meal plan experienced this problem. She said there are 1,867 students on the 14-meal plan and 201 on the 19-meal plan.

The reason for the error, Hebert said, was a glitch in the Blackboard operating system the university uses to keep track of meal plans. She said the glitch occurred on a Sunday, the day meal plans normally reset back to their starting totals for the week. Instead of giving students 14 or 19 meals for the week, the system gave them seven.

Hebert said the problem was not immediately fixed because her staff does not work on Sundays. Once they arrived into work Monday morning, she said, they noticed the glitch and immediately began correcting it.

By looking at the meal plan mainframe, which is separate from the Blackboard program and was unaffected by the glitch, Hebert said they were able to identify any inconsistencies.

Students who had used meals before the problem was fixed had those meals subtracted from their normal 14 or 19 meal plans, she said. She added there had been no loss of money on the part of the university or lost meals on the part of students.

As for why the glitch occurred, Herbert said there was no obvious reason anyone could discern.

"I don't know why it happened - I wish I knew," Hebert said with a laugh.

This is the first time something like this has happened in the eight years the university has been using the Blackboard program, she said. With a success rate like that, Hebert said she doesn't believe this type of glitch will be a regular occurrence for students such as Anhalt.

"I don't think it will happen again," she said. "It's a good product."

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