Currently, campus WiFi, dorm card keys, Moodle, LEONet, school email and other Southeast computer systems are offline and may not be accessible over the weekend.
Yesterday, February 24, Southeastern issued a notice of a detected service disruption, stating that they would be working on the computer systems while offline. It was not disclosed what caused this problem.
Because of this campus-wide network issue, students are unable to complete their assignments, students in tech-enabled dormitories have limited access, and tickets for sports games cannot be scanned.
Victoria DeBarbieris, an integrative biology sophomore with Spanish and chemistry minors, said she learned of the disruption around 2:30 p.m. Friday when her dorm’s group chat complained about the Wi-Fi outage. She said she initially ignored the issue because she assumed it would be fixed soon, but realized the issue was a bigger problem than she anticipated when her roommate texted her to check her GroupMe .
DeBarbieris said: “When I went back and checked the chat, I found that all WiFi was down: we couldn’t do laundry, Moodle was down, LEONet was down, all campus websites were down and Cub Cash was down as well. In addition, the key readers for Ascension Hall and Twelve Oaks were also expected to run out, so we had to get a physical key. The only issue for me is that I went home over the weekend, so when I return to campus without calling a resident I will most likely not be able to return to my room.”
Several students have spoken about how they have been affected by this shutdown, raising concerns about safety and their inability to complete online courses.
Zsané Wicker, a junior student in strategic communications, is a resident at the university residence and was informed that the card readers for the dormitories were not working.
Wicker said, “Mainly for Twelve Oaks and Ascension Hall, we had to go through every single room for every single resident on every floor and pull keys. Two keys to a room which took about two hours. Then the RAs had to knock on each door and give residents their keys, which took another two hours.”
Some students expressed frustration with the lack of a meaningful notification of the outage. Matt Matthews, junior biology major and SGA senator, commented on the challenges the absence poses to his studies and extracurricular assignments.
“That really threw a spanner in the works for my academics. I can’t access any of my coursework and with the midterms fast approaching it’s really frustrating. I also can’t update any of my projects for my extracurricular activities. Not getting heads up is the most frustrating part in my opinion,” Matthews said.
DeBarbieris also expressed her distress at the university’s lack of notification.
She said: “It’s stressing me out because no one seems to have replies and when there are replies we students don’t get them because our emails aren’t working. We have no real way of communicating with our professors or classmates unless we set up their numbers or group chats first. Also, there are so many rumors that information like our passwords have been leaked and it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s not.”
The administration is currently working on finding a solution and dispelling the concerns of the students.
Dean of Studies Dr. Gabe Willis wants students to pay attention to the following:
The faculty probably can’t access things either. Be patient. Include your name, W number and course information such as course number, section, day/time in your email(s). State your concern clearly. Use appropriate grammar and punctuation. Address your professors by the title they gave you.
The outage is now beginning to hamper other activities on campus. The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) announced that they would likely not be able to redeem for Marsh Madness, the girls’ basketball state championship.
The tournament will take place from Monday 27 February to Saturday 4 March at the University Center. Although the outage could be resolved by Monday, the LHSAA strongly recommends not buying online tickets for the time being.
If a ticket has already been purchased through the Southeastern/LHSAA website, it can be redeemed. If you wish to purchase a ticket and have not already done so, only cash is accepted.
Visit The Lion’s Roar for more updates on this campus-wide edition.
