The expanded StagCard has been used thousands of times for off-campus purchases since its introduction in January.
But some students complain it isn’t all that easy to use. Others say they don’t have a need for it.
For freshmen, who have difficulty getting off campus, using the StagCard is not easy.
“As a freshman, it is difficult to get to any stores without a car,” said Cathy Aldi ’08. “I’ll probably use my card off-campus more next year.”
One student said that he doesn’t think the StagBucks system is practical for use anywhere except at the university.
“Your Visa debit is real money which offers much more flexibility in terms of usability,” said James Nguyen ’07, “whereas the StagBucks limit you to a few restaurants and is only practical on campus.”
One reason why some students feel this way could be because of the lack of advertising.
Since the StagCard system started this semester, about three e-mails have been sent out to all students detailing the places where the card is accepted.
Another method of advertising is the businesses themselves.
The businesses who accept the StagCard have signs posted in their windowfronts or on their counters like the one pictured above at Chef’s Table.
But some students didn’t even know that there was more than one campus wide e-mail.
“One campus wide e-mail isn’t enough,” said Julie Howe ’07, when asked what the school should do to get the word out about the new features of the card.
As of March 22, there had been 2,012 off-campus transactions, according to Coordinator of Information Systems Mike Tortora.
Some off-campus stores that use the system are happy with the new availability for students.
“Yeah, business is up. Students come in and buy $30 worth of magazines,” said Carol Kowalczik, manager of CVS on Post Road, “and they normally wouldn’t with cash.”
Kowalczik also said that there are approximately 30 students using the StagCard system each week.
As for the future, Tortora said that there are already plans in progress to place informational signs at the value transfer station, the BCC and the library.
Putting a new system together in the spring semester is disadvantageous.
“It is better to do something like this in the fall,” said Tortora, “where more brochures and mailings can go out to the students.” This will happen this coming summer.
When asked if the card could become a more “corporate card” with the VISA or Mastercard logo on it, he said, “At this time, it is staying as a campus card, with off-campus merchants.”
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