DeKALB – At around 10:50 a.m. Wednesday, OneCard services across campus shut down, leaving students and faculty stranded outside residence halls and their dorm rooms.

Joe King, associate director for institutional communications at NIU, addressed the issue as a “software glitch” in an email.

“According to the Department of Information Technology, there was a minor issue that knocked out some scanners for about 30 minutes, but it has been fixed,” King said.

Students reported that every residence hall was affected by the software issue that employed a OneCard scanner at the entrance.

Gilbert Hall and Patterson Hall residents who rely exclusively on their OneCards to enter their halls and dorms found themselves stranded returning from a shower or class.

“It’s definitely inconvenient though because like, if I have to go back to my room and get something and I have the next class in like 20 minutes or something, then I won’t be able to get in,” said Taryn Landsberger, a sophomore psychology major and Gilbert resident.

Collin Arch, a Patterson Hall West resident and freshman nursing major was also inconvenienced by the lock out.

“I was just trying to get to my room so I could go to the gym,” Arch said. “Yeah, it took a little time out of my day.” 

Ahmad Ward, a senior biochemistry major, was the first to tell his Community Advisor about the problem when he came back from the bathroom and found he could not get back in his room.

In his four years on campus, Ward said he has never seen an issue like this before.

“Never once did I receive an email saying, ‘hey, OneCards don’t work, people are locked out their buildings,’” Ward said. “Like, that feels like on the far end of the spectrum of events that happen.”