Students buying food on campus have encountered EBT registers that are occasionally unable to process payments due to spotty WiFi connection.
Locations on campus that accept EBT public assistance benefits include Village Market, Grand Avenue Market and Campus Market. Cal Poly Corporation spokesperson Ellen Curtis said connection issues pop up at all locations, but especially at Campus Market.
After the system was unable to receive EBT payments last week, Curtis said the Corporation has been working with Cal Poly ITS on strengthening the WiFi connection at Campus Market so EBT registers are functioning at all times.
“The challenge is that the registers that accept EBT run off campus WiFi, which is unreliable at Campus Market,” Curtis said.
Currently, the registers are in the process of transitioning from running off-campus Wi-Fi to campus ethernet.
There is no alternative payment method for those who want to pay with EBT if the registers aren’t working at the moment, but Cal Poly Corporation has been working with their partners at Basic Needs to quickly identify alternative solutions, according to Curtis.
EBT payments have also recently been approved for the University Union Market but won’t begin until the campus WiFi signal can be extended to this area.