By Hannah Clarke and Kyshia Osei
Students that Humber News spoke with on Wednesday expressed indifference to using the mandatory Humber Guardian app to get on campus, and others said the system does not work as effectively as it could.
For students entering their first year on campus, the process has become tedious.
“The first time I did it was a Monday,” Genelle Seridon, a Travel Services Management student said, “and I first thought there was going to be a lot of questions, but it’s just ‘yes’ [and] ‘no’.”
The Humber Guardian app first launched in 2020, when restrictions eased enough for students and staff to initially return to in-person classes.
With students returning to in-person classes this week, they are still required to use the Humber Guardian App in order to enter the facility.
Hannah Downey from the Film and Television Production program said that, for her, the Humber Guardian app was fine at first.
“I think it was good at first because we didn’t really know where this was going, and [it was] also to protect everyone,” she said.
Downey also spoke of some students having their concerns about the app crashing, having network problems, or having a dead or misplaced phone that could lead to serious delays for those rushing to class.
“I know people who forgot their phones or their phones died, causing them to be late for class.” she said, ”It just causes a whole issue.”
Amber Sese, another Film and Television Production student, compared Humber’s vaccination check process to that of restaurants.
“In my opinion, I feel like it’s very useless,” Sese said.
“I feel like it does the exact same thing as how restaurants are usually just supposed to check your vaccination,” she said.
“I go out a lot, and I’m vaccinated. I like how you show your vax, and that’s it. I hate how it’s a double system here.”
Seridon also pointed out the current system with the app could be easily bypassed when it comes to filling out your self-assessment.
“Anyone can basically fake their way [in].” she said.
“I feel like the system itself could do better, because it is kind of easy to bypass it, asides from the vaccine verification” Stacey Bio, another Travel Services Management student said.
“Sometimes people forget to do it and it clogs up the line, which is kind of annoying.”
Sheldon Scarlett, a student from the Fitness and Health Promotion program also pointed out the inconvenience of not being able to upload your vaccine passport in the same app as your self-assessment.
“It crashes, but also I find that in the past, uploading your vaccine passport, it’s vet inefficient,” he said. “It’s too many steps, to be honest. Some of the other icons or functions – I don’t even use them.”
With this, the current system in regards to vaccine passport checks and the Humber Guardian App could be improved upon as Summer 2022 classes start soon in May, and as restrictions and mask mandates lift.