After posting about its largest admitted freshman class, students living in University dorms face the consequences of this statistic, as dining halls have quickly become overcrowded.
“The size of the first year class did put University Housing in a bit of a complex position because the class size doesn’t take shape until the summer, and at that point, it is harder to make large changes for the upcoming year,” said Chris Axtman-Barker, associate director of communications and marketing for University Housing.
Students often have to wait in long lines to get into the dining halls before waiting in another line to get their food.
Axtman-Barker explained that although students may be experiencing increased traffic in ISR Dining Hall and the Ikenberry Dining Hall, these foot traffic levels are inconsistent across all dining spaces.
“That also indicates that some of what students are describing as inconvenient is also a matter of preference,” Axtman-Barker said. “Meals are still available in LAR, in retail, in PAR dining, and students are still choosing to go to a more crowded ISR, Ikenberry because they like that experience better.”
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In addition to adjusting to general college life, Juliana Alvarez, freshman in LAS, has also had to adapt to the current state of the dining halls.
“I do remember a day where the lines were just literally out the door, and I wasn’t going to wait in a line that long, so all I had was maybe some salad, and I think some soup too,” Alvarez said. “Sometimes, it’s just so much that you don’t even want to wait, and the food wouldn’t even be the best it could be.”
Joseph Hissem, sophomore in FAA and resident adviser at Wassaja Hall, has also had to sacrifice some of his typical eating patterns to adapt to the crowded dining halls.
“Last year, I knew that if I walked in at seven, I could still get a good meal, there’d still be food, the lines would maybe take 15-20 minutes, which is fine; it’s normal, and I was willing to do that,” Hissem said. “But this year, I don’t even try after 4:30. If I’m not there at 4:30, then I’m not going to eat.”
Alongside the unusually large freshman class, the recent Service Employees International Union Local 73 strike lessened the options for dining spaces.
According to Axtman-Barker, SEIU workers were on strike from Sept. 23-30, with employees returning to work on Oct. 1. To accommodate the lack of staff, the hot food at retail locations TerraByte and 57 North closed for the duration of the strike. Additionally, the LAR dining hall was closed for the duration of the strike.
“(The strike) definitely affected my Mondays and Wednesdays, just because I don’t have time to go grab lunch at Ike, so I would go to Ike 57 and just get something quick,” Alvarez said. “Since that’s closed, I’ve just had to just skip lunch and then just have an early dinner, and that’s been kind of annoying.”
According to Axtman-Barker, although the SEIU strike did strain the issue of dining hall crowding, the size of the first-year class had more of an impact on the increase in foot traffic. To anticipate this increase, University Housing adjusted staff coverage of the dining halls.
“We hired a small number of additional staff, and we changed some of our menus to make them easier to prepare for larger numbers of students, like expecting that capacity,” Axtman-Barker said.
Despite this staffing adjustment, recent dining hall experiences have left much to be desired for students with dining plans. Hissem said that even with his dining plan, he has recently bought groceries to have things to eat.
“We pay a lot of money to go here, and with all that money, I feel like they could present better options or give the workers a fair wage,” Alvarez said. “I kind of just expected a little more with how the University is talked about and their image they present themselves with.”
Regarding future improvements to better student dining experience, Axtman-Barker explained that University Housing has been encouraging students to utilize other dining locations since there is little room to improve the capacity of popular sites such as ISR or Ikenberry Dining Hall.
According to Axtman-Barker, there will soon be a new retail dining location. The new spot, Corner Café, will utilize part of the previously functional FAR Dining Hall. The unique factor about Corner Café is that students can purchase retail menu items using both dining dollars and dining swipes.
Students can use a swipe to choose an entrée, side, drink and piece of fruit, according to Axtman-Barker.
While improvements are in the works for increased dining spaces, they could be too late for students who are quickly determining where to live for the next school year.
“At first, I was considering (living in the dorms for a second year) because it’s kind of easier to find a dorm and get a meal plan, and then with the strike and just living situations in general, I really want to find an apartment,” Alvarez said.
As agreements are made between SEIU representatives and the University, dining halls should be shifting back to pre-strike conditions, providing students with perhaps crowded but somewhat normal dining experiences.
“University Housing staff are trying to do their best and any inconvenience we’ve apologized for — for students and our residents — but we are trying to do our best to make sure that everyone has the ability to get through our dining halls and get the meals that they want to eat,” Axtman-Barker said.
