After two weeks of discussion, Community Senate, Meriwether Godsey, and the administration have reached consensus on changes to dining services in light of the potential move to mandatory meal plans next fall semester.
On Wednesday, Feb. 23, Community Senate endorsed a joint proposal from senate and the administration that will make changes to dining hall hours and other services. The changes are intended to address concerns about the convenience and effectiveness of meal plans for all on-campus students with mandatory meal plans on the horizon.
“Community Senate sees the benefits of the mandatory meal plan,” said Dana Hamdan, president of Community Senate. “The proposal was inspired by student feedback and input from previous senate meetings. The main point is focused on taking advantage of all opportunities that this plan has to offer.”
The proposal includes changing the lunch and dinner hours to better accommodate student schedules. Lunch will now take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner hours will be moved back, which will keep the dining hall open until 8 p.m. Currently, dinner hours end at 7 p.m.
“There’s been a lot of students who say that the reason they aren’t on the meal plan is that they can’t get to the cafeteria to eat because of the hours,” said Nancy Smith, general manager for Meriwether Godsey. “I think (the changes to the hours) was mainly something the students asked for. If they were going to be on the meal plan, that is what they would want.”
Also included are extended Wednesday dinner hours intended for community networking. MG will also be working with CAB and senate to provide special events during that time.
Another big change created by the proposal will affect breakfast, which would no longer be served in the dining hall. Instead, The Grill would begin serving breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
“We reviewed numbers on the use of the cafeteria and we agreed that it would be more sustainable and more efficient to move the breakfast services to The Grill,” said Hamdan. “It was important for us not to overwork staff who work in dining services.
While these changes aim to make dining more sustainable for MG and more accessible to students, many expressed ongoing concerns over the mandatory nature of the meal plan.
“We should be trusted to make decisions regarding our food options instead of having the responsibility outsourced to somebody else,” said first-year Sol Weiner. “By taking away the choice to be able to shop for and prepare our own food, the administration is disempowering students and keeping us from making decisions regarding our own lifestyles.”
At the Feb. 16 senate meeting, Vice President for Administration Jon Varnell and members of MG’s management team presented information about the proposed changes and new meal plan options, including a 75-meal block plan with no daily or weekly caps on use.
“The basic premise of these changes is to require all incoming students to have a meal plan,” said Varnell. “The decision to create a mandatory meal plan relates to economies of scale – the more people that are on the meal plan the more incentive we have to provide high-quality food.”
The final decision on the implementation of mandatory meal plans has yet to be made, but if approved will include the changes as endorsed by senate. Meriwether Godsey has already expressed their support for the changes.
“We were able to reach unity on this matter because all members of the community with a stake in this issue were able to recognize the importance of our commitments to the efforts of SLRP II, social responsability, community building, and collaboration,” said Hamdan.