By The all-nighters have commenced as the semester draws to a close, and students have drifted from their usual meal times-which has made it difficult for some to sync their meal schedules with the dining hall’s.
Ana Padilla, a freshman pre-nursing major, said the dining hall hours don’t accommodate to her schedule well.
“The only time the dining hall is open [for lunch] is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,” Padilla said. “Because we live here [Beachside College], we take the shuttle, and it’s a lot harder because we have to leave earlier, so it cuts into class time.”
However, Padilla said tweaking the hours at the dining hall would make scheduling her meals easier.
“If [the dining hall] were [open] 24 hours, I could eat around my schedule,” Padilla said. “I wouldn’t have [to] skip meals or spend more money on top of what I pay for [a meal plan].”
While a 24-hour time commitment from the dining halls may seem like a quick fix to some, Director of Housing and Residential Life Carol Roberts-Corb said determining hours at the dining hall is a joint effort between Housing and Residential Life and Forty-Niner Shops Inc.
“Housing and residential life has an agreement with the Forty-Niner Shops to provide meals,” Roberts-Corb said. “Around this time [in the semester] we begin to discuss plans for the next academic year. Part of that discussion is where we set the hours.”
Roberts-Corb said the hours are molded through mutual agreement from both entities.
“That agreement has been in place for decades,” Roberts-Corb said. “At this point in the game, we look at what the hours were last year. Did that seem to work for the Forty-Niner Shops? Did that seem to work for us? Have we heard anything from students?”
While conversation between Forty-Niner Shops and Housing and Residential Life is vital to the function of the dining halls, Roberts-Corb said student involvement is just as important.
“We do a survey every spring and ask them about residential dining, so they have an opportunity at that point to give us feedback,” Roberts-Corb said. “Diner’s Club … meets the third Thursday of every month. Students can go there and meet with the managers and give them feedback about the hours, food and so forth.”
Roberts-Corb said the topic of the dining hall operating 24 hours a day has not been discussed or presented in 20 years.
Though it hasn’t been on the agenda for quite some time, students have considered it since the hours are not conducive to all schedules.
Eboni Wardsworth, a senior film major, said she can relate to Padilla’s scheduling conflict in regards to her classes.
“Most of the time [the hours] don’t accommodate my schedule,” Wardsworth said. “I pretty much always eat takeout if I can.”
Though Diner’s Club meets to get regular feedback from students who choose to participate, Wardsworth said students who aren’t involved should still get a say.
“If our [Resident Assistants] had a ballot box, we could slip a note in there,” Wardsworth said. “Someone could check it regularly.”
While a 24-hour switchover is not in the makings anytime soon, students are encouraged to be active in all aspects of housing.
For any questions regarding the dining halls at Hillside, Parkside and Beachside Colleges, students can attend a Diner’s Club Meeting on the third Thursday of every month.
