Student Union

On Monday, the Campus Services Committee met with Transportation Operations Supervisor Stephanie Hunter to discuss the unreliability of the campus circulator which the school provides to students.  As the winter months approach, we wanted to ensure the circ will be more effective at being on time in order for students to rely on it to get to class.

Ms. Hunter agreed with us, and we mutually decided that making the buses have a 20 minute window to complete their route would be more preferable than the current 16 minute window if it means increased reliability.  Due to South 40 and Highway 40 construction, the extra traffic has been slowing the drivers down and making the 16 minute marker impossible -- thus throwing them off for the rest of the day.

Ms. Hunter has agreed to restructure the hours as soon as possible to make the circulator work more efficiently and reliably for all students.  Let us know if it's working once the changes go into place.

Thanks!

Hi everyone.  I wanted to give you a brief recap of the meeting the Campus Services Committee held today with Executive Vice Chancellor Steve Hoffner and District Manager of Bon Appetit Nadeem Siddiqui.  I'll do bullet points to make life easier:

- They know the S40 is a challenge and an inconvenience to daily life for students.

- Changes are coming within the next two weeks to dining on campus.

- Customer counts will be used to restructure dining hours at all locations.

- The second half of S40 Dining will have 600 more seats and an expanded servery with more options.

- Dining Services is planning to test various new methods for making S40 Dining more efficient in the limited space (from menu changes to altering the way food is ordered -- stay tuned).

- They are against raising prices any higher.

- They are adjusting staff schedules to have more people working during heavy traffic times.

- Bear Mart has been experiencing a fair amount of theft, so surveillance cameras will be installed soon.

- Sustainable dishware will be on the 40 next year once the second phase of building is complete -- which will have the industrial dishwasher.

- Remember that using re-usable cups (Nalgenes, corn mugs, etc.) gets you a coffee discount!

- Webfood will be moving to the 40 soon -- hopefully before the end of first semester.

- Dining services is looking for input on the future of Subway on campus.

- They want students to begin diverting traffic from the DUC during lunch to the lower level of Mallinckrodt for seating -- this will become necessary come winter time when nobody wants to sit outside.

WHAT DID WE ASK FOR?

> Bringing: cranberries and quinoa to the DUC salad line, bringing back grilled chicken, bringing more hot Kosher meals to campus, and adding sour cream to the quesadilla line in Ursas.

>Consider creating a Crepe Night in Ursas for those who miss last year's crepes.

>Look into using biodegradable plastic water cups instead of regular plastic ones.

>Continue to work with us and be transparent about changes in dining hours and in how to facilitate more efficiency both on the 40 and in the DUC.

REMEMBER

*Please consider attending the forum in Mudd Multi-Purpose on Monday September 21 from 8-9:30pm about the future of the South 40.

*Please watch for an event in the near future where you will have the opportunity to hear directly from dining services and ask questions about dining on campus.

 

It was a great, successful, and productive meeting.  They are really interested in making dining better on campus!  Watch for more updates and I hope to see you at the events mentioned above!

Best,

Greg

Last Thursday, the Campus Services Committee met with Connie Diekman, Wash U's dietitian. We had a great discussion about nutrition and what lies ahead for healthy eating on campus. Ms. Diekman assured us that Wash U reevaluates its recipes annually to improve the health of each meal, but that they always keep taste as their most important priority. She said that portion sizes may begin to change in accordance with their goal for healthier eating, but that student input is welcomed and encouraged before decisions are made.Read more »