CDS deals with crowded dining halls

Rollins dining hall closed at the end of last semester.

By Jared Grafman

Published Jan. 26, 2010

The first week of dining without Rollins dining hall went as well as Campus Dining Services expected, CDS Marketing Specialist Andrew Lough said.

"We expected it to be a lot like the start of first semester where there are a lot of people all with new schedules, trying to eat at the same time, so there's a bit of confusion about where to go and when are the best times to go," Lough said. "Basically, a lot of hectic bustle."

Last week, people raised concerns about Plaza 900 dining hall's capability to deal with additional students due to Rollins being closed for renovations.

"There have been a lot of people that have been questioning if we can do this, but this is basically the same as what happens in the beginning of the fall semester," Lough said.

CDS is expecting the drop in students from fall to spring semester to help ease the crowds.

"Over the semester break, we are going to lose some students," Lough said. "Some students are going to transfer out, they're going to take a semester off, they're going to graduate early, any number of things. We expect the number of students on campus to go down by a lot for the spring semester, and early numbers for this semester show that it's probably around 500 or 600 students."

But for the near future students can expect to see crowds at noon and during the dinner rush in the dining halls.

"I know Plaza saw a pretty big bump in number of customers right at lunch and right at the dinner hours," Lough said. "But we have noticed if you go back 20 or 30 minutes later, there are no lines at all."

CDS Associate Director Steve Simpson recommends students avoid the 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. rush hour.

Sophomore Garrett Bergquist, who ate at Plaza on Friday and Saturday night, did not see a big difference with the weekend dinner rush.

"Of course the lines are a bit long," Bergquist said. "But it depends on the time of day."

CDS will closely monitor dining hall traffic, while students are still settling in to their schedules and daily routines.

"We are not sitting back and scratching our head and wondering how this happened," Lough said. "We are very aware of the situation. There are already mechanisms in place to help take care of the additional dining traffic and we want to give them an opportunity to work before we make knee-jerk reactions and overcompensate on something."

Some additional options CDS has added this semester for students are longer hours and an express lunch option at Eva J's dining hall, along with an expanded selection at Emporium.

"I think overall the students will see the biggest impact at Eva J's because they are picking up weekend hours to help pick up the weekend traffic," Lough said. "Before, they were only open Mondays through Fridays. They're also opening for breakfast and they're opening their take-out option."

Senior Scott Anderson is one of the students who have noticed an increase in Eva J's popularity.

"I'm surprised Eva J's is as packed as it is," Anderson said.

Although CDS is not planning to take any action on the overcrowding dining halls that does not mean they will be caught off guard.

"Initially we are going to wait and see a little bit to see how things settle in before we act on the overcrowding," Lough said. "Because the same issue comes up every August when students come in."

CDS expects as the beginning of the semester continues there will be more students adjusting their eating schedules.