As many students have observed, Dining Services has been making major changes in improving the quality of life for their students and staff. Students, especially those who are new or have not been at the school prior to the pandemic and staffing issues, have finally had the opportunity to see the full potential of the dining options here at Elizabethtown College.
One way that this has been made possible has come through the major hiring that has been done this semester. That can be seen through the bustling activity of training in the dining services department. In the spring semester, they hired about 15-20 full-time employees and they have the most student workers since 2019. The leadership teams of Dining Services are better able to manage instead of being stuck at stations that needed workers during their shift.
General manager of Dining Services Austin Benner cites the major issue prior to the spring semester was directly related to wages and being behind in increasing them. “Since we’ve gotten into 2023 wages and we’re kind of competitive with the other restaurants and fast-food establishments across town, that has definitely made a big impact.”
In the past, Dining Services was often understaffed and/or struggling to keep up with the demand of the students. The changes in Dining Services wages marks a major improvement in payment and compensation for workers on campus. Other on-campus jobs may even follow suit in the time to come.
With this, has come the opening of many stations at the Marketplace that were not even an option at the beginning of this year including the mongo and saute stations offered at certain lunches and dinners. As they continue to hire people, there is even a hope to get the Omelet station up and running soon enough.
The Jays Nest has not had to implement Grab-and-Go options; instead, they can cook orders fresh until 11 p.m. on weekdays due to the availability of new staff. Currently, they close that on Friday nights, but with additional staffing, they are hoping to keep those services open, even on the weekends.
Lastly, in terms of changes that are to come, the Jay Truck will be coming back this semester at some point to serve the students who seem to greatly enjoy it and have felt its absence.
Another change was the hiring of registered dietician Savannah Greiner who has been in the field for many years. Dieticians both pride themselves in being experts in food and how food impacts the body. This displays a want of Dining Services to make higher quality food and consider the dietary restrictions that many students have.
Everyone has to eat to live and within that everyone has different needs based on how they live their life, so acknowledging that is important, especially to Greiner. She works with the menus at the Marketplace and analyzes the ingredients in them and helps in the kitchen if needed. Outside of the larger picture of Dining Services, for students concerned about their nutrition, she works one on one to discuss their options. She is excited to “be a resource for students so that they have somewhere to go if they have questions or concerns.”
Overall, the workers in various Dining Service positions all around campus as well as the students who frequent the dining services establishments seem to have higher satisfaction in their experience.
For students that wish to work for Dining Services, while much of the full-time outside employment has been accomplished, there is room for additional student staff. Students can apply by going on the Elizabethtown College job portal and filling out the requirements.
