I believe that the management staff of Aramark should be more considerate when it comes to the hours that the cafeteria is open.
Most students do not have classes at the same time. The times of classes vary, and the hours of the cafeteria should reflect the students’ schedules. I feel as though before the hours are determined, the management staff should consider when classes are in session.
When making the cafeteria hours, they should consider the times when most students are out of class and hungry. If students are in class the hours should reflect that and give them enough time to leave class.
The management staff should take into account how many students they have and how busy their cafeteria gets depending on the day. The hours should take into account the length of the lines just as well as the drink lines. I say this because the lines are long, so it usually takes a good 15 to 20 minutes to grab your food. These are just a few reasons why the cafeteria hours should be extended especially for students who plan to eat in the cafeteria considering that people typically take an hour to finish their meals, and they might even want to converse with their friends as well.
The management staff should also think about the times that people normally eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Needless to say, I think the cafeteria should extend the hours or make the hours more flexible for students.
Monday through Friday, the breakfast hours of the cafe are from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. Most students are awakened around those times or have class during those hours, so I believe it is difficult for students to make it to breakfast hours.
Lunch on Wednesdays is from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Around this time, some students are in class, while others are trying to rush to the cafeteria after class before the cafe closes so they can eat. Dinner time is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. This time frame should be extended another hour for students who have evening classes.
On the weekends, brunch hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m and dinner is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The weekend schedule is the most flexible the cafe schedule has been.
For breakfast, I think they should extend to at least 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m., especially because most restaurants stop serving breakfast at this time.
I honestly think Wednesdays should not even be discussed because, as we all know, Wednesdays are nicknamed, “Fried Chicken Wednesdays,” which means everybody will be in the cafeteria either skipping class or arriving to class late just to get some fried chicken. So instead of closing the cafe at 1:30 p.m. extend the hours by at least two hours,15 minutes or until 2:30 p.m., mainly because the lines on Wednesdays are all the way at the entrance.
Now, I can say that the cafe has opened all four lines on Wednesdays, which has helped out somewhat, but all the lines do not have the exact same thing. One line gives you the option of baked chicken or fried chicken. The second line only offers baked chicken. The third line only offers fried chicken, but you do not know what these lines serve until you get close to the front of the line, which is ridiculous. Staff workers, who are yelling “come in this line,” because it is shorter, are not letting you know it does not have both options of chicken. This is a perfect example of people rushing and not being considerate of other people’s time because, of course, everybody wants to eat, but you also want the right food. I know on Wednesdays I do not always want fried chicken.
Students are trying to sleep in for at least an hour or two so maybe the cafe could extend its hours to at least 2 p.m. The hours of operation are not going to be fixed for each individual but at least the hours could be adjusted for college life. When it comes to dinner, I do not know everybody’s eating schedule, but I do not know too many people who eat dinner at 4 p.m. I definitely think dinner should be open till 7 p.m. At least I have plenty of time to get hungry if I am not hungry or extra time for students to want food and eat and enjoy themselves without a cafe worker saying the cafe is closed. It is time to get out, you all.
All this being said, the Fred Shuttlesworth Common Dining Hall hours should actually reflect breakfast,lunch and dinner timing. Hours for Fred Shuttlesworth Cafeteria should also reflect student schedules or when students actually have time. Students do not need to feel like they need to run out of class or get rushed out of their own cafeteria just to get some food to eat.