Dining renovations yet another step forward

January 31, 2005 —

We hate to beat a dead horse, but it seems every time the University has apparently stopped growing, more actions are taken to keep expanding and improving SVSU.

Take, for instance, the recent revelation of Dining Services' plans to renovate Doan Café and the Science East dining area. Quiznos was just added this past fall, and JUMP, the new Asian eatery, was added this winter. But that hasn't stopped anybody from asking, "What can we do next?" By using open forums to field student concerns, the staff at Dining Services will be making yet another change to better accommodate the SVSU population. When Doan Café was put in, the area with the most traffic was arguably the Curtiss Hall/Bookstore combination, especially with the First Year Suites and Living Center nearby. But now the Science East and Science West combination garners the most traffic, and adjustments are being made on the fly.

Java City, which sells gourmet coffee, smoothies and the like, always a popular genre for college students, will be moving to Science East. With the removal of Java City from the C-Store, on-campus students will be given more options than what is currently available for purchase in the C-Store. Above that, however, is the development of Doan Café into an "all-you-can-eat" buffet-style area, used by every other university in the state of Michigan. We're not trying to put a negative spin on this, but it's about time this is happening. It's just another small step to put SVSU into the same category as the rest of the state universities. Also included in this transformation is the change in meal plan options. Instead of having a set amount of dollars to use per semester, students will be able to use Doan Café with a set amount of "meals;" that is, one visit equaling one "meal." This is how a majority of college cafés work throughout the state, and it is certainly appropriate for us to follow.

One last point to harp on is the way Dining Services has gone about looking into these advancements. The use of the aforementioned "food forums" was key in some of the changes that have been made last semester and so far this semester. The concept is simple: students come to the forum, eat some free food, and essentially complain about why Dining Services needs improvement. Almost every complaint, at least the reasonable ones, have been taken seriously and have either been addressed and changes have been made or addressed through proposed changes. Dining Services needs to be commended for taking such a difficult task, pleasing students, and having success.