Saga Inc. will expand the meal times offered in the Knorr Family Dining room beginning next semester.
Breakfast will close at 9:30 a.m. instead of 9:05 a.m., lunch will open at 11:00 a.m. instead of 11:30 a.m., and dinner will open at 5:00 p.m. instead of 5:15 p.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m.
“Just these little tweaks is enough to meet the needs of a great number of students,” general manager of Saga Inc. Kevin Kirwan said.
According to Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé, the administration approached Saga about expanding meal hours to improve participation and student satisfaction.
“We are concerned the traditional meal times don’t always make possible full participation and satisfaction,” Péwé said in an email. “Involuntary missing of meals happens more than it should.”
Saga is expanding hours to better serve students who might not be able to eat during the current hours, especially since the new Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center and recently-renovated Roche Sports Complex are drawing more students away from campus for practice and intramural games. Some teams’ practice schedules make getting to meals between workouts tough.
“There’s more available to students and therefore we want to meet the needs of the students,” Kirwan said.
According to senior Matt Van Egmond, cross country team member, on the days when practice runs late it will be helpful to have dinner open when the team gets out.
“A lot of the time they’ll be shutting down all the food when we get there,” Van Egmond said. “There will definitely be times when that’ll be nice.”
The extended meals also offer student workers a chance to pick up more hours.
“Now I have opportunities for students who weren’t able to work before,” Kirwan said. “The added shifts and added meal hours will benefit people who weren’t able to work through their schedule.”
Saga’s student employees are divided about the changes.
“This past semester we have had problems with shifts because of the shortage of workers,” said junior Alex Tacoma, head student manager. “I hope this doesn’t scare people away. Ultimately, it will cut down on our break time and food will be sitting out more.”
Kirwan is concerned that students might hit the 20-hour per week limit. In that case, more part or full-time positions will be added.
No meal plans will change price next semester. Kirwan said that he is currently unable to estimate the cost of expanding meal hours, but prices may change in the future.
“I think it’ll cost Saga more money, and they don’t have a lot of money to spare,” Tacoma said. “We’ve made all the changes for gluten free, and those are good changes, people like those a lot, but they cost a lot of money.”
According to Péwé, the financial burden the college will face is unknown.
“There is a financial impact for the college to extend hours,” Péwé said. “Saga will need to pay their employees for more hours worked. More food will have to be prepared. We have yet to finalize the meal times and the cost the college will bear. We are going to finish those discussion before the end of the semester.”
The modification will not impact the food service, but they may change the way some food is prepared and served. Kirwan anticipates more made-to-order meals at the grill and expo stations to avoid food sitting out. Saga will monitor food consumption and how students use the new hours.
“Why make food if you don’t need to make food?” Kirwan said. “We try to make everything as close as possible to being served.”
There will be no change to weekend meal hours, which are already sparsely attended.
“Have you ever been to Saturday dinner? It’s a ghost town,” Kirwan said.
A.J’s Café will continue its morning meal exchange from 9:05 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., but Kirwan expects it to see much less use since the dining room will be open at the same time and offering more options.
“You have much more variety if you come down,” Kirwan said.
Earlier in the semester, Saga opened the dining room from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m for studying.
