Hours will be greatly reduced at UMD’s Food Court due to staff shortages. Photo by Michael King

Changes are coming to UMD’s Dining Service retail options. Students were notified of the modifications in an email from Vice Chancellor for Student Life Corbin Smyth on Monday, Oct. 25. The changes will begin November 1, and are a result of extreme staffing shortages.

According to the email the changes are being made to best accommodate and support students who have meal or block plans by fully staffing the Superior Dining Center (DC) from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. everyday.

Smyth said the choice to close certain areas over others came down to focusing on students with meal plans, and spots that are more of a bonus face the temporary closure.

“The coffee shop, which is very popular, that’s more of a service than filling meal plans,” Smyth said. “We are shifting all of our effort back up to the dining center.”

Closures are coming to the Northern Shores Coffee shop and parts of the Food Court. The coffee shop will be closed, as will the sushi bar and burger hub in the Food Court. The Grind will remain open from 7:30 a.m to 3:00 p.m., and the Food Court will operate under shortened hours. The Grab & Go, Subs and Wraps and Taste of Italia will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Smyth says Dining Services is currently operating at about half capacity of their typical student staff. He says some of the lack in staff comes from the modified school year last year.

“We didn’t have any student employees on staff last year,” Smyth said. “That’s a whole year of students not working in dining. That’s a whole year’s worth not coming back. That’s a whole year’s worth not word of mouth recruiting.”

In a typical year dining services would have about 280-300 students — this year Smyth said they only have around 140.

Of the current student employees Smyth says none have lost their job or taken a reduction in hours due to the changes. He added that students have been working too hard for too long and the changes had to happen to give them a break.

A newly-created Instagram account, @umdstudentworkers, posted a slideshow detailing an issue with student pay, stating that student workers need to be paid significantly more to afford school attendance.

One dining services employee, preferring to remain anonymous, said the changes will have an inverse effect due to the nature of dining services positions.

“One of the things that Dining Services does really well and I think attracts people to it is that the hours are very flexible,” the student said. “You work when you can and when you want to be working. So I think that for the most part, the changing hours will likely be more of a stressor because right now, at the moment, you’re not sure if you can get that same schedule that works so well for you.”

The student didn’t speak on whether reduced hours would be the correct course of action, but stated that student workers were very upset to find out about the change through the email that was sent to the entire student body.

The student also noted that student workers have been told they will not have input on where they are moved if their normal outlet they work at shuts down.

“We have found out since that we have no say in where we’re going to be put,” the student said. “If your hours got cut short, if you work after 2:30 p.m. at one of the places that shut down, they’re going to put you where they want to put you, and you’re not going to have any say unless you quit your job.”

They added that student workers did not have input in the decision or method of the dining services changes.

Editor’s note: Since the publishing of this article, Smyth has stated that while students won’t be able to completely pick and choose the exact location they are moved to, they will have the opportunity to talk to their manager and provide input as to where they would like to go. An email sent to Dining Services workers states that “If you work in an area that is temporarily closed, discuss your options with your Area Managers.”

Staffing shortage brings changes to Dining Services