Editorial: Dining on track for success

It has been nearly a year since we let students take over the Opinion page to write their thoughts about dining and dining services at the University of Toledo. Since that time, it looks to us that a lot of changes have been made.

One of the main student complaints last year was the reduced hours. Before, hours had been reduced so most places on campus were closed by 9 p.m. which wasn’t convenient for students who wanted to eat later at night.

Now more of the places that reduced their hours last year have extended their hours for this year. Some examples are South Dining Hall, which is open from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday instead of 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Ottawa East, whose hours increased to 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday instead of 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. The increase in hours now accommodates more students.

More locations are accepting meal swipes, too. Agave is now taking meal swipes to join the other vendors in the Student Union, and milkshakes were added to the menu at Rocky’s Pub and Grill.

The people in charge are more visible in dining halls and in the Student Union. Before it was unclear what Auxiliary Services even was. Now dining is its own division, separate from Auxiliary Services. And it is a common occurrence to see Mario Toussaint and Tony Johnson in the Student Union or in dining halls. Their business cards are at the registers at most of the vendors in the Student Union, and Toussaint is on a lot of posters in the Student Union for visibility.

Many of the problems from last year have been addressed or have equal alternatives. The survey for dining on campus has downsized since last year. Now it only takes about ten minutes to fill out instead of a half hour. There are still tiny plates and small portion sizes, but you can ask for a bigger plate and a bigger portion size.

There is still a lot of different kinds of soups, but the more traditional ones run out the fastest. Naturally they do run out of forks, ketchup and silverware. They do try to keep up with what is needed. They still don’t sell macadamia nut cookies, but they do sell chocolate chip and peanut butter.

For the most part, things seem to have improved. You can take dining service’s survey to directly to rate your dining experience at www.campusdiningvoice.com. If you have suggestions, tell us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #UTdiningprobs, and we will put them on our website.