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Written by: Dan Merica
With large-scale changes to dining options on campus, primarily the total renovation of the Lower Cafeteria in LaCava, one student who was tasked to monitor these changes and represent the student voice through both the Food Service Advisory Board (FSAB) and Student Government Association (SGA) is questioning whether the student voice was really considered in these decisions.
SGA, the representatives of the student voice on campus, was notified of the laid-out plans for LaCava on Tuesday, April 13. But according to Julianne Britt, Director of Purchasing and Contract Services, discussions on physical changes to LaCava occurred between Sodexo representatives and the office of Student Affairs as early as February.
Emily Santos, SGA senator and SGA representative of the FSAB, a board that meets bi-weekly to speak with Sodexo on the concerns of students, stated, “I was completely unaware of [the laid-out plans] until they were presented and Jamie held up the board with the pictures on it at the meeting.”
Santos went on to say that while she knew that there were plans to renovate LaCava, she was never asked for input as the representative of SGA on the FSAB. “All throughout the year, when someone has been deliberating renovating LaCava… I was not at all a part of the process, despite my supposed position as the voice of the students on the Food Service Advisory Board,” said Santos.
When asked whether she believed SGA and the FSAB should have been worked in earlier, Traci Logan, Chief Operation Officer of Bentley, stated, “From my perspective, absolutely they should have been worked in.” She later stated, “I think that anytime you have a space like this that is going to be used by faculty staff and students, it is really important to engage them.” It is important to note that Logan assumed the duties related to this article only weeks ago.
While Santos feels as if SGA was left out of the loop regarding the LaCava changes, Puja Shah, President of SGA, and Doreen Floyd, advisor to both SGA and FASB, defend the communication between SGA and Sodexo on a whole.
“The administration approached us as soon as they were able to,” said Shah, and while she did state that it was clear that these plans had been in the works for awhile, she believes that SGA is “consistently working in collaboration with the FSAB to address daily food concerns on campus.”
Floyd echoed that sentiment, stating that through the FSAB meetings with SGA representatives, students have continually been represented in on-campus dining changes.
Efforts were made to work students in as soon as plans were set on paper, according to Kathleen Yorkis, vice president of Student Affairs, who went to present the plans to SGA three days after being presented with them.
Yorkis went on to classify this project as “late,” stating that the tardiness of the project is reason for the lack of SGA input.
“Usually a project like this is on the books through the fall and winter months, and this project has really only appeared in the spring months,” said Yorkis. “I can understand how people would feel that way because SGA in particular has worked diligently month after month to improve a long list of things.”
Yorkis went on to say that she believes the way this has played out it is very “unfortunate,” but that she does not believe “there is any intent or devious actions in play which are trying to be disrespectful of the student voice.”
“We work very hard to meet the needs of the students and the staff here on campus,” said Jamie Cornacchia, general manager of Sodexo. “When students or Bentley comes to us with a concern, we do everything in our power to address it, and it can be seen all over campus, especially in Seasons.”
According to Cornacchia, “Students were consulted in surveys and focus groups two years ago,” regarding a number of large changes to dining option on campus, and in that survey the Lower Cafeteria was “brought up as a tired space in need of redesign.”
Through that survey, it was decided that the first round of dining option changes would be to Seasons Dining Hall. According to Shah, “Last spring, when we were told about the renovations to Seasons, we were told the original proposal from Sodexo was to renovate the Lower Cafeteria.”
The decision to forgo renovations to LaCava in favor of renovations to Seasons was due to the frequent use of Seasons as the hub of student dining on campus.
With plans now drawn up, whether students were considered prior to or not, “There is a lot of work to do,” said Yorkis.
On Wednesday, SGA got started on that work, setting up a station to collect student feedback in LaCava. The table was in cooperation with Britt, Cornacchia and Andrew Shepardson, dean of Student Affairs.
With efforts now shifting towards including more direct student input in the LaCava plans, the question of how fluid the drawn-out plans are comes into question. When SGA was presented with the plans, Cornacchia was adamant that the plans remained very fluid. “The plans are definitely going to be tweaked in the upcoming weeks before construction begins,” said Cornacchia. “But soon after graduation, this project must get rolling.”
Yorkis was less hopeful on the fluidity of the plans, stating that they were “not too fluid because of the timing, because if we go back to the drawing board, the construction schedule will never be able to be met.”
As the year comes to an end, there is a planned start date of “right after graduation,” according to Yorkis, and time now becomes the greatest challenge for the incorporation of more student input. When asked whether she thinks it can happen, Yorkis stated, “We have to make it; that is part of the challenge.”
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