Aramark Food Services: The Student Government Association would like to announce that although there have been many complaints concerning Aramark’s services at the University, it is important to realize that the company and employees are working hard to alleviate any issues.
Over the past few years, Aramark has improved tremendously, and are taking student suggestions into account.
President Gaffney, Vice President Nagy, and other administrators are frequently visiting the Dining Hall and Rebecca Stafford Student Center to check up on the services, and SGA works closely with Aramark to address student concerns. President of SGA Nicole Levy said, “Students need to remember that by saying ‘I wish the food was better here’ doesn’t offer any advice or specific examples of how they would like Aramark to improve. It’s easy to complain about something, but if you offer advice about a valid complaint, then you will probably see results.”
She encourages students to email SGA or leave a message on the notecards the Dining Hall provides in the lobby, if there is a concern that needs to be addressed.
There is currently a survey sent out through Squirrel Mail that Aramark distributed, so it is important to fill that out if students expect something to change.
Fall Break Extensions: There has been a lot of talk of wishing that the new Fall Break was a four day weekend, which Vice President Nagy agrees with. However, the state of New Jersey requires a certain amount of class hours that the University has to be open, and extending the break could mean extending finals week. Levy explained that school cannot start earlier due to the reliance on neighborhood rentals, which are only available after Labor Day weekend.
Health Center Extended Hours: It has been a rising concern that the Health Center is not open on the weekends. While this is recognized as a disservice by SGA, there are many factors that go into opening the center on weekends.
Levy explained that it’s costly, which could mean taking out money from another budget that would affect students as well. It’s also important to analyze how often the Health Center is being utilized during the week, and how much it would be during the weekend.
“It may not be enough to keep it open,” Levy said.
Administrators may be shifting the current hours of the Health Center on days or times that may be slow so that it can be open for a certain amount of time on a Saturday without having to extend any overall hours. “Although this is actively being looked into,” Levy said, “it is important to keep in mind that compared to Rider, Seton Hall, Montclair, TCNJ and Stockton, the University has the longest hours of operation and none of the previously named schools offer services on the weekends either.”
