Long wait times at campus dining frustrate students

At the beginning of the 2021 fall semester at Shippensburg University, the campus opened several new dining options. A few of those places include Freshens in Kriner Hall, The Sub Shop and Chick-fil-a, both of which are in CUB.

In fall 2020, Shippensburg University Dining Services also introduced the “Mobile Order” app, allowing students to order food from their smart devices.

Since implementing these new dining changes, students thought food service on campus would be faster and more efficient. After a few weeks into the semester, however, many of us realized that this is not the case.

There are now more food places to choose from, but it appears that there are not enough dining services workers. Some students have had to wait for more than 30 minutes to get their lunches.

“I arrived at Freshens to grab lunch at 1 p.m. and did not get my food until 1:45 p.m. I had a class that started at 2 p.m., so I only had 15 minutes to scarf down my meal,” said Drake Myers, an SU senior.

The lack of workers has affected the Mobile Ordering app. After ordering on the app, a wait time is listed, and you will receive a notification when the meal is ready to be picked up. For Emily Osilka, an SU senior, that was not the case.

“I mobile ordered my lunch from Grille Works and the app notified me that my food was ready after 15 minutes. When I got there, there was only one staff member behind the counter and she said it was going to be an additional 20 minutes until my order was ready,” Osilka said.

After hearing these stories and more from fellow students in the past week, it appears to be a consistent issue.

There are not enough dining employees working during lunch and dinner times. To me, although this issue may be frustrating for many students, it also seems like an opportunity for those who are looking for work. If you visit the career’s page on Shippensburg University’s official website, anyone is able to apply to be a student worker for Ship Dining Services. I say apply now, help out your fellow students and go flip some burgers at Grille Works. This story might just be your calling.