Thursday, November 20, 2008

Student Voice: Chartwells

Here is a short video on what the students think of Chartwells.


6 comments:

  1. Sweet video. Seriously. I'm sure a ton of students feel the same way!! dominiNET needs a sequel.....dun, dun, dun!!

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  2. Suze! Fantastic vid, great narration (I don't think I've ever heard your voice sound like that!), good editing work.

    I like how that one girl started to sugar-coat it and then just outright said, "It's disgusting. Runs right through ya." Hilarious!

    When I lived on campus at NIU in 2003, I remember I hated the "cafeteria" food, but I DID eat from the Grille--subsisting on chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, and fries. Whoa, freshman 25!

    It's a shame that people aren't enjoying the food, though, especially after the huge switch last year. I don't live on campus and only occasionally purchase food items from the CyberCafe, so maybe it's not my place to say this, but is it plausible that the students will EVER really be satisfied?

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  3. Know what I ate for dinner tonight? White rice and cucumbers. It's so hit or miss in the dining hall, and the cyber lines are so long. I know Chartwells keeps trying to have boards with students to get our opinion, but once a semester isnt really trying.

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  4. Seriously, impressive narration, filming and editing.

    However, you guys have no idea what the food was like back in '02. Campus food has significantly improved in a few years, though I do wonder about the lines in the cyber cafe...

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  5. Sure maybe the food has improved some, but that doesn't mean that there still shouldn't be expeectations of even further improvement. I think there are several strong issues with the food service at Dominican still and those should be addressed.
    Firstly I think that the issue with lines at the cyber is in part a result to issues with the food at the dining hall. I could be wrong here but my personal opinion is that cyber should serve as a grab n go place for inbetween classes or dinner hours, but currently its serving its purpose as the only place students can find something they like well enough to be worth a meal.
    Secondly I think that the dining hall struggles with balancing food. Sure the quality in taste of the food is not the greatest, but I think students could be a little happier with better options to choose from. Some nights there is not any meat options available and other nights all that is served is meat. Other nights seem to be carbohydrate nights where there is a multitude of rice, potatoes, and bread options but nothing else. What seem to be the more taste worthy, but, as pointed out in the video, more digestive unfriendly, are the nights when EVERYTHING is fried. Personally I would like to see more healthy options available on these nights too.
    My biggest suggestion to Chartwells in fixing imbalance issues at the dining hall is to do a check list of food types every time a menu is decided. If that is consistently practiced my guess is A) there would be more vegetarian options B) there would be less "hit or miss" nights for students C) there would be more creativity required to keep the menu changing and thus room for new and better recipes and D) more students choosing to eat at the dining hall.
    Another concern I have with food service here is the lack of meal plan options, though I don't know that's entirely Chartwells fault. Just wish students didn't have to pay for a set number of meals at a set price when they aren't even eating them.

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  6. @ anonymous: Seriously, way to vent on the abouve comment. I think it really gets the point across in an effective manner. I've never eaten in the dining hall and have only been through the food court thing once. It looked ok the time we passed by but idk. I never ate anything from there. I hope your efforts to communicate the student body's dissatisfaction will pay off. Thanks!!

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