University finds trouble after extending dining hours while lacking staff

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — Trouble struck Dining Services this year, with too few staff and too many hours, Morris University Center Director Joseph Pearson said.

“We got hit with a perfect storm this semester,” said Pearson.

The hours of the MUC have been extended and with understaffing issues, Cocina has shorter hours, without the full menu, and Fixins’ Restaurant is temporarily closed.

These changes have impinged upon students, such as senior entrepreneurship and resource management major Ciera Allen, of Chicago, who is also a temporary employee of Entrees. 

“The fact that Fixins’ Restaurant is closed is definitely affecting my job because I am actually a Fixins’ worker and I’m just working somewhere else until they open,” Allen said.

The new law states students can work only up to 20 hours per week.

“I’m a single mother,” Allen said, “and trying to provide for my child and go to school is difficult, especially on a 20-hours-a-week budget.”

Unfortunately, the fewer hours students can work have also has an adverse effect on an integral part of the hiring process, Student Personnel Office employee Lucas Gragg, junior business management major from Mount Sterling, said.

“To get all of our work done in Dining Services, the people in the office need more than 20 hours,” Gragg said.

On the other hand, graduate electrical engineering student Arun Joe, of India, who is also an employee of Pizza Hut, prefers the 20-hour workweek.

“As far as I’m concerned, the hours I get here are perfect because they are not affecting my studies,” Joe said.

While many students are struggling with the changes in Dining Services, others, like Gragg, feel the extended hours are beneficial.