KSU provides update on Commons overcrowding issues

Since the merger, students have felt the pressure of the increase in population all across campus, from Card Services to the parking lots. The Commons, however, experiences the foot traffic of an average 7000 customers daily, and the consequences have included lack of adequate seating, broken down machines, and students without plates, cups, or utensils.

“With the increased student population and consolidation with Southern Polytechnic State University over the summer, KSU has seen an increase in demand for all auxiliary services on campus,” Joshua Wendling, marketing manager for Culinary and Hospitality Services, said.

“KSU Culinary and Hospitality Services recognizes that there have been service issues concerning seating, supply of silverware and cups, and machine maintenance in the residential dining facilities.”

Chartwells, the newest company contracted to handle the day-to-day operations of KSU dining services, has implemented new tactics and purchased additional supplies to keep up with the increase in traffic at The Commons. Ronald Pearlstein, the director of operations for Chartwells at KSU, provided the statistics of all the supplies his company has purchased thus far, and they are continuing their work to improve eateries on campus.

“We found that the demand for the soft serve machine was so high the machine could not keep up,” Pearlstein said. “We immediately added a second soft serve machine.”

Kat Wofford, a sophomore English major, says The Commons has been uncomfortably crowded. “Every time I’ve been in I’ve had to either find a tiny spot against of wall, or I have to awkwardly ask someone if I can sit in their spot once they finish.”

“To address the issue of limited seating, additional tables and chairs have been added as well as plans to expand the outdoor terrace seating options to a multi-season, covered patio in the coming weeks,” Wendling said.

While plans are in the works to make the dining services better for students, Culinary and Hospitality, as well as Chartwells, is interested in hearing the feedback of its customers.

“All questions and concerns can be addressed to the on-staff management, submitted to comment card boxes located across all campus dining facilities, or through our website,” Wendling said. “Chartwells has [also] introduced a mystery shopper program to better monitor, evaluate, and improve each eatery on campus.”