Joiya Stacks, Staff Writer
A petition requesting longer hours of operation at The Commons has gained momentum over the past week.
Erica Golden, a freshman majoring in nursing, started the petition two weeks ago on change.org where it gained over 200 signatures in the first 24 hours.
Golden started the petition after hearing complaints from fellow students about dissatisfaction with the operation hours.
“I’ve always said that there should be a change to that (the hours at The Commons) and that we should start a petition but I never knew I would actually start one” said Golden.
WOW Café (formerly known as The Hoot) and Freshens are the only campus eateries that remain open past 9 pm to accommodate students, faculty and staff who may have hectic schedules, however, Golden believes this is not sufficient.
“It’s not unlimited first of all and second of all its not a place you can really go to study, The Commons’ (food) is really good, you can pick your corner and study but The Hoot (WOW Café) is smaller and you can’t use swipes,” said Golden.
Georgia State University has a student population similar to Kennesaw State’s with over 32,000 students. Their dinning facility Piedmont North Dinning Hall is open for “continuous service” Monday through Friday 7 am to 9:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday 11 am through 7 pm.
The Commons is currently open Monday through Friday 6:30 am to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 8 pm.
“Being able to go sit, drink coffee and study is a good thing especially for such a big university,” said Golden.
“The Commons’ hours are set based on an evaluation of class schedules, foot traffic on campus at various times, and customer demand,” said Rob Nolen, Associate Director of Culinary and Hospitality Service via e-mail.
“Culinary and Hospitality Services is happy to operate our venues – including The Commons – later based on our student’s food service needs. Although we’re able and willing to open until 9 or even 9:30 pm, there are substantial additional costs to doing so,” said Nolen. “If students are able and to meet the demand to cover the costs of keeping The Commons open, expanded hours are no problem. If the demand does not cover the additional costs, we would be unable to continue any later hours of operation”
“Having The Commons stay open later would benefit a lot of the students,” said sophomore, art major Tyler Cochran.
“I work until 8 pm and The Commons closes at 8 pm so I don’t have time to go after I’m off. Plus I have classes all day and barely have enough time to go swipe in and eat. I can’t eat at WOW Café or the other places open late because I don’t have anymore dining dollars and they don’t accept swipes,” said Cochran.
“Longer hours on the weekdays especially Monday thru Thursday when campus is super busy would be much more convenient,” said Deion Mason senior, communication major. “I don’t think extended hours on the weekend is necessary but I’m willing to pay the extra fees to keep it open. It can’t be that expensive to add an extra hour or two when you divide the cost by all of the students with a meal plan”
The “Keep The Commons open after 8pm” petition has over 400 signatures to date. It can be found on www.change.org or by scanning the QR code with a smart phone to be directed to the website.
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Editor’s Note: In response to this article, The Sentinel received a reply from KSU’s Associate Director for KSU’s Culinary and Hospitality Services. Read his guest commentary here.
