Over Thanksgiving break, the University of Rhode Island worked to accommodate on-campus needs for those who relied on the more limited services due to low staffing.
Butterfield was the only dining hall open during the Thanksgiving recess, operating at shortened hours between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Thanksgiving, the dining hall closed its doors at 2 p.m.
Dining Services focused more on made-to-order meals, preparing smaller batches of food for students still living on campus, according to Pierre St-Germain, director of Dining Services at URI. The university adopts this method of operation during every holiday break, including J-Term.
“We’re happy to provide for them,” St-Germain said. “We will always provide some kind of service since we know it’s kind of sandwiched between times where students really won’t leave.”
Most of the students that stayed behind were either international students or students that live away from the New England area, according to St-Germain. This year, the number of estimated students staying on campus during holiday breaks has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, St-Germain said.
Staffing was an issue during holiday breaks, according to Michael McCullough, associate administrator at Dining Services. Many of the student staff members aren’t around during the breaks.
Dining Services had budget concerns about payroll due to the state worker’s holiday wages that are guaranteed to them through their union contract, according to St-Germain.
“We had to be mindful of our own budget,” St-Germain said. “Anyone who was working those days received holiday pay and time and a half. I have no problem paying that, but we try to set it up so that the service is provided in one shift, for about eight and a half hours.”
Keeping track of students who stayed on campus was a challenge, according to McCullough.
“The only way for us to figure out population is by door swipes at the dormitories,” McCullough said. “For example if there are a recorded 600 swipes, are they all individual swipes? Or was it someone swiping out and not coming back?”
This method of counting door swipes to get an idea of the student population isn’t the greatest, but was the best source of measurement without major privacy invasion, according to McCullough. No one breaks those numbers down, but it was what McCullough believed to be the best course of action.
Additionally, Dining Services is planning on improving their quality of service by renovating the Ram’s Den in the Memorial Union and Mainfare Dining Hall located in Hope Commons, according to St-Germain. The projects will start over in summer 2025 and Dining Services hopes that students will return from break to no construction and improved dining locations.