After student feedback, dining services has decided to bring back the Knollcrest weekend breakfast. Knollcrest will serve continental breakfast from 8-11 a.m., brunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and dinner from 5-7 p.m.

These new hours will be similar to those in place before a Nov. 18 email announced that Knollcrest would function on a continuous 11 a.m.-7 p.m. block. Chimes had the opportunity to meet with dining services’ Director of Hospitality Operations Luis Aljona, Food Service Director Todd Kurtz, and Executive Chef Ryan Hartman to discuss some of the backstory behind dining services’ decision-making processes. 

According to Aljona, the previous decision to change Knollcrest’s hours in November came as a result of a desire to be “good stewards of Calvin’s resources.” Dining services had analyzed dining traffic patterns, and removing weekend breakfast hours seemed most logical. Hartman noted that dining services make all of their decisions based on traffic data, sales data, and student feedback. “These decisions are not made lightly and they’re not made whimsically,” he said. 

However, Aljona noted that his team “felt like we were missing key members, like athletes who sometimes need breakfast at 9 a.m”, following the implementation of the 11 a.m.-7 p.m. weekend hours. After receiving around six to 10 complaints from students, dining services decided to add in the continental breakfast. 

Student feedback on Knollcrest changes

Briar Stonehouse, a sophomore majoring in history, was one of the students who filed a complaint with dining services. “It’s just nice to get up and get things done, so I was quite bothered by having to wait until 11 to eat,” she said. “And it’s also just nice to start the day eating breakfast with people all together.”

Stonehouse also noted some frustrations with dining services’ communication process. “If there is a reason — like if it’s budget cuts or something — I think the student body would appreciate knowing why instead of just the email that was saying, like, ‘now you don’t have to worry about missing breakfast on Saturdays. Now you don’t have to worry about not having a desired thing because we’re taking away the desired thing.’ It’s just kind of silly.”

When it comes to the topic of whether or not Knollcrest’s new continental breakfast will meet student demands for an earlier breakfast, Stonehouse expressed uncertainty. “I want to know more about what the continental breakfast entails,” she said. “I guess that remains to be seen whether or not it will satisfy.” 

Student worker meal vouchers

While the reintroduction of weekend breakfast resolved some students’ concerns, others are still expressing frustrations at other dining hall changes. Abby Kuiper, a junior majoring in environmental studies, told Chimes in November about student worker meal vouchers for Johnny’s and Pete’s being revoked. Chimes had the opportunity to talk with her again this week. 

While Kuiper recognized the difficulty of facing budget cuts, she said she feels like there could have been a better solution. “They have a lot of students working for them, so I feel like they should prioritize the benefits in any way possible,” she said. “And I understand that with budget cuts that that’s hard, but I feel like there could have been a better solution than just revoking the employee meal vouchers’ use in Johnny’s and Peet’s entirely.” 

Kuiper noted that if the dining halls provided more to-go options, students like herself wouldn’t have to rely on Johnny’s and Peet’s. “A lot of the problem is just waiting in line,” she explained. “We can get a to-go box, but we can’t wait in line to actually get the food. … Something we could use our meal swipes to just grab and go, like a pre-packaged something, that would be a great solution.” 

With the newest changes to Knollcrest, Kuiper said she’s hopeful that other changes will be made. “It’s encouraging that they’re listening to students about Knollcrest,” she said. “I think if enough student employees are like, ‘Hey, can we get at least a little benefit back?’ I don’t know, I can see them working with us on it.”

Dining services comments

As the entire campus has to adjust to budget cuts, Kurtz emphasized that dining services are doing their best to prioritize consistency and efficiency. “We need to be quick responders, quick changers, quick listeners,” he said. 

In order to increase efficiency and develop their staff, Aljona emphasized their efforts to create a unified staff community. As part of this, dining services made the decision to change the student worker meal vouchers. “We’re all eating in the dining halls,” Aljona said of those that work for dining services. He emphasized the importance of student workers developing relationships with all levels of staff while all eating together. 

Hartman emphasized the importance of student feedback for dining services. “The more we get in terms of feedback, the more participation … the better decisions we can make as operators,” he said. Over this year, student participation has increased by around 45%, and dining services expressed their desire to maintain and increase that. Students are encouraged to fill out the dining services’ survey (accessible through the QR codes across dining locations), email dining services at [email protected] or stop by their office, located in the Commons Annex.