COVID-19's Affect on HPU's Dining
COVID-19’S Impact on HPU’s Dining
By Riley Manion
Q News
30 November 2020
At High Point University, student stand 6 feet apart and stare through plexiglass as they tell the hospitality team what they want for dinner that day. But it hasn’t always been like that.
What used to be a serve yourself, buffet style dining experience, has now turned into something much different due to the everlasting impact COVID-19 has had on HPU’S campus and community.
Campus Dining: Then to Now
Kennedy Jackson, Vice President of Student Services for HPU’s Student Government association, has seen first-hand how the changes have both positively and negatively affected the students and faculty, and has been the main point of contact for those who wish to voice their concerns.
“In terms of changes that I can gather, all of our meals becoming magic meals, pick up and check ins for places like Starbucks, entry and exits for dining places, reservations to eat at Farmer's and the Cafe, and just how students, faculty, and staff receive food now instead of getting it buffet style have changed” Jackson said, as she discussed what changes have been implemented to work with the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
HPU's Mobile Order app now offers a virtual ordering option for all dining services, to decrease the amount of in-person contact.
As Jackson mentioned, the entry and exit locations of dining areas have also been altered as safety precautions for the COVID-19 pandemic. In places such as the Café, the Farmer's Market, and the Market at Wanek, there is only one way in and one way out. Signs are posted at each area informing students if it is an entrance or an exit, in order to limit the amount of people going in and out at the same time.
Jackson said that it took her some time to adapt to some of the changes that dining has enforced Overtime though, she says that she has gotten used to these changes. "I think with the flow that we have now since HPU has kind of reached a sense of "normalcy", I'm content with the changes made. I believe that these changes will also stay because of COVID's unpredictability as well as Dining finding a sense of flow that works."
A Student's Taste
HPU sophomore Claire Cronce also said that it took her a little bit to get used to the changes, but now sees the dining restrictions as the new normal. "At first it was weird. The cafe was usually serve yourself, Starbucks mobile order wasn't even a thing, and I feel like the butterfly would have operated a lot different." Cronce said while talking about some of the hardest changes she had to implement.
The Butterfly Cafe, HPU's newest dining experience had to quickly make changes to their proposed operations, when the COVID-19 pandemic came into affect. Many students are excited to eat at the Butterfly Cafe to try the new addition to HPU's nationally ranked dining services. This creates lines that stretch out to the sidewalk, due to social distancing implementations.
The line for the Butterfly Cafe stretches past the entrance daily as students follow the distancing stickers on the floor.
The Butterfly offers a variety of different sandwiches, coffee, and even freshly made gelato everyday, all for a magic meal. Cronce said that the change to all magic meals has been a blessing because now everywhere is the same type of swipe making it much easier to control and navigate.
"Last year, it was super frustrating to run out of magic meals by Wednesday or Thursday because then you would have to wait until Sunday for a whole new cycle. Now, you don't have to worry about the number of magic meals you're spending!" Cronce said when describing the new magic meal plan.
Cronce, along with many other HPU students, are grateful for the work that the hospitality team has put in this semester. The switch for online school in the spring semester, to in person in the fall was an easy transition for these students, due to the efforts of HPU's faculty.
The Ingredients to Success
While all of the operations seem to be running smoothly, it started with multiple different ideas and plans to keep students and faculty as healthy and as fulfilled as possible. The hospitality team worked to implement these changes in order to help keep students safe while the student government association made it a priority to enforce these changes.
Above lists a few of many changes that the hospitality team and the student government association implemented for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beck-Aden has made it clear that SGA is working diligently to make sure that student's opinions are being voice with any dining concerns. "Especially this semester, dining has actively listened to the opinions and ideas of our student body. Twice a semester, SGA invited HPU administrators to our University Community Affairs Board meetings, where students can ask questions about university politics and protocol, and HPU Dining has attended both of those meetings," Beck-Aden said when explaining how SGA works with dining services.
Although campus dining looks slightly different this year, the hospitality team has worked along side the students and the student government association, and have been sure to keep the same, delicious food in their dining areas. The students of HPU are happy, healthy, and fed all thanks to the chefs, servers, and all hospitality team members.
COVID-19 has had a clear impact of the function of all aspects at not only HPU but all universities across the nation. HPU's dedicated staff and students have been able to make their campus stand out amongst the rest and prevail about the pandemic, especially when it comes to dining.
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