Staffing Issues at Johnson Grab and Go
Last week, the Johnson Grab and Go Cafe was closed every day due to staffing issues, but Dining Services has a plan to keep the campus eateries alive — including something students may be interested in.
The Johnson Grab and Go Cafe is a fast and convenient option for students with time crunches between their labs, and its location is in the Johnson Hall of Science. On Monday, April 1, Margaret Madore sent the first email saying that the Grab and Go would be closed for the day. These emails came every day after that, with the last reading, “Grab & Go will be closed Thursday, April 4, and Friday, April 5, 2024, due to staffing issues. We will see you Monday, April 8! We apologize for any inconvenience.”
“If I were a student and something is closed, I’m totally depending on that meal, and then it’s not there. It throws your whole day off,” said Marijo Haggett, director of dining services at St. Lawrence. Haggett understands that it can be hard to replan meals as a busy student. After discussing the already tight staff they have, she explained that not everyone is trained for each campus eatery. “We have to make that decision of, do we have enough staff to send over or the staff that are here, are they trained enough or feel confident enough to be able to go over and run the satellite,” said Haggett. So far, the solution to these instances is going to be cross-training more dining service employees. “So, if someone that works in a satellite calls out, we don’t have to just shut it down,” said Haggett.
“I know for me it’s been really helpful because I have classes back-to-back, and I have my labs. That takes up like eight hours of my day, so it’s a nice place where I can go and get some food and have a little break,” said Jenne Heerkens ’27. Heerkens, a frequent Grab and Go user on Tuesdays and Thursdays, expressed how convenient it is for someone like her, majoring in the sciences. “It’s also a good deal; you get a bunch of food for one meal swipe,” said Heerkens.
Since COVID-19, staffing at many places has hit an all-time low, and the dining services at SLU are no exception. During COVID-19, Dana Dining Center and Northstar Café were the main operations that were kept running due to the services needed for students in quarantine. However, things are just starting to look up despite the frequent shutdowns of the Grab and Go. “It’s the first year we’re starting to see more applicants come in and not as much turnover, which is really promising,” said Haggett. While they are still struggling, these improvements cannot go unnoticed. What Dining Services wants to do now is promote the different campus eateries to the students.
“If we had our own dining social media, it would be a lot easier for us to access students,” said Haggett. She explained that it is hard to inform students of different campus eatery shutdowns due to their main source of communication by email. Busy students go from class to class, so they don’t always have time to check their email and make other plans for meals. This is why dining services are hiring a student marketing intern for next semester to create a social media presence in hopes of keeping students more easily informed on dining situations. While the application deadline has already passed, it is something to look forward to for next semester and hopefully many more.