Campus dining undergoes changes to improve student experience

The University of South Dakota has undergone several changes with the expansion of the Muenster University Center and national food chains being brought to campus to offer more choices to students last spring.

When students arrived back to campus in January, more changes had occurred in the MUC with campus dining.

Sophomore Mitch Branjord noticed the changes at Qdoba right away.

“I’m pumped up that it’s free queso,” Branjord said. “Free guac is good, too.”

Vice President of Student Services and Dean of Student Services Kimberly Grieve said some prices have decreased while others have increased.

Qdoba has increased prices to allow all customers to receive queso and guacamole with every meal at no extra charge.

“They would charge you extra for every little thing so the national brand Qdoba went for one price,” Grieve said.

The Wok now accommodates those who are vegetarian by making the prices fair.

“The Wok prices didn’t go up,” Grieve said. “They actually went down for vegetarians.”

A campus dining survey was also sent out last semester for students to answer on how they felt about the dining experience in the MUC.

“The survey was extremely positive,” Grieve said. “Students are really, really pleased with the food services currently.”

About 900 students responded to the survey, and every single area on the survey showed increase from the previous year, Grieve said.

Students were asked about cleanliness, affordability and healthy options offered.

First-year Peyton Stahly said she wishes campus dining offered healthier options instead of fast-food oriented options.

“I feel like they should have a little more variety,” Stahly said.

Grieve said because more students have been asking for healthy food options, USD has made an effort to answer that request and continue to improve on offering healthy options.

“UBrew has actually added more things in their case so there’s sushi, there’s different kind of meals in there now, there’s hummus and pita bread,” Grieve said.

There are no known changes coming to Chick-fil-A, Grieve said.

Junior Christopher Jackson visits Qdoba frequently, but did not notice the recent changes with the free queso and guacamole.

“The only thing I noticed was the new smothered burrito,” Jackson said. “I stayed away from (the guac) because it was extra.”

However, Jackson said he plans on taking advantage of the guacamole included with every meal now that he knows he won’t be charged extra.

Grieve said there will also be upcoming events to market campus dining to get students excited about the new options and changes.

“We want the student experience to be the best experience possible,” Grieve said. “There’s room for improvement everywhere.”