The Undergraduate On-Campus Housing and Dining Advisory Committee and the Housing, Dining and Hospitality staff passed this change at their Feb. 27 meeting. The move to close OVT and Plaza on the weekends passed with three in favor, zero against and five abstentions.
“[Ocean View Terrace and Plaza Cafe dining halls] will be closing on weekends in order to save money, since students don’t use dining halls as much on weekends,” Residential and Dining Services Advisory Committee representative Clinton Rodriguez said.
According to Housing, Dining and Hospitality Executive Director Mark Cunningham, the committee and staff wanted to extend dining hall hours without raising prices. For this to be feasible, two dining halls needed to be closed on weekends, he said. The committee chose Plaza because it is the “least active” dining hall, and OVT because of its location.
Next year, OVT and Plaza will open 30 minutes earlier and close an hour later during the weekdays. OVT will operate between 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m, instead of its current hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Plaza will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Foodworx in Sixth College, a special case, will close two hours later — at 10 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. The operating hours of the other dining halls and on-campus markets will not change.
Plaza and OVT will be open 16.5 fewer hours per week compared to their 2011-12 hours, and Foodworx will be open 10 more hours per week. Ultimately, dining halls will have less operating hours in 2012-13.
“Convenience-wise, it wouldn’t be convenient, but there are other places to eat and there are a lot of options,” Muir College junior William Hui said.
Students who frequent OVT and Plaza must go to other dining halls on weekends, but these dining halls are prepared for the overflow, Cunningham said.
Cunningham, according to the committee’s minutes from its Feb. 27 meeting, figures that approximately 39 percent of residents eat at Pines on the weekends.
“Dining participation on weekends is always much lower than during the week, and we have the capacity to handle the demand from costumers,” Cunningham said.
Student preference regarding dining halls is a likely reason for choosing to close Plaza, Revelle College sophomore Song Wang said. She added that closing Plaza on weekends will not upset the majority of students.
“Most people in Revelle on weekends don’t go to Plaza — they go to Pines,” Wang said.
Cunningham said the committee passed the change to better support resident demands while keeping dining hall costs “as low as possible.”
“I’m glad that they’re closing later, because sometimes by 8 p.m. I forget to go and it’s closed,” Revelle College freshman Olivia Puckett said.
