Menu Items Removed Due to Staff, Equipment Issues

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Rachael Franchini '19 / The Dickinsonian

The menus of the Quarry and Union Station are set to change May 1.

The Quarry and Union Station will endure temporary menu changes due to staff shortages and equipment malfunctions that “are making services to our guests very challenging,” said Stephanie Doulgeris, retail operations manager, in an email.

This email, which was sent by Doulgeris to dining services retail employees on Wednesday, April 24, specified that new changes to the menus will start on Wednesday, May 1. Most of the changes include the removal of different items including deli sandwiches at the Quarry, pitas at Union Station and hot espresso drinks after 11 a.m. at the Quarry.

“These changes will not eliminate all of our problems,” Doulgeris said “but [they] should buy us some modicum of relief.”

Both retail locations had both of their ovens break earlier in the semester, forcing them to use individual Panini presses that cannot cook multiple items at once.

According to Errol Huffman, director of dining services, these new menu changes will not save any money for dining services due to employees working overtime to cover employee call-offs and absences. “Staffing shortages exist with both student and non-student positions,” said Huffman. He explained that Cumberland County’s unemployment rate is at a historic low, so “recruiting those positions is a challenge.” Additionally, student-employee absences have increased due to finals week approaching. Huffman explained that these employment issues plus technical issues increases the challenge to “maintain service for the hours we are open and for the breadth of the menu we usually offer at each location.”

Students had negative reactions towards the new changes. Meredith Franchini ’22 said that the new menus will decrease food options for students with dietary restrictions. “[I]t is ridiculous that the last weeks of classes will be spent scavenging for food,” she said.

Carson Butler ’22, a former Quarry employee, expressed his frustrations with the new menu because “Pitas are perhaps the best and easiest thing to make from the Snar (Union Station).”

Other students who work in dining services expressed different sentiments. Campbell Breithaupt ’22, a Quarry employee, said the new changes to the menus will be beneficial because “we do not have many people on staff, and it will allow us to be more proactive during shifts.” However, Breithaupt said she recognizes the popularity of deli sandwiches and espresso drinks and that she is “bummed they won’t be available for the rest of the semester.”

Menu changes to the Quarry and Union Station only apply for the rest of the semester.