Campus dining locations allow Case Western Reserve University students to share meals with fellow students. The 2024 Dining Services survey results, which summarize student opinions of these locations, released to CWRU students through RHA Community Newsletter #13 in December 2024. 

The results showed generally positive results across various aspects of dining services, indicating the influence that such feedback has on the work of the Food Committee. The Food Committee is a collaboration of Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Residence Hall Association (RHA) student leaders and Bon Appétit Management Company. Second-year Makaila Burnham, chair of the Food Committee, explained its collaborative cycle.

“We find key areas for improvement from the survey, work with Bon Appetit administrators to come up with solutions, and then collect student feedback to see how the solutions work. If a solution isn’t effective, we refine it or come up with a new alternative,” she said.

Both residential and retail dining locations have shown considerable improvements in their ratings. In the area of retail dining, all 15 spots received a “Positive Performance Gap” rating in 2024, in contrast to the eight sites that had a “Negative Performance Gap” in 2023.

“During the last academic year, we introduced three new eateries from student suggestions— Choolaah and Med23 at the Tinkham Veale University Center—and a hot chicken concept at Carlton Commons,” Christine Torrence, associate vice president of Campus Services, said. She emphasized the value of student feedback: “These popular new options were driven by student input from the fall 2023 and spring 2024 surveys, feedback during pop-up events and in our weekly food committee meetings, which are open to students.” 

There are several options for students who wish to express their opinions on the food. Students can fill out the Feedback Form accessible in the weekly RHA newsletters, attend Food Committee meetings or text (216) 208-5664 to provide feedback directly to dining services. According to Burnham, suggestions have a large impact on the food services at CWRU. Dining services encourage students to use the plethora of outlets to help improve the treasured dining services at their school.

Leutner Commons has also shown significant improvements, with a 19.9% increase in the overall rating and a 16.1% increase in the responsiveness of staff. Second-year neuroscience major Chelsea Kodiaga agreed with the increase in Leutner’s rating. 

The food seasoning, which many students have complained about, has improved in her view, and she nodded to the Farm to Fork program’s role in helping the quality of the food. “I think [with] Leutner, specifically coming from my experience, my first year to my second year, there’s been a substantial increase; I think the morale of the staff is much better,” she said. 

Despite the many positives revealed in the Fall Dining Survey, it also revealed some areas for growth. Fribley Commons displayed inconsistent results, which could be from a higher student influx due to the construction of John Sykes Fayette House and Mary Chilton Noyes Houses. Some “Key Point Indicators” improved while others worsened. In contrast, when asked in person, students held mostly positive views about Fribley’s dining services. 

The survey also reported a decline in speed of service ratings for both Fribley and Leutner, shifting from neutral to negative performance gaps. In person, though, most students appeared to express either indifferent or opposite responses to the negative results and did not see the speed of the service as a major problem in their dining experiences.

The most serious concern in the area of retail dining was The Den by Denny’s, seeing a 52.3% decline in its rating. Second-year computer science major Matthew Yee had strong feelings about the food at The Den, yet he noticed a positive shift. 

“The food I’d say is markedly better,” he said. “Last year whenever you’d get The Den, you’d get a stomach ache forever … Now that no longer happens. The smell that lingers from The Den food is now gone.”

When asked if there was anything dining could do to improve on their services, a couple students were outspoken about services celebrating the cultural diversity of the student body. Zijin Chen, a first-year computer science major, thought of her friends and her community when asked about suggestions.

“There’s a big Asian demographic here on campus and I feel like a lot of the dining halls don’t necessarily cater to it. I remember one of the things my friends were talking about, why can’t they just have a big pot of rice,” she said. “Good Jasmine rice or something, please cook it properly … and then students can just scoop it on their plate … that’d be a crazy improvement.” 

At the end of the day, there was more positive than negative feedback. Even still, surveys such as these play a crucial role in relaying student suggestions to fuel the work that continues to go on on campus.

After emphasizing the importance of feedback, Torrence said, “We’re always looking to improve the dining experience and will be reviewing possible changes based on the most recent survey.”