USG discusses dining options, residential college system

The Undergraduate Student Government met with Executive Director of Campus Dining Smitha Haneef and Dean of Rockefeller College Oliver Avens to discuss dining plan options in their meeting on Sunday.

Haneef and Avens are co-chairs of the Board Plan Review Committee, which is dedicated to creating options that meet the needs of a diverse student body. The committee is currently focused on gathering student input on dining options through a series of focus groups meetings that will be conducted later in the month.

Avens explained that the committee’s goal was “to understand how and where people make their choices about where they are going to eat on campus, and to think about whether our current meal plans are optimal for students of all years.”

This review of the University’s dining environment is the first since 2005, when a similar initiative was conducted in preparation for the 2007 residential college expansion. These new dining initiatives come in tandem with the changes outlined in the 2026 Campus Plan, which primarily includes the addition of a seventh residential college.

Avens also explained their relation to upcoming changes to the residential college system.

“All the residential colleges will become versions of four-year colleges. That is to say that upperclassmen of some number will be able to continue living in their colleges,” he said. “We recognize that a lot of what [the committee] is doing intersects with housing choices. Our own charge is not to create housing policy. It is to create recommendations on the dining side that might then be drivers for thinking about dining policies.”

Several USG members commented on the potential dining and residential college changes.

Andrew Ma ’19, Class of 2019 senator, expressed his concerns that changing all residential colleges to four-year living spaces might further dilute upperclassmen dining groups.

“One of the main reservations upperclassmen students have about choosing to stay on the residential college system is that there are predominantly underclassmen in the dining halls. If you make all residential colleges four-years, the number of upperclassmen per college will go down even further,” Ma said.

In response, Avens said that a potential solution would be establishing a critical mass of upperclassmen associated with their residential colleges.

“The thinking is to create communities of upperclassmen,” said Avens.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Jenny Zhang ’18, University Student Life Committees chair, asked about the possibility of adding co-op spaces into the residential colleges as a means of introducing the idea of co-ops to underclassmen.

“Right now undergrads have dining, but they see [eating clubs] as the way to go for future dining,” she said.

“One of the considerations is the living-learning communities. Right now we have two of them, and that is a model. We are looking at expanded living-learning opportunities,” Haneef said in response.

Avens also noted that the committee is targeting independent and co-op students.

“We are interested in why they chose not to take the meal plan, and whether we might be offering better options for that group in particular,” Avens said.

The meeting concluded with the introduction to the new members of the student government.

The USG voted in two new U-Councillors, Devin Kilpatrick ’19 and Olivia Grah ’19. The Communications Committee also added three new members: Social Media Chair Katherine Wang ’20, Website Manager Grace Guan ’20, and Public Engagement Chair Alison Shin ’19.

U-Councillor Pooja Patel ’18 commented on the interview process, stating that successful candidates presented unique perspectives on campus issues and creative solutions to improving USG's perception and transparency across campus.

USG President Aleksandra Czulak ’17 noted the large number of applicants for the U-Councillor position, stating that the USG received 19 applications for only two available slots. She added that she hoped that more students would alternatively consider running for electable positions in the future.

Eli Schechner ’18, Class of 2018 senator, presented the schedule for the upcoming USG elections.

“We avoided having key parts of the cycle, such as petitioning and campaigning, occur over break,” Schechner said.

The updated schedule places the USG Senate election from Monday, Dec. 5 to Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Zhang presented the results of her meeting with Coordinator of Recreational Programming Kara Nitti. The discussed agenda involved a free fitness schedule, including free Saturday classes at the fitness center. Zhang also stated that the USLC hopes to develop a relationship with independent and co-op students.