Gustavus Kitchen Cabinet
November 10, 2014
Lisa Heldke, Jim Dontje, Sam Panzer, Mark Hanson, Margo Druschell, George Elliott, Chuck Niederriter, Sammi Minick, Meghan Krause
Student Senate Meeting – Sam reported on the items that affect Dining Service. This marks the first year that there was not a pay rate change for students who work in Dining Service. In previous years there has been a seventy five cent difference. It was noted that it is one of the jobs on campus where you are expected to be doing the job and there is no down time to do homework. Student Senate did put questions together and they were able to talk to Steve. It is noted that it was a Cabinet decision and there has been a shift in focus on paying students for work, not to study. Overall the Kitchen Cabinet feels this is an issue worth readdressing with the Gustavus Cabinet. And it seems reasonable and fair to offer students more pay incentive for a job not everyone likes to do. Two questions this group may want to think about – should a student be paid more because it is more work because of the nature of the work and the expectations that go along with it and should you still be paid more if you are working for custodian or dining service. It was also noted that there is a different skill set if you are a biology TA, which has its own set of experiences and requirements.
Take your professor to lunch day was also discussed at the Health and Housing Committee meeting. It sounds as if there are some interested students and other campuses are doing something similar. Margo noted if you are a student who is struggling to make connections in your field of study it would make a difference to be able to sit down in a different atmosphere and meet with your professor. Sam will contact the Student Life Committee of the faculty to see if they want to cosponsor the “Take Your Prof to Lunch”.
The Gustie Guide to Energized Events – Meghan provided a draft copy of the materials that were created on ideas for meetings and events. This is just to give everyone some ideas on what they could order as well as providing some simple nutrition education. A hard copy could be distributed to Administrative Assistants who routinely order food as well as a copy online that can be accessed by anyone on campus. It was again noted that many events don’t have food or that if students are ordering often they are just using their own account money and just ordering for a meeting. And it was noted that some decisions are driven by cost rather than by the theory of eating well. It really is intended as a piece of information trying to educate our community on what is available. And for those that hear you can do anything are often paralyzed by choice. It was also suggested that maybe a sampling could be done and staff and students that are most responsible for planning events and ordering food could be invited.
Gustie Ware – Attached to the agenda was a spread sheet on how many places on campus you can drop off your gustie ware and it will be picked up. There was more discussion on the gustie ware program and how disheartening it is that it is not being utilized to its full potential. It was noted that some students don’t want to pay the fifty cents for a to go container so they just throw the gustie ware away. And is this part of a more general problem which is the unwillingness to take on the responsibility and pick up after yourself. Is the gustie ware issue and educational problem – it was done because of students interest and now those students have since graduated, how do we get our current students on board as well as faculty and staff. It does mean we are constantly education incoming students on the program. There would be a vocal minority if the gustie ware program were to go away. And it is also astounding that someone would actually throw it in the trash or chose to use it because they did not want to pay the extra money for paper takeout. We talked again about a deposit/return system and would that help to get the containers back and reduce the amount we continue to order per semester.
Kitchen Cabinet – Lisa opened up the floor to any comments or concerns as to how KC functions. Are we doing our role as an advisory committee? Is there more we could be or should be doing? It was a general consensus that Kitchen Cabinet is functioning as intended. It was noted that Steve does a great job in testing information, even if he knows the outcome, he is willing to let students test the theory on the basis of the educational benefit. It was also reassuring that there is transparency in this committee and how decisions are made it seems to be one of the better functioning advisory boards or committees. It would be nice to see more students present at this meeting or at least have more students know the Cabinet exists.
Cafeteria Usage Changes – Sam voiced concerns that were expressed at the Student Senate meeting. Kitchen Cabinet agreed it is worth further discussion when Steve is present.