Literacy: Good for the Tummy

How students at Texas A&M University – Commerce

use literacy to impact the dining services

JenAnne Shumway
English 102h
Sept. 29, 2009

Commerce, Texas is a relatively small town with a city population of approximately

9,300, in addition to the University’s student population that nearly matches it. The low amount
of regular town members can make an impact upon the number of restaurants and food

businesses that Commerce will host, and the students of Texas A&M University – Commerce are

too seasonal for a food service operator to include them in the decision process of whether or not

to open a business, especially off-campus. The small amount of restaurants, the low variety of

food styles, and the hassle of eating off-campus prompts many students simply to eat their meals

in the cafeteria, located close to the center of campus at the Sam Rayburn Student Center.

The students who eat on-campus are constrained by factors such as a limited meal plan,

lack of income, and a time restriction. I sent out a questionnaire to the students of the Honors

College, asking about their experiences with the cafeteria.1

Some of the questions include “what is your opinion about

the cafeteria menu?”, “what do you say about the food and

staff when discussing it with other students or out-of-

towners?”, and “how many meals do you eat in the cafeteria

per week?” These answers helped me to get an

understanding of how most students feel about the cafeteria

food, service, and quality. In the same questionnaire, I also

asked the students if they knew they could leave comment cards for the management of Sodexo,

as well as if they knew the location of these cards. Most students elaborated, and explained that

they either knew where the cards were as well as the location of the Comment Board, or knew

that one existed and not the other. Out of the 20 students that have been surveyed thus far, all of

them had some sort of negative comment towards the cafeteria.

1 I have received 19 replies, and more are being sent each way. Because of my time constraints, I was unable to involve the
students who are not in the Honors College and the free meal plan. For my final project, I fully intend to interview these students
as well.
 Sodexo has been the food service company of TAMU-C since May 2005. The move from

the Memorial Student Center to the new Sam Rayburn Student Center has limited the company

to one cafeteria and one food court, whereas the old building hosted two cafeterias and a small

coffee/sandwich shop. If a student is to eat a hot meal on

campus, their choices are limited to the cafeteria, Grill 155, or

Einstein’s Bros. Bagels. The latter two are located in the Food

Court, with Einstein’s hours limited from 7:30am-3pm and

Grill 155 open 11am-2pm. The cafeteria has a greater variety of

food and hours, hosting five meals a day Monday through

Thursday: breakfast (7am-9:30am), continental breakfast

(9:30am-10:30am), lunch (11:30am-2pm), dinner (4:30pm-

7pm), and late night (8:30pm-10pm). On Fridays, dinner closes an hour earlier and late night is

excluded. The weekend only has two meal options, limiting the students to a brunch from 11am-

1pm and dinner 4:30pm-6pm. The hours may seem very reasonable to a community member, but

not so much to a student.

One student, a Sophomore, mentioned in their survey that “[when I discuss the cafeteria

with non-students] I complain about the awkward hours: no lunch between 10-11:30 and no

dinner before 4:30.” Another upperclassman voices that “the hours they are open suck for my

schedule”, and a freshman admitted that they really love the food, but the reason they cannot eat

in the cafeteria often is because “[his] schedule won’t allow it”.

Though all of these students have

concerns and/or complaints, not one has ever

submitted a comment card or sent an email to

discuss their issues with management. The

students are also aware of the locations of the comment cards and the return box. Without

writing to the management to try and make an impact upon the food service, the students choose

to not promote their use of literacy and intellect.

The cafeteria itself is designed to offer up to six different concepts: salad bar, grill, deli,

international, classics, and pizza. The classics concept is on 5-week rotation schedule, with the

food choices for lunch and dinner ranging anywhere from pasta to hot dogs, enchiladas to

meatloaf, and parmesan chicken breast to grilled tilapia. The menu may seem like a very nice,

even exquisite option to a member of the community, but again, this is not necessarily the case

for the students at Texas A&M University – Commerce.

One freshman was generally positive in his answers about the cafeteria, though he did

mention that he wished there were a “little bit wider selection of fresh fruit… [and] a little more

stuff like grilled chicken or baked fish”. This student was completely unaware that comment

cards and a comment board even existed, so he had no way of knowing that voicing his opinion –

whether to praise or to share a concern – was an option. His literacy is limited in the cafeteria: he

cannot write down his comments, nor can he read others’ comments. This lack of knowledge is

not his own fault.

An upperclassman that answered their questionnaire had different viewpoints on the

menu. “[The] warm food … variety is awful. They have circled the same thing for months and

months! [Put out] something new!” The student has previously submitted a comment card, of

which he did receive a reply. “[Management] placed a witty and

slightly demeaning response to my request,” he wrote. “My

comment card was fairly angry … I probably deserved a

demeaning answer.” Because the comment was written, everyone

is able to see the conversation between the student and the manager. The student further remarks

that he was glad his name was not left on the comment card he submitted. This student’s literacy

is heightened, and he impacts his peers’ literacy as well. Not only did he leave a comment card,

he also received a response to which every student had access to reading.

The staff employed by Sodexo is also a major factor that will have an impact, whether

positive or negative, upon the student. The positions that staff members fill are that of a cashier,

line server, food preparer, dish washer, manager, griller, and lobby observer. Their demeanor,

attitude, customer service, and language will set up the student’s idea of how the cafeteria is run,

and may or may not change their mind about the food quality.

“Gracie is nice,” comments an upperclassman. “And

the grumpy lady isn’t as grumpy as she used to be.” Another

student seconds the statement by mentioning that the greeter

at lunch is “always super nice”. Two other students find the

cafeteria staff very pleasant to work with. None of the

students that returned the questionnaire complained about the staff and the service.

The previously mentioned students who complimented the staff have never turned in a

comment card to praise the service. Management, therefore, is more than likely unaware that the

students enjoy the current service and staff. If the students fail to compliment or praise,

management may take the lack of communication as a sign of indifference and try to change how

the staff serves, which may lead to worse service. From the employee’s point of view, a

compliment or nice word may result in a better position or raise.

Out of 20 students I was able to survey, the majority eats

between 3-6 meals per week in the cafeteria, but none mentioned
they eat there more than once a day. Though the number is small, these 20 students were able to

provide me with a reasonable insight as to how literacy is used in the Dining Services of the

campus. Only seven students knew they could leave comment cards and where to find them,

seven students knew about the comment cards but were unaware as to their location, and six

students were not even aware that comment cards existed. Additionally, ten students were able to

name the location of the Comment Board, nine were not, and the remaining student was not even

aware that the board existed. As previously mentioned, every student surveyed thus far has had

some sort of negative comment towards the cafeteria and/or the food. Out of those students, only

25% had actually written a comment card to the managers.

Whether it’s because these students are in a hurry to get to class or are just downright

unobservant, a large majority of students are unaware that they can use their knowledge of

literacy to make an impact upon the food of which they complain about. Both the managers and

the general staff members of Sodexo do not seem to be placing a heavy enough emphasis upon

the use of these comment cards and the board, which can and is inadvertently restricting every

student’s use of literacy. The managers prefer for verbal communication, instead.

Danny Shumway, the retail manager for Sodexo, has been a Dining Service employee

since September 1998, and hired by Sodexo in August of 2005. “I would prefer verbal comments

rather than anything written,” Danny said in the interview. He is aware that verbal

communication is not as publicly known when compared with comment cards and responses that

every student has the opportunity to view. “Even with that factor, I would still love to speak to

each person individually, no matter how long it takes. Speaking with the student, I can clarify the

problem. I am able to respond in a better way by asking the student questions so that the issue is

addressed in better detail than if it were in writing.”

 John Offerle, the director of Dining Services at TAMU-C since April 2005, feels quite

the same way. He encourages students to leave comment cards “all the time”, but says “I

appreciate a face-to-face communication [more]. I can then read their body language and eye

contact to determine if their comment is genuine.”

Bart Blackburn, the catering manager, has been employed by Sodexo at TAMU-C since

August 2005. He “always asks the student to leave a comment card”. He feels that written text is

a great way for the student to get feedback from their issues.

As an employee of Sodexo myself, I understand that verbal communication is a much

better option for both management as well as the student. The benefits are greater, as the cards

tend to be very vague for both comment and response. As proven above, most managers will

prefer to talk with a customer. In a sense, Sodexo is suppressing the amount of literacy a student

is able to use while visiting the cafeteria. But are students themselves possibly hurting their

chances of literacy as well?

In Danny’s interview, he made the statement that comments received in writing tend to

be angry and full of grammatical errors, and the desire for any manager to address such an issue

is decreased dramatically. “It’s much easier to respond if the student is calm,” Danny stated. All

managers agree that if the student approaches the issue and tries to find a solution instead of

simply ranting and raving, their chances of the issue

being resolved are greater. However, most students do

not take the time to sit down and write an intellectual

comment. Their reasons for writing in the first place

are most likely to complain, at which point out of

anger. The frustration will cause fast writing, poor

grammatical structure, and, as John Offerle states, “their point of view is all over the place”. At

this point, Sodexo is not to blame for suppressing the amount of literacy involved in the

cafeteria. The students hurt themselves because their grammar and sentence structures are so

poor. Due to the quality of the comment, managers are less likely to (a) understand what the

issue is and therefore unable to answer, or (b) have a desire to address the problem.

Some students find that the comment cards do not help at all. One student confirmed that

they had sent in multiple comment cards, and “despite the [manager’s] response that the pizza

variety would increase, the comment sheets seem to have no effect”. A junior and sophomore

both admit to reading the comments at the Comment Board, but neither are sure where to find the

cards to leave a comment. “I find the comments are often entertaining,” states the junior.

“Especially when management tries to down play how accurate the negative feedback from the

students really is.” From this statement, the use of written language seems to be counter-

productive to the service.

Overall, the use of literacy is abundant. Whether it’s to complain, praise, respond, or just

be read, the comment cards and the Comment Board influence the literacy flow. Each student is

impacted by the written word. Those students that leave comments are able to interact with both

peers and staff. Those that read the board can view other students’ complaints and see how

management responds. The students that are completely unaware of the service are impacted,

both negatively and positively. A negative impact is that the unaware student will not see how

others feel and may be missing out on the opportunity to leave a comment. An optimistic

viewpoint, however, is that the student may

have a positive outlook on the cafeteria and

won’t be influenced to change their tastes based

off others’ experiences. Regardless

of the influence, literacy is abundant at the Texas A&M University – Commerce cafeteria

through its students and staff.