MSU Culinary Services continues to evaluate the needs of our campus community and how we may best serve Spartans with our current challenges due to COVID-19. Like other schools and universities across the country, we are experiencing severe staffing shortages. Many businesses in the local area and around the country are hiring. We are all competing for the same available talent.
Given our present circumstances, we need to modify operations to continue providing quality service to students, faculty and support staff. We also need to support our team members working hard to deliver an outstanding experience to guests. The changes outlined below will go into effect on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.
First of all, residential dining halls will be closed to the public until further notice. Only those with MSU-issued IDs will be allowed entry. Our team thoughtfully took this necessary step. The top priority is to keep all dining facilities running as efficiently as possible to help us remain operational and feed students on campus. Closing our dining halls to the public was a difficult decision. However, it is our responsibility to minimize the impact of labor and food supply chain shortages and maintain our commitment to high-quality customer service.
Secondly, we are reducing hours for Heritage Commons at Landon and The Vista at Shaw to consolidate neighborhood staffing resources. Both locations will provide breakfast and lunch, Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and will close Saturday and Sunday. Modified hours will be as follows:
Heritage Commons at Landon
Monday-Friday
- 7-10:30 a.m. (continental breakfast)
- 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (lunch)
- 2-3:30 p.m. (limited menu)
Saturday-Sunday
- CLOSED
The Vista at Shaw
Monday-Friday
- 7-10:30 a.m. (breakfast)
- 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (lunch)
- 2-3:30 p.m. (limited menu)
Saturday-Sunday
- CLOSED
Students living in West Circle halls like Landon can visit Brody Square as their alternative dining location and students living in Shaw can visit The Gallery at Snyder/Phillips as their alternative dining location.
Starbucks will reduce hours of operation to the following:
- 1855 Place: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday,
9 a.m.-4 p.m. - Wells Hall: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; Closed on weekends
Sparty’s mini-markets which did not open in the fall will remain closed. Additionally, the following locations will have a delayed start to offering mobile ordering:
- Sparty’s in Brody, Case and Hubbard
- The Vista at Shaw
- Starbucks at 1855 Place and Wells Hall
- MSU Union Food Court
Our human resources team is working as quickly as possible to recruit and hire team members for our dining facilities. They remain dedicated to improving staffing levels. While working through the labor challenges, team members from all over the Division of Student Life and Engagement are stepping in and volunteering in the dining operations to ensure students are fed.
Additionally, we rely heavily on student workers. The first step for a student is to complete an I-9 for Employment Eligibility Verification. Oftentimes, students don’t have the acceptable documents with them that they need to complete the for the I-9 (passport, social security card or birth certificate), resulting in a prolonged delay in the hiring process.
MSU Culinary Services will continue to monitor our operations and adjust hours and services as staffing levels improve; however, some of these modifications may remain throughout fall semester. We foresee having an improved staffing level at that time.
We appreciate your patience and understanding. Our team is committed to serving Spartan students, and we are continuously managing changes and discussing opportunities to improve.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at 517-884-0660 or info@eatatstate.com.