The University of Florida campus does not have good options
for getting food on the weekends because of limited hours and closings.
The Who: Students who live on campus
The What: They do not run have convenient hours and
have closings on certain weekend days.
The Why: The restaurants do not think that there is
enough demand to run their stores during the weekends so they either limit their
hours or close.
1. Freshman
student
· Do
you have a meal plan for on campus restaurants?
o
Yes, I do have a meal plan, and I can eat
unlimited times at the dining halls.
· How
has your experience been with eating on campus on the weekends?
o
It hasn’t been too bad because I can
always go to the dining hall whenever I am hungry. But when I do want to change
things up and eat somewhere else, it does seem as though there aren’t a lot of
options.
· Why
do you feel that the restaurants are closed or have limited hours on weekends?
o
I think that they are closed because
people do not really come on campus during weekends if they don’t have class,
but the eateries are forgetting about the students who live on campus.
2. UF
Professor
· Do
you have a meal plan for on campus restaurants?
o
No. but I do eat at on campus places
often.
· How
has your experience been with eating on campus on the weekends?
o
Not great. Whenever I try to eat at the restaurants
on weekends they seem to be closed. Because of my schedule, I don’t have a lot
of time on the weekends and I find it very inconvenient that they are always closed
when I need to eat.
· Why
do you feel that the restaurants are closed or have limited hours on weekends?
o
There is less demand for the places
because there are far less students wandering round campus and the eateries don’t
think they can make as much money.
3. Off
Campus Student
· Do
you have a meal plan for on campus restaurants?
o
Yes, I have a declining balance.
· How
has your experience been with eating on campus on the weekends?
o
It has been awful. The places I like to
eat on campus are almost always closed when I want to go to them.
· Why
do you feel that the restaurants are closed or have limited hours on weekends?
o
I think that they assume that there is
going to be low demand but, it would probably be high because there are still a
lot of people that would want to eat at the places.
4. Sophomore
living in his fraternity’s house
· Do
you have a meal plan for on campus restaurants?
o
Yes, I have declining balance.
· How
has your experience been with eating on campus on the weekends?
o
It doesn’t bother me too much because I
have a scooter that I can take to go get food off campus.
· Why
do you feel that the restaurants are closed or have limited hours on weekends?
o
I think it is because no off-campus
students go into campus to eat on the weekends.
5. Online Student
· Do
you have a meal plan for on campus restaurants?
o
No.
· How
has your experience been with eating on campus on the weekends?
o
When I have come into campus for office
hours or things like that, they are usually closed so its awful for me when I need
to eat something.
· Why
do you feel that the restaurants are closed or have limited hours on weekends?
o
I think it is because there aren’t a lot
of students on campus during the weekends so the places feel like they can
close and save time and resources.
Summary: I find that people who live on campus are the
ones that are affected the greatest by the short hours and closings. Although it
may not seem like all people are affected by it, out of all the people I interviewed,
most of them agreed that the weekend hours are inconvenient and need to be fixed.
People with declining balances also seem to be affected a lot more than people
with the unlimited dining hall plan. I know that this opportunity still exists,
and does affect many students at UF.
