[Parent-Network] Interest in a Meal Survey?

Fri Nov 14 10:28:54 PST 2008

Cathie is right that venting likely will not change the meal plan, but more concerted action will likely get more attention, particularly if it also involves some coordinated and organized action by both parents and students. Here's a few things we can do now:

- Send individual letters over the next two weeks to Cheryl Todd (before Thanksgiving!), expressing our individual concerns (getting more letters on the same subject probably will get more attention than these letters coming scattered over the course of a semester). List also your students' class schedules and the days where there are problems in getting a meal. Ask for a personal letter, replying to your concerns registered. Ask how important it is from the campus' perspective to have their students on a meal plan actually being able to eat. Are they satisfied with the current meal program? What programs are in progress to address any of the problems our current students have in getting a meal?

- I'm game for constructing a short, simple survey that can circulate to our students and three of their friends to further flesh-out the beefs our students have with the meal plan. All surveys get signed by the students and get routed to a few students that want to take food discussions to the next level (one of the aspects of Willamette that set it apart from other campuses we visited was the extent of student involvement in campus affairs). Yes, we pay the bills, but the students being closer to the action can more readily make their voices heard directly to Cheryl Todd in a concerted fashion (and provide more impetus for constructive change). Note I personally hate the fifty-two question "short" surveys. We have students absorbed in their studies and activities, so making it easier on them would be the rule. This will be a one-page survey, with some commitment on the part of students to fill out daily for a week, documenting missed meals and meals taken at the cafeteria, identifying using simple rankings their evaluation of the food, asking them also for reasons why the food didn't meet expectations and asking for personal suggestions. I suspect the survey will dramatize how erratic it seems our students are eating. 

If anyone is interested in collaborating with me on the survey preparation over the next two weeks, let me know, emailing me directly. Obtaining both qualitative and quantitative data can add more strength to arguments to improve meal quality and student health, while providing some reasonable, implementable solutions. Students or the administration can, if they wish conduct more extensive surveys. 

- The survey gets circulated after school resumes in late January-February. Why not conduct it in December? Well, given that classes formally end on Dec 7, followed by a week of study and then a week of finals, eating patterns will likely change after our students return from Thanksgiving break. We could conduct some tests in the first week of December, to make any corrections to the survey, making it easier for a survey with wider circulation to be released. The results can be circulated in a number of ways: through the RA's, dorm counsels the school paper and Sociology department, while also being submitted to the campus administration. The idea is to get a dialog going on what's missing in the meal plan, get short and long term solutions and their ownership identified, that translates into better quality of life for our students at Willamette.

- I've got to believe that our students know of some sociology majors, who may be able to offer some assistance in tabulating results and making general observations. I also plan to call Linda Heuser, Professor and Chair of the Sociology department, to see if there is any interest in this food topic to warrant getting more resources into play (students or special projects) next semester. I'm also interested in speaking with Cheryl Todd next week, to better understand how they select their menus.

- I know we'd love to get immediate results, but as many of us are in for the long run (our daughter Emily is a Freshman), getting any change by later in the Spring, or next year might be soon enough. I'm counting on our daughter next year having something more organic than just Organic Chemistry!

Kind Regards,
Al Hannenberg
alfredo at informativepeople.com
Home: 702.515.0326 (after 6pm)

-----Original Message-----
From: borderpups [mailto:borderpups at hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 08:15 AM
To: 'willamette parent network'
Subject: Re: [Parent-Network] Meal plans

.hmmessage P{margin:0px;padding:0px}body.hmmessage{font-size: 10pt;font-family:Verdana}This issue isn't going to be resolved on the parent network but at least it lets others know what the problems are. I suggest everyone who has written in so far and all those who haven't but have the same concerns write to: 
Cheryl ToddDirector, Residential Services503-370-6708
ctodd at willamette.edu
I know my daughter was not that thrilled with the food when she lived on campus. The time issue is also something the school can take care of. Often it is just a problem of not being aware. Good luck. There is no reason why food at Willamette should not be good and plentiful. It is located in a major growing region with a long growing season. 
Cathie

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From: hinesjanet at hotmail.com
To: kberg at cablespeed.com; parent-network at willamette.edu
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:58:32 -0800
Subject: Re: [Parent-Network] Meal plans

.ExternalClass .EC_hmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass body.EC_hmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;}My son is a freshman and the only complaint I hear about is the food as well. We changed him from the second to the highest to the highest plan because he was using alot of points to get enough to eat and at the rate he was going he was going to run out by the end of the semester. He has lost about 10 pounds which he can ill afford. It seems the way the meals are organized is that lunch and breakfast are all points and the dinner is all you can eat. My son, who isn't incredibly picky, says that the dinners are awful. He likes the other two meals but that he needs to use alot of points to get enough food and he sometimes doesn't even eat the dinner because he says they are really bad. I would love to opt out of the dinner and let him fend for himself with that $7.50 but, as you all know, it is mandatory to pay for the dinners even if you don't eat them. Given how expensive the food plan is, and how unsatisfactory it is, I think that we should address it with the administration to see if they can come up with a plan that feeds the kids well. Janet

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Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:49:12 -0800
From: kberg at cablespeed.com
To: parent-network at willamette.edu
Subject: Re: [Parent-Network] Meal plans

My son is a freshman and the only thing I hear anycomplaint about is the food. He is on themiddle meal plan. He doesn't feel like hehas enough points to get the amounts he needs but also says he probablywouldn't be happy eating any more than he does there. So, I too, assome other parents have done, have supplied him with large quantitiesof food for him to keep in his dorm room. Given the description ofwhat the plan is to cover, this seems like it shouldn't be necessary!! 

I'm not happy with this situation and I don't know what to do about it.

I like all of the suggestions of Al Hannenberg!! Ihope someone that can take them to heart or someone that can make adifference will read the suggestions. 

Kristin Berg

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