UTRGV Student Government Association members listen during the senate meeting held last Friday in the Music, Science & Learning Center on the Brownsville campus. Estefania Ramirez/THE RIDER
UTRGV’s Campus Auxiliary Services presented a variety of new dining options for students last Friday during the Student Government Association meeting on the Brownsville campus.
“We’ve added a lot of things,” said Roberto Cantu, executive director of Business Auxiliary Services.
“Our objective is to be able to serve our students to ensure they feel comfortable on campus … and that we have services that are capable of serving their needs,” Cantu said.
Campus Auxiliary Services entered into a 10-year contract over the summer with Chartwells, the new dining operator, according to the executive director.
“This is going to be a multi-year project,” he said. “It’s going to last approximately three years before we transition into all the new dining services, menus and concepts.”
In response to student comments of a lack of food options after certain hours, kiosks were installed on the Brownsville campus and will be set up on the Edinburg campus, Cantu said.
Just Baked, a new kiosk, offers 100 food options for students to select from and is available in the Music, Science & Learning Center on the Brownsville campus.
“There are going to be more technology-centric food options that we will be presenting in the future,” Cantu said. “[Just Baked] is just one.”
Although the new kiosk has the capacity to hold 100 food options, students and staff will need to wait before having them all readily available for them.
“We will be capturing data as students make their selections to see what’s popular and what’s not,” said Luis Guzman, general manager for dining services. “And we’ll be adjusting that menu as time goes on.”
Guzman also said a Costa Coffee kiosk is now available in El Comedor on the Brownsville campus and a Starbucks Serenade kiosk will soon be available in the Engineering Building on the Edinburg campus.
On the Edinburg campus, the Vaquero Dining Hall, featuring Social House, will add a new serving line with a salad bar to increase healthy food options before the end of this year. New tablets have also been installed which display nutritional information.
Cantu told senators it is important to provide a variety of food services so “you’re able to form connections with students and form relationships with your campus.”
He said dining on campus has the added advantage of not losing your parking spot in search of food.
After the presentation, Noah Trstenjak, senator-at-large, inquired about the mandatory nature of meal plans.
“Is there any work that we can do there to give residents flexibility … of deciding whether or not a meal plan is right for them?” Trstenjak asked.
He also said that students may not use up their allotted meal plan money every week.
“At this point, there has not been any discussion regarding making meal plans non-mandatory for individuals who live on campus,” Cantu said.
The meal plans included in the housing contract include price selections, which are some of the most affordable in the University of Texas System, according to Cantu.
Rensanali Dela Cruz, senator for the School of Nursing, asked if students who do not use all the money in their meal card could possibly share it with another student.
“It would have to be specifically for the individual that purchased the meal plan,” Cantu replied. “You need to utilize it per week; otherwise, they will be lost.”
In other business, Samantha Zuniga was appointed and sworn in as the Senator for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Joshua Sauceda was appointed and sworn in as Senator for the College of Liberal Arts.
The next SGA meeting will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday in Student Academic Center Room 1.102 on the Edinburg campus.
