Student-run board seeks to improve dining on campus

Eating is an essential condition of life, but most students do not spend too much time worrying about it.

However, for the members of the Georgia Tech Dining Student Advisory Board (GTDSAB), caring about what students eat is part of the job description.

Founded by second-year Computer Science major Joshua Silver, GTDSAB is a student organization that works closely with Auxiliary Services and Tech Dining to enhance the overall quality, service and offerings of the dining halls on campus.

"When I arrived on campus, I learned that most campus units had student advisory boards, such as the CRC, the Student Center and the Library," Silver said.

"Since most students interact with Dining more than most other units on campus, I was very surprised that Dining did not have any way to effectively gather student input, evaluate proposed changes to Dining and plan additional dining events," Silver said.

"Auxiliary Services and Tech Dining have been extremely supportive and responsive-we would not be where we are today without their help and support," Silver said.

GTDSAB consists of a small group of students who meet on a regular basis to consolidate feedback from students, plan special dining events and try to improve the general campus dining experience.

The Board is broken into four functional and organizational committees: Community, Staff, Food and Communications.

Even though the Board is still in its early stages, it has already done much to enhance student dining.

The group has worked to improve labeling of all foods to include accurate nutritional content, to increase the presence and rotation of international foods, to start an Employee Appreciation Program, and to host events such as Woodruff's Dinner Dance, Rice Day and the Mayfield Ice Cream Bar opening last month.

The Board already has a number of events planned for this year to make the dining experience at Tech even better.

"We are working hard with both the new and returning board members to bring back the most successful events from last year and to add some new ones for this year," Silver said.

"In particular, we are very excited about bringing some visiting chefs to Tech, holding a cooking competition and adding more International Cuisine nights. As always, we are planning to hold a holiday meal right before finals and a dinner dance in the spring," Silver said.

"Additionally, Dining has added two new executive chefs to the team-we will be working closely with them to bring new and exciting menus to the dining halls," Silver said.

The Board's future outlook remains promising. It is looking ahead to further changes.

"We are working hard to provide more and better vegetarian food options and to ensure that all vegetarian foods are labeled appropriately. We are also looking for ways to make the dining facilities a functional space for students to work, relax and socialize with friends," Silver said.

"In the future, I believe the board will also collaborate with Auxiliary Services to shape some of the bigger aspects of dining, such as the price of meal plans, hours of operation for all of the dining locations and possibly even the addition of more restaurants and a third dining hall," Silver said.

"I believe this board will serve as a model for other universities as they create their own student advisory boards. We have already been contacted by several other schools across the country and are working with them to get similar programs started at their schools," Silver said.

The Board knows that it cannot thrive without the involvement of the student body, and that student response is the foundation to building a brighter future. Therefore, the Board has organized many ways for students to express opinions and suggestions.

Students can complete the comment cards in Tech dining halls and restaurants, talk to one of the board members or dining managers or simply visit the dining website at www.gatechdining.com.