September 19, 2014 | The Miami Student

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The Miami Student Established 1826

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

VOLUME 142 NO. 07

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Draw the line: Dining understaffed A recent report reveals 65% of dining hall work shifts remain empty

COMMUNITY KELLY HIGGINSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER

A report by Dining and Culinary Services revealed student employment for fall 2014 is short 3,500 hours in comparison to last year. In preparing for the fall semester, Culinary Services did not expect the drastic drop in the number of student employees. Every spring, staff development specialist Jennifer Baker Williams evaluates the number of student employees at each dining hall location through statistics. “Our customer count has gone up, which we expected, but the people willing to work is going down,” Baker Williams said. According to Nancy Heidtman, Senior Director of Dining and Culinary Services, the lack of student staffing has resulted in the long lines students complain about at the Armstrong Student Center. With full-scale operations in all of the dining halls, the Vacancy Report, released earlier this semester, showed that only 25 to 35 percent of student shifts are currently filled, This means nearly 65 percent of work shifts in dining halls are vacant. Mark Andrea, the manager of computer systems for dining services, is overwhelmed with the lack of student employment this fall.

“We’ve certainly done everything that we have in years past,” Andrea said. “We’ve put it out there digitally, we had sign ups at the job fair, information on our websites, things sent out to parents, there are just not enough workers.” To recruit more student workers, Heidtman has ensured that there will be more bonus programs for students who decide to work in dining services. In years past, Culinary Services restricted student employment to Miami students only, giving the college students priority. However,

ery maximum minute, and some are working at the hours that they can, and we can’t ask them to do more,” Baker Williams said. In moving past the understaffing, Culinary Services has started distinguishing zones to group multiple dining locations together in similar areas. Some places are busier than others at certain times, and employees are starting to work multiple halls under the same shift. “Wherever needs help, the executive of that zone can send workers over to that area for some extra help,” Baker Williams said. Associated Student Government (ASG) helped Culinary Services last spring by launching employee incentive programs that were set to start the first four weeks this fall, a time which usually sees the lowest student staffing. “We ran all three of the incentive programs and none of them met our expectations,” Andrea said. Andrea said that, for the time being, Culinary Services is bringing in outside help, such as temp agencies, and hiring more full time staff that they can rely on each day. “We are doing the best that we can, and working with what we have,” Andrea said. The Streats Food Truck will also KATIE TAYLOR EDITOR IN CHIEF be driving around Armstrong and (L-R) Angel Foland, one of the recently hired temps working in Maple Street area serving food to Armstrong, and Courtney Dunn, a senior from Talawanda high school. help alleviate the lines inside the busy dining locations.

STACKING UP University of Cincinnati rallied from an early deficit to take the lead in the MU vs. UC Food Race. The race culminates at this weekend’s football game. All donations go to local food banks. Donate in person or through the NomNom Nation online app.

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6,703 lbs FOOD RACE »PAGE 2

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY

ACADEMICS LANA POCHIRO

of Cincinnati

As Miami’s enrollment increases for both domestic and international students, a discrepancy in graduation rates calls for concern. According to Miami University Fact Sheets provided by the Office of Institutional Research, enrollment increased from 14,936 undergraduates at the Oxford campus in 2011 to 15,081 in 2012 and 15,462 in 2013. Of those numbers, international students totaled 722 students in 2011, 837 in 2012, and 1,026 in 2013. Although the number of international students enrolling shows positive growth, another statistic demonstrates an obvious problem.

According to the International Student Retention and Graduation report conducted by Miami University’s Office of Institutional Research, international student retention to junior year

Some of the students leave because they want to be in a big city — Chicago, New York, Washington D.C. “

CHERYL YOUNG

ASSISTANT PROVOST

has dropped from 89.5 percent in 2005 to 77.8 percent in 2010 and the four-year graduation rate sits at 45.7 percent for students who enrolled in their first year in 2009. The domestic student four-year

Former Miami University student Aaron Lakes, 24, died unexpectedly Monday, Sept. 15. Miami officials have no information on the cause of death. Lakes, from Germantown, Ohio, was a junior kinesiology major studying at Miami’s regional campuses; however, he was not enrolled at the time of his death. He lived in Oxford where he worked as a bartender at O’Pub. Director of University News and Communications Claire Wagner expressed the University’s condolences. “Anytime a young person is lost, we as the campus feel it because you never know the potential that he or she had and what they might have done,” Wagner said. Funeral services for Lakes will be held at Arpp and Root Funeral Home today at 10 a.m., and burial services will follow at Germantown Cemetery.

graduation rate is 68 percent, in the top 10 for public universities in the country. The plausible reasons behind this statistical discrepancy are varied and uncertain. Assistant Provost of Global Initiatives, Cheryl Young, speculates recruitment agents unaffiliated with Miami University encourage international students to transfer schools. “My sense is they could be recruited based on Miami’s high rankings, but being told, ‘Go to Miami a couple years. Get really good grades and you can go to a higher ranked school,’” Young said. “Rankings are very important to this student population.” Young offers several other explanations that might fill DROP »PAGE 4

In 2010, The Miami Student reported the university’s Housing, Dining and Guest Services employees rallied in an attempt to stop a rumored outsourcing of their jobs. Current VP of Finance and Business Services David Creamer said, “We know that we have to find ways to operate in a more efficient way. A lot of (decisions) will take place as we continue to evaluate.”

UNIVERSITY

COMMUNITY

CULTURE

TRAFFIC TROUBLE

TEAPIOCA REOPENS

SPECIAL DIET DINING

KASICH’S FUTURE

»ONLINE

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AARON LAKES

International student graduation rates drop, MU seeks solution THE MIAMI STUDENT

University

Miami university

as of this fall, they are now taking applications from Talawanda High School students in hopes that some students might apply and fill the vacant positions. “We have been trying all of the positive methods to recruit students, we will honestly take anyone that is willing to work,” Baker Williams said. Student employees who work for dining services have the flexibility of choosing their own hours, as long as they do not exceed 22 hours per week. “Some students are working ev-

Former Miami University student dies

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OPINION

SPORTS

SOCCER »PAGE 10


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