Students can voice their opinions on ways to improve the campus dining centers during an open forum at 3 p.m. today in the Thomas Hall Dining Center.

The forum is open to any on-campus resident with a meal plan, and is a way for the dining centers to receive feedback and suggestions from students.

The dining centers will take the feedback and try their best to comply with students’ requests, said Sheila Poffinbarger, assistant director of Taylor dining.

“We are here to help the students,” Poffinbarger said. “There have been changes made that have been influenced by these forums. This year we pushed back the start time for breakfast (at Taylor) 15 minutes in order to keep it open later for students.”

Dining center workers are invited to attend the forum as well.

“We love to hear from our student workers,” Poffinbager said.

Catie Russo, a student manager at Stevenson and a sociology major, was intrigued with the idea of the forum.

“I hope that a positive change will come out of (the forum), and people can get their opinions heard,” she said.

Positive changes have been seen as a result of student comments, as Russo has seen in Tower Dining.

“Yes, a positive aspect is that the brunch side is now open on the weekends,” she said. “Students are happy with that.”

A common request from students, like Austin Bellino, a junior education major, is to change the operating times of the dining centers.

“Maybe they (dining centers) could extend the times into the night so that students who are studying can get a late snack,” Bellino said.

He questioned the freshness of the dining centers’ buffet style of service.

“Maybe they could put in a better effort in trying to keep the food fresh because sometimes the food can get a bit stale,” Bellino said.

Dane Urban can be reached at 581-7946 or at [email protected].