Over this past summer, Upper Commons has undergone a little more than just a facelift. While white tile has replaced outdated yellow and space has been maximized, the renovation not only opened up a realm of new possibilities for students and staff but also raised concerns.
The change has been an adjustment to students, like Grace Braga, a junior who feels the Craft and Create station is taking up more space, “I just wish there was more seating.” Ze Raywells, a student who works at Upper, has the perfect solution. “They opened private dining, so we now have open sessions, and that kinda covered all of our seating issues we were dealing with,” says Raywells, a sophomore and Marketing Assistant at Upper. Private Dining sits on the far front end of the seating area, closed off behind glass and formerly only for groups who reserved it. Now it’s open to all students who are looking for somewhere to settle down for their meals. “As long as the sign says open seating, you’re free to walk in there, and you can go have your meal in a quieter room if you want to.”
With the seating issues solved, there are still some concerns students have. While Asuka Fukagawa, a senior, was pleased with the addition of Craft and Create, “This is amazing, I’m so happy to be cooking by myself.” She does have one thing she misses about the old Upper. “On this side (where Craft and Create is) there used to be a water station, and I usually stay over here, so I have to go all the way to the corner to get some water.”
Before the renovations, Upper had water and drink stations on both the front and back seating areas. It seems like it would make sense to at least have a water station near Craft and Create, since it boasts its own closed off seating area. Instead, students have to walk across the dining hall to get their beverages.
On the other hand, the drink station does provide more options for students. Including a large ice dispenser, making up for when the other dispensers run out of ice, a problem Upper used to have during rush hours. The other additions include flavor shots of Strawberry, Vanilla, Cherry, and Lemon, which are meant to be mixed into other drinks. For example, a student can make a cherry Dr. Pepper, strawberry lemonade, or even a Shirley Temple by mixing the cherry flavor and Starry together.
There are many ways for students to be creative with the new additions. Carol Weddell, a Service Crew Lead at Upper, gives lots of suggestions for students to get the most out of their meal swipes. Weddell mentions how at Oasis, a station free of the nine major allergens, she “had the curried beef over there because I didn’t feel like an Italian sub. There’s great entrees available over there. They’re made right in the station itself and you don’t have to have an allergy.” Oasis has been a little slow at grabbing students’ attention but Weddell has high hopes. “As more and more students look at the food and the menu, they’ll realize anybody can eat there.”
Weddell also loves Craft and Create and hopes students will get more creative with it. “I think it’s great. I think a lot of students aren’t quite there yet. Whether they just aren’t going over there yet or they don’t know what to do when they go over there I don’t know. What I would love to see some students do is grab the pasta from Cucina and you can bring it over there and then make chicken broccoli ziti because there’s broccoli and chicken over there. I’d love to see somebody come up with a menu.” Weddell wants a way for students to see just how much they can make at Craft and Create besides scrambled eggs and omelets.
Students might have noticed that the three-gallon scoopable ice cream by the soft serve has been missing. Novelties like popsicles and ice cream sandwiches standing as a placeholder. “It’s required that you have running water to put your ice scoops in and that vanished. They didn’t think about it when they did the renovations. So they’re gonna build a shelf and they’re gonna have the plumbing happen and we’re gonna get ice cream.”
One thing Upper staff has run into is not having enough “hands on deck,” as Raywells says. “I know it’s been a little bit harder up here with staffing. They’re closing Global and Stir Fry a lot more recently which has been kinda sad. I didn’t get my nachos the other day, which was disappointing.”
While Upper might appear to be running smoothly to students, the staff have been struggling. “It’s just a lot of work for us right now. So if anybody wants a job, we’ll hire you. But we’re getting there every day,” says Weddell. Employment in dining at RWU can be found within the dining services page on the Roger Williams University website.
Before the renovations, there was an island in the center of all the stations with deserts. That has since been moved, along with the bagels, bread, and toasters, to a new island towards the back near Global. This has provided more walking space for a better flow of traffic. “Usually dinner is our biggest rush hour, and we’ve been managing it a lot better recently than we have in the past. I feel like the lines go through a lot faster,” says Raywells.
Weddell has also noticed an improvement in foot traffic. “Things used to get jammed up over at the salad bar because the toasters were over there, and if you want to go to the grill, it used to be congested over there. Now things are spread out a little more, and it’s working very well.” To some, it might just look like a giant empty space, but during peak dinner and lunch hours, it provides more room for everyone to get what they need without running into each other.
