Students' Relationship with Dining Halls

               This week I decided to do a survey of students on campus about what they think of campus dining at UK. I polled them on a number of things such as how many times a week they go to certain places on campus, what they think needs improvement, and whether or not they agree with the University’s decision to outsource the food services. One of the major topics of this survey was the major dining halls on campus.

               The first question I asked was on average how many times a week do you go to the two large dining halls on campus, Blazer and Commons. I found that the majority of the students go less than three times a week. Then 26% of students eat there only four times a week. It turned out that was a very small number of students that eat in these dining halls more than 6 times a week.

               To go along with this question I asked them if they liked the food they serve at these dining halls. A surprising 81% said that they did like the food.  I was pretty surprised that with the things you hear about college food that only 19% said they disliked it.

               Then I proceeded with what the student thought should be improved with Blazer and Commons. The majority of students wanted better quality of food, which is expected of college students but sadly not expected of college food. There were also many who would like more variety in their meals. Other concerns included cleanliness, healthier foods, and to be more allergy friendly.

               Overall I think the results were pretty accurate. Although my sample size was a tad small at only 23 students, I think it reflected a variety of types of students. I also wasn’t expecting to have that many students who went less than 3 times a week, but I obviously didn’t consider the off-campus students. It might have been better to poll only on-campus students.