With 13 locations on campus and only 111 student workers employed this fall, Dartmouth Dining Services is struggling to hire students in its efforts to keep operations running smoothly. Although the numbers seem to vary from year to year with only 99 student employees in fall 2005 and 115 in fall 2006, for the past few years these have consistently stopped short of the 200 student staff members desired by DDS.
According to Kelly Mousley, DDS personnel administrator, late-night operations such as Novack Cafe, Collis Cafe and Lone Pine Tavern are understaffed.
"We certainly try to spread out student workers as much as possible, but each term it's a different area that's in need," Mousley said. "Next term it might be Homeplate and Topside."
The issue with late-night staffing arose early in the term as Novack, the first of the after-hours dining options to open each term, faced underemployment. Lone Pine opened later in the term but faced similar problems.
Mousley stated that when the number of students needed is not currently filled, DDS turns to other options, including temporary workers and high-school students. Two more full-time, benefitted employees have also joined the Collis staff this fall.
In order to cope with faltering employment numbers, DDS offers incentives to its student employees including raises, an additional 20 percent in dining dollars each term and opportunities for promotion. Furthermore, student workers can cater during interim periods and work full time during off terms for DDS.
"To boost interest, we started a new incentive program four years ago for students who join DDS within the first three weeks of the term," Mousley said. "For these three weeks, they are paid an extra dollar in addition to their base wage."
According to Erin Clark, assistant director of financial aid and former manager of Student Employment Office, students often come to her saying that they have already worked in food services throughout high school and would like to try something new in college. She said that other students have heard from their peers that different jobs around campus are less labor-intensive than working for DDS.
"Everybody wants to work at the library. I think there's a myth out there that if you work at the library, you can sit at your desk and do your homework and get paid," Clark said.
Clark added that students usually look for jobs on campus that may relate to their major or area of interest, such as science majors preferring to work in laboratories rather than food service.
"If there is a message we would like to send out, it is that by working at DDS, students really can build their resumes," Clark said. "Students can get managing positions that look really attractive on resumes."
Mousley mentioned that freshmen often express that they need the Fall term to get acclimated to Dartmouth life before taking a job. In addition, DDS tends to have more leave-term students working in the spring and winter when they are on break from classes.
"In my opinion, Fall term is always an unknown because the first-year students have to be here for a term to realize the benefits we have to offer," Mousley said. "It takes some time for us to get the message out to new students.
Mousley said she believes that the number of students employed by DDS will increase over Winter and Spring term.
While DDS has had difficulty recruiting new employees, many members of their current staff choose to continue working with them from year to year.
"I chose to work with DDS because it's a fast-paced job, there's always something to do, you get to see your friends, and it's a gateway for meeting new people," Shaniqua Jones '10 said.
