By: Tracy Hudson, Metro Campus Editor-in-Chief
A college cafeteria serves many purposes beyond just providing food. It is a strong source to improve student retention. It provides a place for students to eat, study, socialize and to become accustomed to college life.
The Metro Express food service area does not receive a passing grade; it leaves nothing to be desired.
There is not a seating area inside of Metro Express. There is a limited amount of seating accessible outside of the food service in a narrow hallway. There are nine tables that seats approximately five per table. The number of students on campus requires more seating than what is available.
The food choices at Metro Express is limited. Majority of the food is pre-cooked and there is not a variety of food to choose from. What you see is what you get.
“It’s too hard to study your school work due to the fact that it’s too noisy,” says Tri-C student Alaina Bradley. “I feel they could have put the cafeteria in another location and left that area as a study area or a quiet place where you can relax before or after your classes. The area is way too small for people to gather for whatever reason.”
“There has been an increase of stealing at the C-Store which is located next to Metro Express,” explained an anonymous faculty member. “With so many people within a congested space, the noise level is extremely loud.
There’s unruly behavior which has led to excessive fighting.”
Ramone Wilkins, Tri-C student stated, “It’s not a good space to have a food service area for a number of reasons. There is a C-Store, bookstore, and now Metro Express in the corridor which brings a lot of people together in a small area. During lunch hours, it’s too noisy and crowed. In the winter, it’s going to be extremely cold because of the traffic that will be coming and going out of the door that’s adjacent to Metro Express.”
Metro Express could not have been designed with student retention in mind because there is not enough space for students to come together to study while having lunch in a productive atmosphere.
Once students leave the campus to get something to eat because there is no space in the seating area, some are less likely to come back on time, to study or return at all on any given day.