There’s something that Hannah Kelly always notices when she walks into Robertson Dining Hall on the University of Akron (UA) campus around dinnertime. Very few students are sitting alone at tables. She doesn’t see many diners wearing headphones or earbuds, and most aren’t staring at their phones.
Instead, UA students in the dining hall, affectionately known as Rob’s, are often sitting in groups. They’re laughing, talking and catching each other up on their days. It’s clear that the experience of communal dining helps foster a sense of home at UA and expands the social lives of students.
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“Rob’s is a lot less about the food and more about being surrounded by people,” said Kelly, a junior from Canfield, Ohio, who is the president of the Residence Hall Council (RHC). “It’s a community space that’s not just about nourishment.”
Dr. Melinda Grove, associate vice president for student affairs and chief housing officer, works closely with both students and Aramark, the company that manages the University’s dining services at Rob’s, Jean Hower Taber Student Union, the Polsky Building and other locations.
“We know from years of working with students that eating together is very effective as they adjust to being away from home and at a university for the first time,” she said. “It’s a huge component of community development and helping people feel like they belong.”
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Grove said there is plenty of research that connects student satisfaction and sense of belonging to on-campus living and communal dining. One of the reasons UA offers free meal plans to Resident Assistants, known as RAs, is so they can take students to Rob’s or other dining spots to make sure they’re eating, meeting new people and taking care of themselves.
The food is, of course, very important to students. Aramark develops menus that offer a wide range of comfort food, healthy choices and options for those who want specialized meals, such as gluten-free or vegetarian/vegan. Recent options at Rob’s have included beef goulash, a kimchi fried rice bowl, butter chicken and a buffalo chicken taco.
“There’s consistency, but the menus change enough so that I don’t think we get bored,” Kelly said.
Aramark also designs specialty menus to highlight the cuisine of a particular nation or ethnicity and offers holiday-themed menus. Grove said UA staff review the menus in advance.
For the past nine years, Dining Services has hosted Robsgiving. This event has turned into a sort of new tradition for students and notable UA faculty and staff members are often invited to carve turkeys — UA President Gary L. Miller and other administrators have worked the event in past years.
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“Robsgiving is a big deal for students,” said Kelly, who is a double major in business data analytics and economics. “You make a game plan for it, get together a group of friends, claim a table, and go back and do different rounds of food. It’s a shared experience.”
RHC and Aramark collaborate on study breaks during finals weeks. Students enjoy late-night desserts or sweet breakfast options and the opportunity to take a few minutes away from studying to socialize.
Kelly said RHC and Aramark welcome student feedback and has seen herself what happens when students submit their ideas. Students have expressed, for example, an interest in more fun treat options at the campus Union Market. A few weeks later, students noticed that new desserts were available in the refrigerator for purchase.
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“They care about our experience and what we’re getting out of it,” Kelly said. “Feedback is meaningful when it comes from students.
Story by Jessica Whitehill