Carmichael Dining Hall stayed open until 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, after Dining Services reacted to students' dissatisfaction with hours of service by implementing its third permanent extension of hours this semester for an on-campus eatery.
But both the Carmichael and Dewick-MacPhie dining halls will continue to close at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays, and Carmichael will still close at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Students polled in Dining Services' fall survey indicated widespread discontent with weekend hours at dining halls, said Patti Klos, the director of Dining Services. Before last weekend's change, both Carmichael and Dewick regularly closed at 8 p.m. on Sundays and 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
"A question we ask [on the survey] every year is, 'How satisfied are you with the hours of service?'" Klos said. "And the trend over the last few years was toward 'Dissatisfied.'"
Dining Services changed Dewick's weeknight hours in the fall 2006 semester, shifting them back by one hour so that the eatery stayed open until 9 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday. This alteration remains in place, but neither hall stayed open past 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights until last weekend's adjustment.
Students living uphill should feel relieved to see their nearest dining hall staying open later, said C.J. Mourning, the chair of the Tufts Community Union Senate Services Committee. Until now, only Dewick and Hodgdon Good-to-Go, both downhill dining halls, ever stayed open past 8 p.m. "It's a good thing that Carmichael got [the late-night weekend hours] because uphill never sees later hours," she said.
In terms of potentially opening Carmichael later on Friday nights, Klos and Mourning said that this was not yet feasible. "There's still things that need to be figured out - for example, personnel and supplies in terms of food," Mourning said.
