New Fall Semester with New Dining Hall Hours

MSU Culinary Services has adjusted dining hall hours across campus for the Fall 2022 semester to facilitate the maximum possible operating hours while also grappling with staffing shortages that have popped up around Bozeman and the county. For the past two years, Miller Dining Commons and Rendezvous Dining Pavilion were operating from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Sunday with COVID-19 restrictions in place. While the plexiglass has been taken away and the dining hall no longer operates on a to-go system, the Rendezvous and Miller dining halls are returning to their pre-COVID-19 states, except for their operating hours.

Despite the removal of health precautions, the dining halls face the new problem plaguing Bozeman: a lack of employees.  Before COVID-19, Miller Dining Commons had Late Night Bites and was open until 10 p.m. According to Kosevich, students have been requesting a return to these late-night hours. “This year, in order to accommodate that request, we changed some of the hours. So, Miller is now open ‘till 8:30 p.m. and Rendezvous closes at two o'clock,” Kosevich said. “Because of staffing, in order to make that change, we had to adjust some schedules and make some changes.”

With these changes in place, Miller Dining Commons is open 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed Saturdays and open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. Rendezvous Dining Pavilion is open 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and is closed Sundays.

 “Staffing has been a big issue, but I can say that we have had some good luck so far hiring some full timers,” Kosevich said. “We're getting students to come in and work also. I don't know the timeline, but there is a plan to add things back in as we get more staff for sure.”

So, while students’ pleas for 10 p.m. cereal runs have not been achieved, Culinary Services acknowledges the requests and is making an effort to hire more staff to accommodate the desire for later hours.

Culinary Services is looking to hire in all positions and increased student wages to $16-18 an hour, Kosevich said. To learn more about job opportunities within Culinary Services visit www.montana.edu/culinaryservices/workwithus.html.