Proposal of Making A Dining Hall for the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
Executive Summary
The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, also known as Carey Business School, located in Baltimore, Maryland is one of the newest business schools in the USA. Founded in 2007, the school is yet to develop fully to accommodate all the students in a single campus (JHU #2, 2014). It has several campus locations within Baltimore, Washington, D.C. I attend my classes at its Harbor East Campus in a 24 storied high-rise building, the Legg Mason Tower. The Leg Mason Tower is the office headquarter of the asset management company, Legg Mason. Though having our classes done in an office location gives us the opportunity to interact with the business leadership from around the region, however, one of the problems we frequently encounter is the lack of education friendly infrastructure, which is available at a full-blown campus ground of a university. One of the main problems that we encounter on a daily basis is the lack of provision for a single unit dining hall exclusively for our university students. In the absence of a dining hall, we are forced to have our food at a small restaurant with the employees of Legg Mason, and as a result, we do not have any privacy of our own, not to mention the slew of other problems. This paper would discuss this issue in detail, touching upon the problems that we face regularly for not having our own dining hall, the survey results, and possible solution to the problem.
Background
The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School still being in a rudimentary stage does not have a fully integrated campus, and as a result, the MBA classes are held in several campuses, including Baltimore - Harbor East campus, the Montgomery County campus, Columbia Center Campus, and Washington, D.C. Campus on Embassy Row (JHU #1, 2014). Our classes are held at the Harbor East Campus at Legg Mason Tower, which is a spacious 24 storied office building. Apart from being the headquarter of the Legg Mason firm, the tower also houses other offices, including JMI Equity, Deutsche Bank, Hogan & Hartson LLP, McGladrey, and Oppenheimer & Co (DeGregorio, 2007). The presence of so many office branches in the building contrasts with the presence of students, who are yet to enter into the professional world. Though it is true that the location gives the advantage of getting the opportunity to mix up with the business leaders, however, the look and feel of attending classes in a college campus is not present. The problem with this arrangement is that due to the absence of an integrated college campus, we are missing out on the opportunity of having the experience exclusive to the college campus, such as the cheap provision of food in the college canteen, the benefit of mixing up with a diverse group of students of various backgrounds and culture, and engagement in different campus activities that help develop interpersonal skills, among all.
Apart from this, there is another problem that we students regularly experience. Since Legg Mason Tower is an office building, there is no special arrangement of food made keeping in mind the students. We do not have any dining hall of our own, and as a result, we are to share our meal time with the employees of Legg Mason and other companies, which are located in the building, at a small restaurant. The restaurant is not spacious at all and has limited space. Because of space crunch and other issues, we face a number of problems during the lunch and dinner time. These problems will be articulated below in more detail in the next section.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph that owing to not having any dining hall exclusive to the students of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, we need to take our food at a small restaurant along with the employees of the offices located in the Legg Mason Tower. There are a number of problems we face because of this arrangement.
Firstly, due to the lack of space in the restaurant to accommodate many people at once, we need to wait in a long queue for foods during the lunch time. Since some of the classes are scheduled right after the lunch hour, waiting in queue for a long time delays our entry in class, and sometimes, in order to make our presence in the class on time right time, we skip lunch and attend the classes in empty stomach.
Secondly, the restaurant of Legg Mason closes early within 6 p.m., as a result of which, when we have classes scheduled in the evening or when we have pending library work, we cannot get any snack or dinner. Because of this, many students attend classes without dinner or go back home, skipping studying at the library.
Thirdly, the menu offered at the Legg Mason's restaurant is of American food. It does not have any means to provide for the Asian palate. 99% students attending the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School are Chinese, and in the absence of a food menu designed specifically for the Asian students, they feel forced to consume American food daily. Therefore, it has become more than necessary to have a new dining hall that serves a variety of foods keeping the Asian food preferences in mind.
Fourthly, all the foods served at the Legg Mason's restaurant are fast food, such as burger, fries, pizza, and cold drinks. These fast foods do not have any nutritional value and vitamins. Regular intake of these junk foods is not good for our health, and it exposes us to the risk of suffering from various health-related effects of the fast food consumption, such as obesity and high blood pressure.
Fifthly, the foods available at the Legg Mason’s restaurant are high-priced. Since many of the students studying at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School are international students who either live on stipends or a small pocket money or do a part time job to make ends meet, it is not economical for them to spend unsparingly after regular meals. However, in the absence of viable food options, they feel forced to eat at the Legg Mason’s restaurant or skip lunch.
Sixthly, the restaurant being very small does not give any privacy to students. Many a time, a lot of ideas take shape over the lunch, and students also engage in important academic discussions during the lunch hour. However, since the restaurant remains crowded most of the time with employees of various organizations, the privacy under which academic discussions could take place on a lunch table is not present.
Survey Findings
In order to find out if the inconveniences being faced by a few of us is actually a common problem shared by the entire community of the John Hopkins Carey Business School at the Harbor East campus or not, I conducted a few surveys among the students. I came up with the finding that 83% students feel that it is necessary to have a dining hall exclusively for the students so that students can enjoy their privacy and discuss important academic issues over lunch. 90% students reported inconvenience at the need of waiting in a long queue for food during lunch hour on a daily basis. They also expressed their grievances at the menu arrangement, which, according to them, is inconvenient and has not been designed keeping diversity in mind. The USA being a melting pot of various cultures and ethnicities, the offering of only American food options goes against the inclusion and diversity initiatives taken at the US universities and colleges. Since the majority of the students studying at the John Hopkins Carey Business School is Chinese, the lack of foods suitable for the Asian palate is extremely uncomfortable for students.
Solutions and Recommendations
In order for the student community and the faculty members to connect with each other on a lunch table, it is important to arrange for a dining hall exclusive to the population of the John Hopkins Carey Business School. This arrangement would also prove beneficial for the overall health of the students who feel forced to consume fast food at the Legg Mason's restaurant daily. Taking into account the views of Sharon Peterson (2010) who believes that the healthy level of students consuming food in a university dining hall is 12% higher than the students of those universities without a dining hall, it is important for the John Hopkins Carey Business School to take some constructive action by arranging for a dining hall for the John Hopkins student community. My recommendations, in this matter, would be the following:
- In order to make room for a dining hall, the John Hopkins Carey Business School authority should either purchase or rent a floor in the Legg Mason Tower so that the entire student community and the faculty members can share mealtimes with each other.
- They should also make a meal plan attaching it with the tuition fees or the J-card so that it becomes easy for students to avail meal, using the J-card. This measure will save a lot of time and make the transaction process easier.
- Since the majority of the students attending the John Hopkins Carey Business School is Chinese, the school administration should include regular Chinese food and fresh salad on the menu, along with American and other foods so that the menu is suited for the diverse student demography.
- Also, arrangement for buffet should be there during the lunch hour to reduce the waiting crowd.
- The food should be priced economically so that it does not pinch a hole in the students' pockets.
- More number of vending machines should be installed in the dining hall so that students can satisfy their quick hunger by buying quick snacks, and in case if the waiting period is long and they have classes immediately after the lunch hour, they will have something to eat.
- In order to diversify the food experience, the school administration may also make provisions for the students to buy foods from the restaurants around the Legg Mason Tower. Right now, these restaurants are out of the budget for most students, but if the school administration makes some arrangement with the restaurants to give the students of John Hopkins at a discounted rate, then during the rush hour, instead of waiting in line for food at the dining hall, the students may get their lunch done in these nearby restaurants.
Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence
There is not much research available on the usefulness of the college restaurants compared to common dining areas with other communities and offices. Most of the colleges offer their own dining halls, and it is found in various studies that dining halls and cafeteria are the main place for mingling and idea sharing for students, which is important for idea generation and the overall learning experience. Owning a dining hall by colleges gives informal access to students to talk to teachers and professors (Fox News, 2012). Apart from that, colleges and universities have the flexibility to design their own menu. Many universities design their menu in such a way that helps improve the overall mental, physical and intellectual health of the students.
There is not much quantitative evidence. In fact, in recent years, there has been a trend to outsource the dining hall operation in many universities. Almost 27% of the colleges now have independent food vendors. This has decreased the cost of operation by almost 30% by the authorities (Bigger and Bigger, 2007). Food menu, even after outsourcing, is controlled by the college authorities in accordance with the health needs of students. Creating a separate dining hall for John Hopkins will create privacy for the students and control over what students are eating by the authority. Also, by allowing independent vendors, the college can reduce cost and simultaneously can increase the diversity in the menu.
Conclusion
The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School is one of the newest schools in the USA. Established in 2007, the school is still in the stage of formation, and therefore, the school does not have an integrated full-blown campus facility. The classes are held across several campuses in and around Baltimore, Washington, D.C. I take my classes at the Harbor East campus at the Legg Mason Tower, which is an office building. The problem of taking classes at the office building is that we do not have any dining hall of our own and need to share the same restaurant frequented by the employees of the Legg Mason firm and other companies. As a result, we face many inconveniences, such as long waiting line during the lunch hour, fast food and no food option for the Asian students, and so on. In the face of such difficulties, it has become more than necessary to have a dining hall exclusively built for the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School students so that we get more opportunities to interact with the faculty members over the lunch table and hold important academic discussions during the lunch hour. In order to arrange for the dining hall, the school administration should rent or purchase a floor at the Legg Mason Tower, so that the students get the opportunity to connect with their teachers over a table and do not need to face the current inconveniences that they are encountering with the current food arrangement.
References
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) #1. (2014). Campuses. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <http://carey.jhu.edu/about/campuses>
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) #2. (2014). About. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <http://carey.jhu.edu/about/>
Peterson, S. (2010). Positive changes in perceptions and selections of healthful foods for college students. J Am Coll Health. 58 (5). pp. 425-431
Fox News. (2012). Best colleges for food in America. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <Best colleges for food in America>
Bigger, A.S. and Bigger, L. B. (2007). Contract vs. In-House Staff: Finding the right source for custodial and maintenance operations. The Bulletin. 75 (3). Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <http://www.acui.org/publications/bulletin/article.aspx?issue=448&id=2298>
Molly, T. D. (2013). What Are the Variable and Fixed Costs in a Restaurant Operation?. Chron. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/variable-fixed-costs-restaurant-operation-81771.html>
Cammarota, N. (2014). How Much Food Could Be Rescued if College Dining Halls Saved Their Leftovers?. Nation Swell. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <http://nationswell.com/three-years-200000-pounds-later-food-recovery-network-still-asks-gonna-eat/>
DeGregorio, Jen (2007). City of Baltimore weighs sweetner for Legg Mason Tower. Daily Record. Retrieved on 10 Dec 2014, from <http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8982144.html>
