Session of September 17th , 2020
Minutes Recorded by: McKenzie Craycraft, Secretary
Visitors: Laura Cobb, Greg Lowry, Jonnece Writt, Lou Clendenin Dean Conn, Jonathan Edwards, Cameron Crowder, Connor Yeatman
Call to Order at 11:03 AM
Senator Avent prays
Roll Called
Approval of Minutes
Minutes approved at 11:07 AM
Officer Reports
None
Committee Reports
Senator Anderson: Budget breakdown is prepared in the club bill format and can be found in the Senate drive. I recommend that everyone looks over this this week and I will bring it up next session to vote on it.
Senator Gowing: For constitution, we met this week. We are looking at removing the minimum membership numbers on committees. We are combining the elections and constitution committees together. This will not require a two-week ratification period because it is a part of the Senate bylaws. We are discussing having quizzes.
Special Business
Nathan Moyes and Nathan Bright sworn in as senators
PPT LaQuey: Congratulations I will assign both to the elections committee. Senator Bright will go to PR&R & Senator Moyes will be assigned to the constitution committee.
Old Business
None
New Business
None
Announcements
Senator Willis: Student Senate ice cream will be at 3:30 tomorrow. We are considering carting the ice cream to specific dorm areas to invite residences to enjoy ice cream with us. Senator Gonzalez is making a survey to send out to the campus to see what time would work best for everyone.
Open Forum
VP Murphy: We have guests for from Bon Appetit here today. You all have the floor, welcome.
Guest Cobb: The assistant general manager, Charity is out because she recently had a baby. Many people have seen comments from Charity on the buzz app, that is actually me. I too used to be a student at LeTourneau and there is some confusion with my old email and forms of communication. Until mid-October I will be communicating under Charity’s name. I would like you to know Jonnece Writt she is over dietary functions. Greg Lowry is our executive chef. Our past chef has moved on to other endeavors. Greg trained Jordan and he is back to help us. Dallas and Houston pull a lot of these employees. Lou has been with us for several years. She is our catering manager. She has been over the Hive. Currently she is heading up the mobile platform, but she also directs the in-house cleaning. She also manages the shifts in the daytime. We have some more staff, Dylan, he is very kind. He runs the lunch and dinner shifts. Megan is our administrative assistant. I want you to know you can call and speak to us and speak to a chef. Please take this back to our students. There is always someone there from management at all times. All three ladies at the crew are a part of the leadership. Ms. Sissy has been with LETU for thirty hears. Haley is a part of our catering team. She is a part of the Grab and Go. Gracey is closing the Hive and she is also a lead. Our hourly staff have had to take on new rolls. We all have had our schedule changed and have had to take on a lot of rolls. Most importantly if you have a comment or concern please address it right away. If it happens the next day I cannot go back and fix it. You have gone hungry and you are probably upset about it. We are here to feed you. We are here so you don’t go hungry. You shouldn’t feel like you are going through your 4th grade lunch line. Bon Appetit is from scratch. I invite anyone to come see anything back there. There are very few things we bring in in cans. We get trucks three times a day, we get local produce. We have very high standards that we follow with Bon Appetit. We are so sad we have to do paper goods. It kills trash and is killing the earth. It is not something we want to do, but it is where we are right now. Hopefully after November we can come up with something. Bon Appetit has a commitment to no foam. We have invited LeTourneau and the staff and the health inspectors to look through our dining room to create a safe space. I would love to go back to the way things were. I would love to open it up to questions.
Senator Gowing: Having been to other cafeterias, I do not care if you are a five-star restaurant, people are going to find something to complain about. I have been to some in South Carolina and they have nothing when compared to LETU. A concern I have is on the current hours. I understand this is hard to work around. The hours for lunch are very slim. Athletes are having a difficult time getting to dinner.
Guest Cobb: The only hours that changed this year is we added Sunday dinner and took away Sunday brunch. The times are still the same, we discussed with LeTourneau about changing the hours since we don’t do chapel. They wanted it to be left the same. We have wanted to do this. Everyone likes all you can eat. Hive hours have changed drastically. The reason for this change is it hard to social distance in there. With that being said, we didn’t want to take everything away, with the Grab and Go we still have meal swipes. There are still things in the to go section that are good. We have added those bowls in mind for the athletes or those who have a tight schedule. Lunch goes until three over there. You also have dinner starting at 4:45. A lot of the athletes are picking up things that they can eat later. We have given the coaches some options. I have given them and aviation some choices.
Guest Clendenin: The mobile ordering cite has most of the issues worked out. Hopefully this has been a positive thing for you. You can take anything to go. We have bags. Before we didn’t have lids, we are also straw friendly for a minute. Hopefully you are aware of the app and we can push out more information.
Guest Cobb: I brought these handouts so you can be aware of the takeout options. We can only have 50% occupancy. They have asked the staff and facility to eat at odd times or take it back to their offices. They are trying their best to make this a better experience for you. We want to make this as normal as possible. We will jump in on different stations, I have a lot of athletes who get an extra sandwich to go. They eat it after practice. We do have people that think ahead. I have people that don’t come in at lunch and they get an extra helping that they use for lunch. The slips have some extra information on food safety. I need to make sure we are not eating bad food.
Senator Gowing: Fun fact, I have heard a lot of people not knowing they could take food to go. You may want to make sure it is well communicated.
Guest Cobb: It is on that page for you.
Guest Lowry: You have to think about your other classmates, you want to make sure everyone gets fed. This is good social time for everyone. Be aware of your other classmates. Bon Appetit doesn’t do a bunch of to go food. I have been to five or six different universities. LeTourneau has a good situation. We are going to continue to push this and get some more simple and healthy foods. Thank you for being patient. It is not fun wearing a mask in a hot kitchen, we want to continue this partnership. Thank you for representing your student body. Please pass along our message.
Senator Avent: I have a few things; I like the system with the thing with the tables that flips over. A few weeks ago, it was difficult to use the app with food allergy. I could only have chicken.
Guest Clendenin: You were one of the first groups, we were doing our best to make sure everything was gluten free. I apologies that it wasn’t everything you need.
Guest Lowry: We can also check the comments, so you can add in more information.
Guest Cobb: We have changed how ordering works on the app.
Guest Lowry: If you look at the online menu, everything has a place where you could add notes. We are here if you need something.
Senator Willis: I know we don’t have a ton of time; I want to say that anyone can speak during this time.
Senator Gowing: Please maintain a level of respect and remember they are struggling as much as you are.
Citizen Crowder: I want to thank y’all for coming. I have enjoyed the food and thank you for taking time to meet with us and listen. You have been helping us and its comforting that there is food after class.
Guest Lowry: Being as bad as COVID is, we still want to provide a memorial experience through food. Sometimes we will fail and need to try new things. We want to give y’all a special place and some food and time with friends. We are working hard to make sure you get the meals you would get at home.
Senator Dittman: I know everyone hates Styrofoam, but maybe after COVID we can continue to have to go options.
Guest Cobb: That is something we will discuss in the future. I love the idea of having to go options. Maybe we could see this kind of decision later. I will suggest this. Lord willing this will all clear up soon.
Guest Lowry: There are more environmentally friendly options. We have bowls in the Hive that are biodegradable.
Senator Anderson: Thank you all for coming. It is really neat to see this dialog. More of a point of curiosity, I was wondering if the contract was available for public to see?
Guest Cobb: Unfortunately, it is not. I do not even see it.
Citizen Gatemen: This is just a suggestion; would it be possible to have more fruit and vegetables? Could we get strawberries?
Guest Cobb: We go with whatever is in season, within the next month we will get more pears.
Chef Lowry: That is part of my next step to get more fruit.
Guest Cobb: We will get some more fruit as the time goes on.
Chef Lowry: I will start to rotate things out. You will have more options.
Guest Cobb: I just want to let you know, one the website you can comment concern and suggest recipes. We can send it to the chefs. Every time it goes off, I get back to them about it. For those who do not want to get online, there are cards at the cashier desk in Saga. I would love ones with names on them. I post them on the bulletin board even if they are bad.
PPT LaQuey: I love the clicks about pulling out the forks.
Senator Lockridge: Two things, when I was in isolation the mobile ordering worked well. There were a few issues, but I just used the comment section to clarify. Is there a way you could cancel the meals? I scheduled several out in advance.
Guest Cobb: Just let Hannah or Ryan know, or just call Saga.
Senator Lockridge: Have you considered paper plates instead of Styrofoam?
Guest Cobb: That would be a lot of the plates and many of our meals are very heavy.
VP Murphy: Out of respect for time, if you have more questions, please reach out them. I am now going to adjourn this meeting.
VP Murphy motions to adjourn.
Senator McClain seconds.
Meeting Adjourned at 11:55 AM