Weathering the storm
A snow day for many, but not all
By Lauren Searson, staff writer
Posted on February 19, 2007

The university closure Wednesday gave students and faculty a day off, but there was a group of individuals who knew they would be on campus despite the icy conditions.  

Dining Services employees help keep D-hall, Festival, PC Dukes and Mr. Chips operating on days JMU is closed.

“On a normal inclement weather day, we require approximately 100 employees and managers to operate our dining facilities,” Resident District Manager Stephanie Hoshower said.

Diane Seemiller, a Dining Services employee for almost 15 years, is one such individual.

The Mrs. Green’s employee and Mt. Jackson resident is one of the employees for whom Dining Services provides a room at the Days Inn off of Port Republic Road the night before a closing, so they are in closer proximity to campus.  Those working the night shift are also provided rooms to avoid traveling home in bad conditions.  Employees staying at the hotel are also transported to campus by police in the morning.

“There were about 25 rooms used this past week and most of them were filled with staff from different locations,” Seemiller said.

Rooms were provided for employees last Monday night, although JMU remained open Tuesday.

While smaller operations are closed, the 100-or-so employees are then distributed to an open dining hall in which they would work best. There are also student employees that work on these particular days.

According to Assistant Food Service Director Janet Worley, Madison Grill also remained open Wednesday due to the roughly 250 people that attended the annual Valentine’s Day dinner, most of which had already made reservations.

As compensation for working closures, state employees are paid two days of comp time.

Worley said: “I hear comments from students saying they’re glad the dining halls are open and they still have all the food they would usually offer.”

Worley has also seen the appreciation for Dining Services among employees who have had housing set up for them.

“There is no job I’ve had in which an employer would do that for me,” Seemiller said.

According to Hoshower, more than 5,000 students and other essential personnel will be served during a typical meal.

As a sophomore living in Chesapeake Hall, sophomore Rachel Stevenson has become familiar with the employees at Festival. 

“I greatly appreciate them coming into work while everyone’s sleeping in and enjoying the day off,” Stevenson said. “It’s something few think about, but it certainly affects them.”

Seemiller had an incident in which flooding caused power outages in the dining hall and the employees put out any food possible, such as peanut butter and jelly and cold cuts.

“The main thing is teamwork,” Worley said. “We want to provide a sense of community for students and make sure they are fed.”

Freshman Allison Galway is a student who is torn about bringing employees to campus. 

“There should be a general concern about these workers’ safety because their lives and services are just as important as anyone else’s,” Galway said.

Seemiller, summing up the reasons as to why she and other employees keep dining halls open, said, “The students come first.”