COVID-19 guidelines are ever-changing and UCCS faculty, staff and students are forced to adapt to the challenges that come along with living in a global pandemic.
For Housing, Dining and Transportation, these services at UCCS are all collaborating to provide creative solutions to give students the best possible living and dining experience while still keeping everyone on campus safe.
On Nov. 10, Residence Life, Housing, Dining and Hospitality Services made the decision to close the Lodge dining hall in Summit Village for the rest of the semester. The Lodge was the smaller of the two dining halls that previously offered continuous dining.
The Roaring Fork in Alpine Valley is now the only dining hall open. On weekdays, the Roaring Fork is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m., lunch from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. On weekends, brunch is served from 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. and dinner is from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Robin Margolin says that they decided to close the Lodge because “the Lodge’s square footage and layout cannot safely accommodate enough customers or staff within the county’s social distancing guidelines.”
Since the Roaring Fork has more seating and kitchen space, it allows staff and students to stay socially distanced. She also says that at the Roaring Fork “the servery space allows for more menu options, thus giving students more choice. The loading dock at Roaring Fork allows us to unload trucks safely without having delivery drivers enter the building. Therefore, we can reduce contact with outside entities.”
Because the Roaring Fork is on the other side of campus from students in the Summit Village dorms, the shuttle system has been reworked to drive students directly from Summit Village to the Roaring Fork.
Jim Spice, executive director of parking and transportation, said, “One of the two shuttles servicing between Hybl Center and Centennial Hall has been reassigned to run only between the Lodge and Roaring Fork on Mondays-Fridays from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m., 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. in order to get Summit Village residents to and from Roaring Fork. The other shuttle on that route continues the entire day servicing between Hybl Center and Centennial Hall.”
Prior to the Lodge’s closing, the shuttle system did not run on weekends, but now it operates during weekend meal times. There will only be shuttle service from Summit Village to the Roaring Fork; no other stops will be available.
From now until Dec. 18, according to Spice, “shuttle service between the Lodge and Roaring Fork on weekdays will be about every 15 minutes from 6:40 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Shuttle service between the Lodge and Roaring Fork on weekends will be about every 15 minutes from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
“On Thanksgiving Day, and the day after, shuttle service between the Lodge and Roaring Fork will be available about every 15 minutes from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.,” Spice said.
Margolin explained that as far as dining next semester goes, right now no operational plans have been established yet, as the Chancellor has not announced plans for the Spring semester.