Students at the Downtown Education Center were surprised to learn at the start of the semester that the Downtown bookstore and cafeteria had been shut down. With little notice, they had to seek other means to acquire their textbooks as well as a hot lunch.
Terrie Thorstad, the college’s auxiliary services director, said both services were losing money at the Downtown location and there was no option remaining but to close them.
“I began my role in Auxiliary Services in 2011. After reviewing sales it became apparent that we needed to make changes at DTEC,” she said.
The cafeteria alone lost more than $94,000 for the 2012 fiscal year, Thorstad said.
“We began meeting with DTEC staff to try and improve service and increase sales,” Thorstad explained. The menu and the hours of operation were modified resulting in improved sales, but DTEC still bled out $84,000 worth of deficit in the 2013 fiscal year.
Thorstad said that the recommendation to close the DTEC cafeteria was based on operating losses and an anticipated decrease in enrollment. This prediction was realized this semester as DTEC saw a 30 percent decrease in student numbers.
Yet, according to interim campus manager Kathleen Paris, the college is working to provide options for Downtown campus students.
“The good news is that we are working with a program called Business Enterprise Services for the visually impaired to get a small coffee shop here at DTEC,” Paris said. “I’m feeling very positive that it’s going to happen.”
Likewise, the Downtown Bookstore was costing the college an increasing amount of money each year.
The fiscal year 2013 saw a loss of $38,153 in revenue. The recommendation to close the bookstore was also based on a new model for book sales that has already been in use at the college’s regional campuses.
Although the bookstore may be gone, clerical assistant Don Wesolowski is doing an amazing job helping students get the textbooks they need.
Wesolowski uses a PC workstation located in the DTEC store to place book orders for students.
“They can either pay for shipping and have books sent to their home, or have them sent to any campus,” he said. Students have the option to prepay or pay when they pick up.
Wesolowski speculated that the closing of the bookstore was an attempt to streamline the ordering process. The Downtown store still offers students the option to buy bus passes, supplies and print cards.
The decision may make sense fiscally, but Downtown students have yet to understand the cause of the closures and feel they are being left behind, especially when compared with the resources at the Truax campus.
“Truax has a lot of cafeteria options,” said Sarah Sausen, a student at the college. “Why are they cutting the budget here?”
Josephine Allen is a student as well at DTEC. She said she is not looking forward to this winter when she must venture off campus in the snow and ice to get coffee and food between classes. However, she said there is one bright point that remains.
“At least there are working microwaves,” referring to what remains of the old dining facility.
Madison College administrators understand that many students do not have time in between classes to journey off campus to get a meal. The school has made an agreement with FIBS (Fine Italian Beef and Sausage) and Blowin’ Smoke to place food carts on the corner of Carroll and Dayton streets. The carts’ menus offer lunch or dinner options and only accept cash.