The Student Association (SA) has made efforts to give students a voice on a commonly discussed topic — dining hall food.

On Feb. 15, the SA passed a resolution creating a new committee, the Dining Services and Campus Food Committee, with the objective of finding “core issues” in Binghamton University Dining Services (BUDS). In the resolution, its authors wrote that the formation of the committee follows the finding that BU students have noticed a decrease in the quality of food and dining services over the course of the last semester. The committee will consult with community government dining committees, the Student Culinary Council and other organizations, and also compile concerns and comments from students. On or before its “penultimate” meeting, the group will report its findings to SA Congress.

Samil Levin, author of the resolution and a sophomore majoring in economics, said he will be pursuing the role of committee chair, which is decided by the SA Speaker of Congress. The committee will also consist of six other Congress representatives, also appointed by the Speaker of Congress.

Levin wrote that the committee will also include community government dining committee representatives or student organizations who have expressed interest in joining — including the Student Culinary Council, Chabad at Binghamton, Hillel at Binghamton and the Muslim Student Association.

“The committee has not yet decided a way to collect and compile complaints,” Levin said. “However, any future survey on food and dining on campus would be focused on a wide range of issues. That includes the type of food served, how long dining halls are open and the issues that plague the quality of safeness of food.”

Lori Benson, the marketing director for BUDS, said BUDS appreciates hearing student sentiment on dining services.

“[BUDS] is always excited to get feedback from students, we look forward to this group collaborating with the Student Culinary Council to bring any ideas to improve our services,” Benson said.

Avery Benzaken, a sponsor of the resolution and senior majoring in economics, expressed support for the new dining committee. He said he hoped it would result in better communication between the SA Congress and already existing committees to ensure better food quality and service on campus.

“I am always a fan of greater student involvement and students harnessing the power they have to make an impact on our campus,” Benzaken said. “So naturally, I supported this resolution.”

In regard to the permanence of the committee, Benzaken said that its longevity will be determined by how much it will accomplish this semester.

“If the committee feels they are making strides and simply needs more time, Congress will likely vote to keep it up and running for another semester. If not, then the committee will dissolve,” Benzaken said.

Ian Avery, College-in-the-Woods resident and a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said he has faced issues with dining halls, including a lack of affordable, healthy food.

“A lot of people who have later classes look to get food around 2 p.m. [to] 3 p.m., but dining hall stations appear to be out of food at that point,” Avery said. “I usually eat something I have in the fridge or laying around, as I’ve become accustomed to the dining halls having no food available at times when I can eat.”

Avery also said he has problems with the cleanliness of the dining halls, and said that he has found hair in his food on multiple occasions. He also said he has had trouble with the dining hall hours.

“The unavailability of the dining hall earlier in the semester, as well as no weekend hours for the dining hall now, puts a big strain on my campus experience,” Avery said.

Jeremy Cazes, another resident of College-in-the-Woods and a junior majoring in business administration, also said he faced issues with dining hall hours.

“The ambiguity and the inconsistency of the dining hall hours is the worst thing for me,” Cazes said. “Especially breakfast. I feel like if my suitemates didn’t look up all the hours, I would have no idea when anything was open. I also feel like the individual pricing of the food items puts more emphasis on the price of the food, and less on the health or nutritional benefits of the food.”

As the Dining Services and Campus Food Committee is a temporary committee, the group will dissolve at the end of the spring semester.