Students looking for employment are virtually guaranteed a spot in MSU Culinary Services, Berry said. 

"If you are a student and you want to work on campus, we have a job for you in one of our dining halls," she said.

Political theory and constitutional democracy senior Kade Katrak, who works in South Neighborhood cafeterias, was one of seven employees working in South Pointe at Case Hall the night of the football game against Furman.

"They had me making pizzas," Katrak said. "I'd never made pizzas before. I doubt we were doing as well as a full staff of trained people."

Some dining halls have had to temporarily close stations because there aren't enough employees to keep them open.

"Staffing shortages create challenges in environments like ours, where we need several employees at each venue to properly serve our customers," Berry said.

The shortage has been advertised in dining halls throughout campus to garner new staff.

"Five days a week I get an email asking for my help in one of the cafeterias," environmental engineering senior Sydney Baade said.

In previous semesters, working in the dining halls has been a low-stress on-campus job, Katrak and Baade said, but now the job leaves little time to rest.

"I end up not having a lot of time to rest — I'm serving my whole shift," Baade said. "It can be stressful."

Culinary Services has increased the starting wage for dining hall employees to $9.50 per hour to encourage students to apply, Berry said.

As to why students are avoiding cafeteria jobs this semester, student employees and Culinary Services staff are at a loss.

"The cafeteria jobs are fine — it's a nice blend of people, of ages, races, socioeconomic status," Katrak said. "It's a nice mixing of different types of people."

When the dining halls are adequately staffed, Baade said, "It's a really great work environment."