Following a quick introduction, Dr. King highlighted the success of the new ‘create-your-own’ station in Upper Commons. He not only noted that it was a huge success, but also emphasized that the university has more plans for the station in the future. 

King hopes that the space can be used for future academic classes; both semester-long classes that students will be able to register for, and a series of cooking lessons and demonstrations.

The discussion about student dining worked as a seamless transition into questions about the cuts made to multiple retail locations around campus. Dr. King explains that since the Class of 2028 was smaller than expected, the school is currently finding it difficult to balance their budget. He says, “As you folks are aware, we had fewer than the number of students we wanted last year in the entry class, which continues to impact us from a revenue perspective. That is a four-year issue, not a one-year issue, right? Because while we did well this year, the incoming first-year class did not make up for that loss enough our numbers up. We still miss the revenue from those [sophomore] students. “

King explained that the budget will continue to be tight until the 2028 class graduates. The university faces financial hardships not only from a relatively small sophomore class but also from rising food and labor costs.. In addition the Rhode Island minimum wage is also increasing by one dollar this January, and another one dollar in January 2027, which increases the school’s cost for labor in student employment and dining.  King stresses that these minimum wage increases weren’t expected when the university did their annual budgeting last October, but now cuts have to be made. 

In response, King, on behalf of his staff, apologized for the lack of communication. Senator Avery noted that most of the campus athletes utilized the Hawks Nest in order to grab a bite to eat before they had to go to practice or lunch, and following those cuts, they don’t have access to that anymore. King suggested that the university will look into a possible solution of keeping the Law School bistro open at crucial hours to provide food for athletes, but emphasized that the decision was made because food and labor hours are not being covered by the revenue that’s coming in. 

Senator Dante proposed that, because of the cuts to Cafe Express in the College of Arts and Sciences, and with the reduced hours of Lower Commons and Starbucks, there could be a possibility of opening up the Hawks Nest for reduced hours. This might create more demand for specifically Hawks Nest than last year when the other four dining options were open at the same time. Dante’s proposal was supported by both WQRI chair Chad and MSU chair Blessed. King again stressed that it’s simply a financial risk the university isn’t comfortable making at this time. Senator Dante also presented a rebuttal to the current plan of opening the Hawks Nest only for sporting events and open houses, as he and a handful of other senators believe that keeping the nest open for open houses creates a false impression of what could be expected when students apply to RWU. 

King also mentioned that there were possible plans to move the Hawks Nest smoothie operation, one of the specialized operations at the Hawks Nest, to another location on campus, and asked the senators if there were any suggestions. Senators proposed both the Law School bistro, Lower Commons, and Starbucks in Global Heritage Hall.  

The conversation then shifted to the schoolwide change to the JustIN mobile app.  Both Dr. King and Associate Dean of Students Carol Sacchetti explained that the system operating the physical ID locks was getting updated less and less frequently until this summer because the system was being phased out by Johnson Controls. Over the summer, the whole system, being as outdated as it was, was about to crash. The university’s administration then decided to pull the plug on the system and attempt to hard launch the new mobile app system, and hopefully work out any kinks through the fall semester. King explained that not only is this new system more stable, but the app is also much safer, seeing as the digital key is both connected to students’ cellphone numbers and refreshed frequently. 

Although Dr.King asserted that the change went smoothly with no complaints from Public Safety, some senators (most of whom are also Residence Assistants) shared that their experience was not as smooth. Over the last two weeks, RAs have had to deal with multiple students being locked out of their dorms because their phones are dead and are unable to get in or even call for help. 

In response, Dr.King said, “I think the message that we all need to learn is to make sure that we keep our phones charged. That’s really the key message, which I think students do a very good job of.”

To coincide with the new mobile app, King talked about the new charging station in North Campus Residence Hall that features charging cords for every type of phone. Following complaints about the fact that the building locks for non-residents at 10:00 PM, King assured senators that the university will talk about plans to build new charging stations in buildings that are open 24/7, like the Center for Student Development and GHH, as the stations themselves are very inexpensive to install. King then closed the topic by explaining that although he knows a little bit about the new app, next week’s student senate speaker, Associate Vice President for Student life Derick Zuckerman, will lead the project and will be able to explain the issue in much more detail. 

To conclude the meeting, Dr. King announced that he will be retiring from his position at the end of the year. He said that he wanted to give the university a year’s heads up, and he will continue to be the student senate’s liaison to the university’s administration. 

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