Many students have expressed frustration with the long wait times across campus at several of the dining locations. 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and labor shortages have increased globally, especially in the food service industry. Aggie Dining has also been faced with these issues as they are understaffed across their locations. 

Campus dining services are unique for students that live on campus because they are able to utilize the services multiple times a day, whereas traditional restaurants typically do not see customers more than once per day. 

There are currently eight retail dining locations open for the spring semester along with Williams Dining Hall and The Marketplace. Chick-fil-A and Starbucks are two of the more popular options among students.

Freshman Tevion Forrest, who was waiting in the Chick-fil-A line, said the wait times are inconvenient for him, as it is difficult for him to grab a bite to eat before class. 

“I feel that more employees would help the situation since long lines are a consistent problem,” Forest said.

Shaquita Whiting, a senior, expressed similar frustration to Forrest, stating that the wait times have been long throughout her time at the university. 

“Yeah, this issue has been going on for the entirety of my time here at N.C. A&T,”  Whiting said. “Increase in workers at the locations and increased consistency will be the only way this problem gets resolved.”

Courtland Thomas, Marketing Specialist for the university was able to provide insight on ways the university is helping to alleviate the issue. 

“The Mobile ordering method has been very helpful for students to get food around campus,”  Thomas said. 

Beginning October 25th, the university launched food delivery robots in collaboration with Starship. Originally 16 robots were in use and that number has increased to 36 with the possibility of more being added as demand for delivery increases. 

Mobile ordering is another option available to students dining at Qdoba and the university is looking into adding this option at Starbucks.