Student Dining Council

Students' voice for campus dining

We, the Student Dining Council, are a team of students who work closely with Auxiliary Services and Bearcat Dining to ensure that student perspectives help shape the campus dining experience. We gather feedback from students and collaborate with campus partners to be responsive to the ways students want to eat, dine, and engage with food on campus.

A key focus of the Student Dining Council is providing student input on meal plans and dining options. We also work with Auxiliary Services and Bearcat Dining on food offerings, food safety, sustainability, and the availability of healthy and diverse choices. As preferences and needs continue to evolve, we strive to bring those perspectives forward and help create a dining experience that reflects the campus community.

How to get involved?

Attend a meeting
We love to hear new ideas and invite any student to stop by our monthly open meetings during the fall and spring semesters. Meetings are held in the Culinary MakerSpace on the ground floor of the Hinman Dining Center.

*If you would like to attend one of our weekly meetings, email sdc@binghamton.edu to let us know you are planning to attend.

Our efforts focus on:

• Residential dining: We implement suggestions that bring improvement to our dining halls by working with the chefs and kitchen staff directly.
• Retail dining: We work directly with administration and students to find improvements or additions to all retail dining facilities including the Marketplace, campus cafés, satellite dining locations, food trucks, and so much more.
• Nutrition: We support our dietitians on campus to gain student feedback about healthier and more sustainable food offerings to better accommodate dietary needs of students.
• Environmental and social responsibility: We ensure the environmental impacts of food purchasing decisions are thoughtfully considered and verify we are doing the best we can to create a sustainable campus. Limiting food waste and encouraging food recovery are also initiatives we are involved with. 

Student Dining Council notable projects:

• Sustainable reusable container recovery program

• Updating and educating campus on food safety policies on campus in collaboration with Bearcat Dining ensuring safer food practices on campus
• Teaming up with OCCT to fund free busing to Binghamton’s local farmer’s market
• Working with Auxiliary Services and Bearcat Dining to expand Nite Owl dining options
• Hosting events to highlight new food concepts and gather student feedback
• Collect student feedback, to make updates to menu items, station offerings and operational hours in resident dining