You may have noticed recently the lack of snack vending machines anywhere on both the Yuba and Sutter Campuses. In a tutoring session at the Sutter Center students brought up the issue of being hungry before and during classes because they had all mysteriously disappeared.
Teresa Aronson, our Public Events Technician, says, “ We are in the process of switching them out. Our former company was alcking in customer service and students weren’t getting their items.” They were even refusing or dragging their feet on reimbursment for refunds Aronson had already paid out.
Coca Cola approached the college and offered a better more responsive customer service contract that even included a slush fund for Aronson to pay out refunds.
The vending machines on campus provide a portion of the proceeds to the Student Government. So when Coca Cola also offered a better deal on how much was given back to the students it was decided that the move would be made.
In an email from Aronson she outlined what the changes will be.
The new contract with Coca Cola includes:
4-hour response time to fix machines that are not operating
Add additional machines to campus, providing students more options for product outside of Campus Center.
Add in healthier food choices to students that are isolated in locations like Bldg 2100 (re: cans of tuna and crackers versus candy)
Change in vending machine product will be continuous based on needs of our students.
Provide funds in the Public Events office to reimburse students who do not receive product
Coke gives higher monthly proceeds to the Associated Students (overall increase from our last vendor).
At this point Coca Cola has installed a few drink machines around campus with the eventual intent being to have 10 at Yuba and 2 at Sutter. The rest of these machines will be installed by Wednesday March 14, 2018.
“The food machines will be another company,” Aronson says. They are slightly delayed because of the desire to provide healthier options for snacks for our students; the company is building the machines to better serve our needs.
At Sutter Center for example the campus is fairly isolated especially for those without a vehicle so having a healthy snack option between for example math tutoring and math class and especially in the evenings when many students come straight from work is essential.
Eventually there will be 4 snack machines on the main campus and 1 or 2 at Sutter. While we students will have to plan a little more for snacks for now, Aronson says they expect to have the snack machines up and operational no later than the week before spring break, March 23, 2018. Until then come prepared with snacks to fuel your brain and body while on campus.
I hold both an AS in Social and Behavioral Sciences and an AA in English from Yuba College. I have been on the editorial board of Flumes, literary arts journal, and contribute to the publication of The Western Farm Worker. No one knows what the future holds!
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