Starting Saturday, all dining centers will be closed until March 22, as well as the majority of campus cafes and convenient stores.

Students planning to stay in the dorms during Spring Break will have limited options when looking at on-campus dining. Dining services will be closed for the most part throughout the week, meaning students may have to find food off campus.

Bookends Cafe, located within Parks Library, will be open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The MU Market & Cafe will be open during most of break, with varying hours. Students can use Dining Dollars to purchase things such as wraps, sandwiches and salads at either location.

“It would be better to have meal bundles on campus instead of having to spend money from my wallet,” said Yagiz Akkoc, non-degree student. “I’ll probably just get food on Welch or somewhere on Lincoln Way.”

Though dining centers will not be open to students, some employees will still be working to make sure the dining centers are in good condition when students return.

“It’s pretty quiet here during that week,” said Brittney Rutherford, campus dining services marketing coordinator. “A lot of the time, the dining centers shut down and their staff focuses on training and cleaning and different things.”

Dining services and the Department of Residence use the time when campus is less crowded to do some of the work that can’t be done year-round.

“We actually take that break as an opportunity to do a lot of maintenance and other things that just aren’t possible when the students are around,” said communication specialist Kent Davis. “Even though a lot of [dining centers] are closed, we’ll stay busy.”

Davis said that while Spring Break is typically viewed as a getaway for students, many faculty members use the break to their own advantage as well.

“A lot of [dining employees] actually take their summer vacations now,” said Davis. “Summer’s always busy with conferences and stuff like that.”

Parks Library, Lied Recreation Athletic Center and State Gym will all be open with varying hours as well. For more information on menu items or more specific hours, students can visit www.dining.iastate.edu or www.recservices.iastate.edu.