Three community presentations have been planned to share with students the possible future of dining services on campus.
On Thursday, Feb. 18, students can listen to the recommendations from Aramark and provide their input at 3 p.m. in the Ottawa East Multipurpose Room.
Another session will take place Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Student Union South Lounge, and the final presentation is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 19, at noon during the Student Advisory Board meeting in Student Union Room 2591.
Last fall semester, UT partnered with Aramark on a comprehensive, strategic process designed to develop a blueprint for the future of the dining program at the University.
Key information regarding campus demographics, academic class schedules, enrollment projections, short- and long-term renovation plans, on-campus housing statistics, and other relevant data were studied.
Interviews were conducted with 29 key administrators and student organization representatives to understand the perceptions and attitudes about dining services on campus. In addition, more than 500 students, faculty and staff participated in a survey to determine overall performance ratings on various attributes of the dining program, and a traffic analysis was completed to determine areas that need relief.
The dining services strategic plan is an ongoing process, but Aramark’s recommendations include putting a small grab-and-go snack counter in the new Savage & Associates Complex, replacing KFC in the Student Union with Chick-fil-A or Raising Cane’s, and adding a venue in this same space that would change for breakfast and lunch.
Aramark also recommended installing a Java City Café in the Memorial Field House to offer students, faculty and staff another place to order specialty drinks and grab-and-go snacks.
