Mississippi State University recently received proposals from three private companies seeking to take over dining services on campus. After considering the proposals from Aramark, Sodexho and Chartwells, the university narrowed it down to the two best-suited companies for the job, Aramark and Sodexho, said Bill Broyles, assistant vice president for student affairs.
“This is a very big process we’re considering,” Broyles said. “We believe this is something Mississippi State needs to do.”
This month MSU will analyze the two finalists and pick the best company for the job at the end of the month. Then the College Board must approve the measure on Feb. 15 so the company can start its job on March 1.
The decision to choose a company to take over dining services is occurring as MSU decided to require freshmen to buy meal plans and live on campus starting in fall 2008. Although this decision seems to correlate with the privatization of dining services, it was actually made by the administration before this current development. Broyles said the requirements for freshmen were standard among other universities and will help “build community” and “students adjust.”
MSU has handled its own dining services since 1878. It remains one of two universities in the SEC that hasn’t privatized dining services yet (the University of Georgia is the other).
“About 70 to 80 percent of the universities have management services companies to do campus dining services,” Broyles said. “These companies we’re talking to are the national experts. Even though we have good dining services, we’re not going to be in their league.”
Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government, said he likes the fact that MSU is different from other universities.
“It sets us apart,” he said. “I think it would be great if MSU was the only university in the SEC that does its own food.”
Marty Wiseman said the current dining services provides “unusually good college food.”
“The quality of the food isn’t driving the decision,” Wiseman said. “It’s almost like your grandmother’s back there cooking it.”
Back when Wiseman was a student at MSU, there were two things students complained about the most: parking and cafeteria food. He said The Reflector would run many articles about the poor food.
But that has changed.
“Over time, you hear less and less complaining about the food,” said Wiseman, who has been eating at the cafeteria for the last few decades.
MSU receives a lot of praise for its cafeteria food from outside groups. Other schools have commented on the quality of the dining.
“Ole Miss looks forward to playing here so they can eat in our cafeteria,” Wiseman said.
Broyles said the idea to privatize dining services was a hard decision. However, MSU will expect improvement in food service and offerings when the company takes over.
The company that takes over will also operate the food franchises that will be on the first floor of the Union when the building reopens in fall 2007. Initially, the university wanted to buy the franchises but didn’t have the $1.2 million to do so.
“Whoever the company is will put up the capital for the franchises,” Broyles said.
The university expects the company to provide a $4 million improvement in capital for dining services. After the company buys the franchises for the Union, the remaining $2.8 million can be used for other needs, such as upgrading the kitchen or building new facilities, Broyles said.
Broyles said another stipulation from the university to the companies was that the final company must provide jobs to all current employees of dining services for a minimum of six months.
The company will also increase the rate of pay for employees by 5 percent. As far as employee benefits are concerned, the university told the companies that it expects comparable benefit plans to be offered to the employees.
Mehrzad Netadj, director of dining services at MSU, said some employees are unhappy, mostly because of uncertainty. Some of the employees have been working in dining services for 20 years, and MSU’s retirement plan specifies that for an employee to receive full benefits, he or she must work for 25 years.
A recent article in the Bulldog Beat quoted an anonymous employee who said, “There has been talk of some important people in our work community getting fired.” Broyles said no plans were set to fire anyone fitting that description. The article caused so much controversy that the administration is now planning to meet with the employees again about the future of dining services.
As of right now, the university is unsure of the benefits that employees will receive with the new company. However, an employee may decide not to work for the company and remain working for MSU, Broyles said. The employees could remain under the same retirement plan if hired for another position at MSU.
Broyles said MSU has the expectation that the company will keep the current employees of dining services for as long as the workers want the jobs.
Eddie Keith, director of the Union, said the dining services job wouldn’t look as attractive to the companies if they weren’t allowed to buy the franchises for the Union’s first floor.
Broyles said the university would have to borrow the $1.2 million for the Union franchises if a private company didn’t take over dining services.
The freshmen meal plans couldn’t be applied to the food in the Union if the companies didn’t control the franchises. Keith said freshmen would essentially have to “pay double” to eat at the Union, having already bought meal plans.
“Bottom line for us is we feel that if the [mandatory] meal plan comes to pass, we’re in a better position if the private business runs our vendors, too,” Keith said.