MSU dining services will be taken over by Aramark Higher Education, a national food service contractor. Aramark was ranked number one in food management as evaluated by peers and industry analysts, according to aramark.com.Karen Cutler, director of communications for Aramark, said Aramark Higher Education is very excited about this partnership opportunity with MSU.
The company provides a wide range of food, facility and other support services to approximately 500 colleges and universities in the United States. Aramark offers higher education institutions a single source for the development of dining and facility management solutions, she said.
MSU is one of the last schools in the Southeastern Conference to privatize its dining services.
Director of the Colvard Student Union Eddie Keith said it is very unusual that a school still runs its own dining services and that the decision to hire a company “just made more sense.”
When the Union was built in 1964, MSU dining services ran the Union Grill, Keith said. In the 1990s, the university renovated that space and dining services subleased space to the four vendors that made up the Colvard Union.
“When we ran our own dining services, the university intended to be a landlord and we would lease space to vendors,” Keith said.
Students are going to love the new Union, which will be finished for the 2007 fall semester, he said.
“It is going to be much bigger and more architecturally consistent with the rest of the buildings around the drill field,” Keith said. “All of the commercial space will now be located on the first floor.”
In the Gaddis Hunt Commons of the new Union, new food options will be available along with some of the old favorites.
Dining outlets will include Chick-fil-A, Sbarro Italian restaurant, Starbucks, Miso Noodle and Sushi Bar and Zoca Mexican Grille. An express convenience store will also be added.
Aramark will also run food services at Perry Cafeteria, which will be renovated in the summer of 2008 and will open as the Marketplace Restaurant, according to an article on the MSU Web site. Students will have a choice between Southern cooking, Italian and vegetarian meals.
Other additions to dining services include Burger King at the Roberts Building, which will serve as a late-night option on campus; Einstein Brothers Caf at Mitchell Memorial Library; an Einstein Express in Ruby Hall; and a deli and convenience store at Hathorn Hall.
Assistant vice president for student affairs Bill Broyles could not be reached for comment.