By Dennis O’Neil
It’s a little past noon on a weekday and the line for Wendy’s on the first level of the Student Activities Center reaches Outtakes food services, nearly 75 feet away. A student anxiously checks his watch, he has class at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the group behind him is looking for an empty table, but there isn’t one in sight. These students aren’t thinking about the university’s food service provider, but the administration is. In the future there could be dramatic changes in the dining areas on campus – or there may not be any.The contract for Chartwells Dining Service, the food services provider for the University of Louisville, is up for renewal in August of this year. The contract is currently under review by the university.
“We try to stay in a constant state of review with all of our contracts and we are evaluating Chartwells the way that we do all of our service providers, looking at the quality of their performance as much as possible,” Risk Management Director Sonny Altman said.
Though the university cannot disclose its intentions regarding the Chartwells contract, both Altman and Mitchell Payne, Associate Vice President of Business Affairs, expressed satisfaction with the relationship they have developed with the food service provider.
“We share a responsibility and mutual interest,” Payne said. “Even if things are dictated to them, we try to sit down with them and figure out a strategic plan for reaching a specific end result.”
Food service remains a hot button issue with the student body, with some students expressing both dissatisfaction and appreciation toward Chartwells service.
“Recent improvements have only been made in the face of an expiring contract,” junior Andrew Murphy, a political science and psychology double major, said of Chartwells. “A food service provider should offer variety in both price and offerings.”
“I feel that Chartwells tries very hard to please students,” said Chynna Hibbits, a sophomore sports administration major. “Until the state allows the school to build a new facility, we are kind of stuck with what we have, and that isn’t Chartwells’ fault.”
Dining Services Director Melissa Pompa also pointed to a lack of space as a hindrance to food service expansion on campus. However, she also feels that some students may be unaware of improvements made to campus food service over the past year, mentioning the power breakfast offered weekdays in the Halftime Grille and the all-you-can-eat dinner at the Cardinal’s Nest as examples.
“I’m encouraged by the fact that there has still been some growth even though we can’t add more options,” Pompa said. “It is important that students know food service is constantly evolving on campus. It isn’t set in stone and [students] can have a voice in it.”
Pompa is referring to the Food Advisory Board, where both the university and Chartwells receive feedback from faculty, staff, and students about campus food service. Lauren Watkins, a sophomore exercise science major, said that being on the board helps her to better understand campus food service.
“I don’t think contracting another food service provider would change things that much,” Watkins said. “There isn’t much money in putting more food options on campus, simply because there aren’t enough people who live on campus who will buy it.”
However, “It is difficult when you live on campus to only see the same food options everyday,” Pompa said. But she contends that the quality of the food offered is more important than the variety of options.
Murphy said one way to combat the lack of variety on campus is to hire more than one food service provider. He said he feels the university should not allow Chartwells a monopoly, and that competition could solve food service complaints.
According to Altman, the university has worked with multiple providers before, but that it caused problems regarding resident meal plans, citing the Baskin Robbins that was formerly on the bottom floor of the Student Activities Center as an example.
“Having all of the food service locations under the Chartwells umbrella means residents can use their meal plan cards at each location,” Altman said. “Working with different companies can cause problems in that regard.”
Altman added that, in light of the recent budget squeeze and the lack of space on campus, the likelihood of a new food service option on campus in the near future is low.
“We have a lot of ideas floating around, but nothing that we are going to be able to put together very soon,” Altman said. “Despite this, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our food services in the space that is available to us and with the input that students give us.”
