Tackling Problems with Campus Dining

               In an article by Sonya Stinson titled “Moneymaking Meals” she gave examples of different success stories in campus dining from across the country. Most of these universities had a problem within campus dining had to change or else they were going to keep losing money. The solutions they came up with are great for these situations and are great ideas, but you have to be careful because what works at other colleges might not work on other campuses.

               The University of Pennsylvania did a complete overhaul on their biggest dining hall in 2012. As a result they received revenue increases from 3 percent to 48 percent at various restaurants within this facility. They also redid an old coffee shop located in their college of business to make Joe’s Café, which is now a very popular place on campus. They did some amazing things with their dining program but not without the help of Bon Appetit Management Company, the company in charge of dining at UPenn.

               At Mercyhurst University, also in Pennsylvania, they had a problem with students going off campus to eat just because it was closer than the dining halls. The Company that ran the dining services then decided to buy a food truck and run it at night around that side of campus. It helped the university keep the students’ business as well as providing a healthier option than fast food seeing as nothing served at the food truck is fried.

               Of the seven universities in this article, all seven’s dining programs consult with or outsource their dining operations through a private enterprise. This makes me wonder if the article was a bit biased to outsourcing as a solution since it’s almost like an underlying theme throughout the story. It wasn’t biased towards one company either they mentioned 9 different companies including Aramark, Chartwells, and even Subway. Either way, it supplied some great incentives for outsourcing even though it didn’t say it outright.

Stinson, Sonya. "Moneymaking Meal$." University Business 16.3 (2013): 35-38. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Oct. 2014.

The Outsourcing Option on Campuses Everywhere

               An article EduExec, a publication for executives in education systems, addressed the issue of outsourcing. Even though it was written in 2005 and today’s outsourcing methods have probably changed, I think it held some valuable advice for other universities. It didn’t approach it from a certain stance as for outsourcing or against outsourcing, but rather to point out the benefits and drawbacks. They interviewed Margaret Plympton from Lehigh University; she is the vice President for financial and administration. She has a lot of experience with outsourcing, seeing as how Lehigh has been outsourcing its food service for the past 62 years.

               First off, she points out that there are certain things that a university is specifically good at. These things should not be looked at to outsource; it is much easier and beneficial to the school to manage the task internally. In many cases it is these tasks that define the university. For example, if education and research is outsourced, it is no longer much of a university. Even a decision to just outsource food services in a college that prides itself on its students’ environment could cause opposition.

               She also brings up that management is much easier to find when outsourcing. Once an employee reaches the top of their department or service they are much more likely to search for other jobs than to stay. In bigger companies they are in control of the staff and management is their problem.

               Lastly she brings up the point that outsourcing might not be as beneficial as the university might think. The company’s goals are not to sell their product at affordable prices or to improve the student’s experience, but instead to boost profit margins to attract investors. Taxes are also an issue that will boost a company’s prices, while university owned bookstores wouldn’t have to deal with this.

               These are some very good points brought up by a veteran in the field of college economics. I hope that the University of Kentucky weighed these options when deciding to outsource our food service. I guess we’ll find out over the next several years if this was a beneficial decision.


"Is Outsourcing An Option?: Lessons From Lehigh University." Edutech Report 21.9 (2005): 1-6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Where'd All the Food Go?

               Say you’re studying for a tough exam that’s coming up in of your harder classes. You study most of the afternoon and into the evening. Somewhere in all that studying you just happened to lose track of time. Then you realize that it’s 9 o’clock, and you’re really hungry by this point. Too bad, unless you have some money and time to spend you’re not getting any food tonight.

               That’s right Blazer closed at 8 each night, so it looks like that all you can eat buffet is out of the question. I’ve actually talked with one of my friends who works at Blazer, and he says that they are really understaffed most of the time. This might be a big reason of why they aren’t really open that late.

               But wait what about the Student Center. Nope, all the restaurants within the Student Center also close at 8. They are usually all packed up by 8 so don’t even try to sneak in there at 8:05 for a bite to eat. South campus has both Ovid’s and K-Lair which are both open late, so north campus has to have something, right? Wrong.

               The only places to grab a late night bite on north campus are the restaurants located about a block west of Champion’s Court. Even some of these restaurants close pretty early on weekdays. These restaurants are nice, but they don’t accept meal swipe or flex.

               So as you can see this is kind of a big issue for college students. The solutions is pretty simple though, either open Blazer or the Student Center later, or just build a new café/restaurant with later hours. I’m sure if students bring up this problem enough then Aramark or the school would have to do something; I mean just think of the profits they could be getting being the only restaurant open late.

http://uky.campusdish.com/Locations.aspx

Following Suit

I found a pretty good article today on outsourcing college dining when I was at the library today. It was discussing the views on a deal that Texas A&M made in 2012 with a company called compass that was based out of North Carolina. Their situation was very similar to what the University of Kentucky is going through with Aramark.

               The article explained that much of the initial protest came from the staff that was currently employed by Texas A&M. Many employees worried that they might not be hired by this new company or whether or not their benefits would be the same. So therefore in the contract struck with Compass one of their big points was that 100% of the university’s staff would be hired. This quieted most opposition to the deal. This is very similar to what happened at UK; the university made sure that its current employees were given jobs and taken care of.

               The other negative that was brought up was whether or not the students would be supplied for in this deal. When the company started its operations that fall, students noticed much more variety and quality of food. On the other hand the prices of food went up, and according to the contract Compass had the right to raise meal plan prices by 3% each year for the 10 year contract. Because I’m a freshman this year, I haven’t been able to notice a change in the food at UK. In Aramark’s first year under this new contract they actually lowered the price of meal plans.

               Texas A&M was one of the first universities to hand over their dining services to a private company, but it sure wasn’t the last. Now nearly two years later the University of Kentucky is jumping on the bandwagon and is actually benefiting even more than Texas A&M did in its first year.

Mogilyanskaya, Alina. "An Outsourcing Deal As Big As Texas May Have Even Wider Appeal." Chronicle Of Higher Education 59.17 (2012): 25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Fusion of Freshness and Flavor

               So I thought that I would try something new this week. There’s a small place called Fusion located on the second floor of Erikson Hall that looked like it was pretty good.         

               Sadly I decided to go right after I got out of class so the first thing I saw was the massive line that stretched more than half-way down the hallway. In case you didn’t know it’s not the best idea to eat on campus right after class gets out, because everyone who also just got out of class is thinking the exact same thing. The lines are usually shorter in the 20 minutes or so in the middle of the hour. This of course doesn’t work for all campus eats, for example Ovid’s café seems likes it’s packed when it opens and closes each and every day.

               After waiting some time to get to see exactly what they offered at Fusion, I got to see that their menu contained some obscure foods and also some normal lunch items as well. They had various sandwiches and wraps, pizza, and even quesadillas. Then I saw they had daily specials that were a little unusual; they had sour bamboo soup and even curry. They seemed to have a large variety of food that spanned many nationalities. They also offer a great Wildcat Deal at Fusion. You can get an entrée and two with your meal swipe. This is great when trying to use up all your meal swipes each week.

               Overall I would say that it is a great place to go try. The food is good and definitely a change from the usual. Fusion’s small size does create some big lines and there’s not an abundance of seating but that’s the only bad things that I can say about it. I recommend a trip over to Erikson Hall to try it out.

http://uky.campusdish.com/Locations/Fusion.aspx

Reliving the Past for K-Lair

               The new K-Lair in Haggin Hall has got me hooked even after only going there once. Some freshmen might not know that this isn’t the first time K-Lair has opened up on campus. So because K-Lair has become my favorite restaurants I thought I would share a brief history of the old K-Lair.

               K-Lair was opened up on the University of Kentucky’s campus in 1961. It was located next to Haggin Hall and used to be the football team’s locker room until it was converted into a restaurant. K-Lair’s name is even significant in itself. The K stands for Kentucky of course and Lair is because it’s what wildcats live in. The establishment celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2011 and was 52 years old when their old building was torn down in 2013 to make room for the new Haggin Hall. It was actually the second oldest restaurant on campus, short of the student center.

               In the early days of K-Lair they specialized in mainly burgers. As student’s changed their taste buds, K-Lair also changed their menu. Before it was torn down, they were growing quite popular for their chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches. The chef at the time also made a chili that made people have to come back for more.

               When UK announced in 2012 the demolition of K-Lair most students wondered, where would they go? The lines at Ovid’s were already long and the all-you-can-eat buffet weren’t exactly appetizing. It hardly seemed necessary after the renovation that had been done just two years earlier. Alumni also were disheartened because of all the memories made there. It was sad to see a piece of history go, but now that new K-Lair opened it can serve the Universities need of more dining options and also provide students with a great atmosphere.

http://www.kyforward.com/our-universities/2014/08/27/return-of-an-icon-k-lair-grill-is-back-on-uk-campus-in-newer-bigger-still-greasy-cool-form/

http://kykernel.com/2011/09/22/k-lair-celebrates-50-years/

http://outofthebigblue.com/2011/09/27/then-and-now-k-lair-celebrates-50-years/

http://kykernel.com/2012/10/24/knocking-down-k-lair-limits-students-dining-choices/

K-Lair Just Got Another Regular Customer

               Today I decided to go visit K-Lair. I had heard some things about the old K-Lair but they weren’t good things. I had also heard a lot of great things about the new K-Lair. After hearing mixed reviews I had to try this place for myself.

               Upon arriving at K-Lair I couldn’t help but notice the massive amounts of construction going on all around the restaurant. I wasn’t sure if it was finished or not because everything inside was clean and new, but there weren’t any people there at 11:30 on a Wednesday. So I walked up to the counter and looked at the many options they had to choose from. They had many types of burgers, chicken wings, salads, wraps, and melts. Many of these items were stamped with the Kentucky Proud logo. It seemed like as soon as I ordered I looked back and saw there was now a line ten or so people long.

               After I got my food and poured my drink from one of those massive drink machines with 150 different drink options, I found a comfy booth to sit at. I got to looking around and saw all the different seating options, the wood paneling, all the TV’s, and even the sign from the old K-Lair. It was just a great atmosphere. As I was eating, I kept seeing the manager doing odd jobs like refilling the drink machine, wiping the trashcans, and cleaning up trays. I couldn’t believe it, this manager cared so much he did these jobs himself instead of ordering someone else to. As a result, I respect this man’s character and know that when I come back, the restaurant will again be in pristine condition like it was still new.

               I liked K-Lair so much I was hesitant to post this for fear that everyone might discover this treasure hidden within Haggin Hall. I encourage everyone to go, but it might turn out to be one of those secret places that you don’t tell everyone else about. K-Lair is definitely my new favorite restaurant and I will definitely be going back soon.