Inside Iowa State
June 30, 2000
New food unit on ISU menu
Stewart Burger to lead
by Anne Krapfl
Within the next year, Iowa State
will have a single, self-operated campus dining operation,
under a recommendation made by vice presidents Warren Madden
(business and finance) and Tom Hill (student affairs) and
approved by President Martin Jischke. Starting July 1, the
director of that new unit will be Stewart Burger, who has
worked in the residence department's food service for nearly
30 years. Campus Dining Services will fit under Hill's
student affairs umbrella.
Madden and Hill's recommendation echoes that of a consultant team that has been studying the university's food operations for more than two years. The team could cite "no compelling reason" to move to contract-managed food service in its spring 2000 report. Merging existing food operations has been the agreed-upon goal for the last 12 months; what remained was whether to contract the service to a national service provider, such as ARAMARK or Marriott, or coordinate it internally.
"We think this will be the win-win situation for everyone," Madden said. "By merging the two, we should do a better job of meeting student, staff and faculty needs. We're told the food volume at the Memorial Union and in dining centers could grow 10 to 15 percent."
Noting about 75 percent of the on-campus food volume is generated by the residence department and the rest by the Memorial Union, he said cam-pus food operations are "very efficient."
"From a cost perspective, our costs would go up 10 to 11 percent under a service contract. And the consultants, who help schools find food service leaders, indicated Stewart Burger is as good as we'll find nationally. He has a dedicated staff and the added value of knowing Iowa State well," Madden said.
"I'm excited about the potential for a unified dining service to provide a wider variety of services to the university community, especially our students," Burger said. "As you move away from Lincoln Way, the need grows precipitously, and that's the direction our campus is growing. The north side of campus is very under-serviced."
The merger will include the residence department's dining center, catering and convenience store operations; the Memorial Union's catering service and food court (contracts with franchises will be honored); catering at Scheman (which the Memorial Union currently does); and campus vending services and cafes. It excludes concessions at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum, but Madden said those services will be looked at as contracts come up for renewal.
"Student satisfaction is what drives this decision," Hill said. "They have told us they want more variety in foods and greater flexibility in when and where they can eat. At the same time, this should open up more locations for faculty and staff and more opportunities for them to have meals with students."
Madden said consultants consistently have said Iowa State's food operations are under-staffed. He added projected volume growth should mean more jobs. He said he doesn't anticipate layoffs or down-sizing, but some responsibilities may change.
Hill said consultants, representing the firms of The Ricca Planning Studio and Cornyn-Fasano Group, along with a campus advisory group, will work with Burger to design and implement a merger plan over the next year. Lots of considerations need to be worked out, including:
- Existing debt of the Memorial Union and the residence
department for large capital improvements and reliance of
each on food revenues. Revenues need to be channeled back to
each to keep them "financially whole," Madden said.
- Adding Memorial Union food service workers to the
university's personnel system and negotiating issues such as
seniority and transferable benefits with AFSCME.
- The changing management contract next year at the Iowa
State Center, since Ogden Allied sold its entertain-ment
management and concessions division.
- Adding new campus dining centers as the residence
department makes progress on its five-year master plan. The
first centers will open at Haw-thorn Court and on Union
Drive.
- Piloting meal-tracking software this fall to give residence hall students "portability" in their food plan across the dining system, and gradually adding employees to this plan.
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