Lunch with the Directors: Dining Officials Ready to Talk, but Where Were the Students?

Students eat lunch in the main cafe on Oct. 19. Scheduled food offerings have not changed since Chartwells announced new adjustments to EU’s dining this fall. (PC: Ian Murphy)

To gather student dining feedback and address questions about the quality and types of food offered, Chartwells held a “Lunch with the Directors” in the Blume Board Room during protected hour on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

The Leader previously reported on a Change.org petition to make changes to Elmhurst University’s dining services. Changes were announced three days after the petition was published.

Once the meeting was announced, EU students were quick to turn to Yik Yak, encouraging each other to join the meeting and keep these improvements to the dining services coming.

“This is the meeting that will determine the fate of our cafe,” one student commented on Yik Yak.

On that Tuesday, stepping into the Blume Board Room reflected the opposite of that enthusiasm.

On one side of the room sat the directors: Director of Dining Services Angel Almodovar, Marketing Manager for Chartwells Elizabeth Walters, Marketing Coordinator Kathryn Swanson, and Steven Goodwin, the regional district manager for Chartwells.

On the other side sat two student representatives from the Student Government Association (SGA), one cafe student worker, Vice President of Student Affairs Keri Alioto, and me. All other seats were empty; the “fate of the cafe” was left in our hands.

In typical college student fashion, word got around that food was being offered in the Blume Board Room. On five separate occasions, the doors opened, and students entered, asking about free food.

“We’re happy to give you lunch if you have time to give us feedback on the new dining program,” the directors clarified. The students quickly turned for the door after learning the terms of the free food.

Once the floor was open for questions or concerns, issues revolving lack of protein options, healthier meals, improper labeling, and non-halal-friendly meals were mentioned.

The directors responded: “In the last couple of weeks, we are tweaking the menu options; you should see a shift in what we are offering. We hear you and have taken some notes and are making real-time menu changes.”

When Walters was posed with the question of why favorite meals were disappearing, she took the opportunity to promote a Dine On Campus feature.

“If you were to make a Dine On Campus account and you like a menu item, it lets us know that you liked it, and we let our chefs know to put it back on the menu,” Walters said.

Similarly, when the topic of plates, cups, and bowls being found in all corners of campus was brought up, Goodwin promoted another resource.

“Shameless plug as well, we are running an incentive on OZZI containers right now,” said Goodwin.

“Yeah, right now OZZI containers are usually $7.99, but it is at a discounted rate of $4.50,” Walters explained. “We also just got different OZZI products in, so we are working on a bundle of soup bowls and silverware.”

Students used the opportunity to voice their opinions on the Boost Mobile ordering option.

“I know we have it, but I have never used it and I don’t know anyone who has used it,” commented SGA representative Sam Cotton.

“There are off-menu items that you can order through the mobile ordering app,” Goodwin responded.

Walters clarified how the Boost Mobile app process works by explaining that Boost orders take priority.

“So for Boost, they are supposed to make the mobile orders first, and then under that pickup sign is where you can get the meal,” said Walters. “If they [the workers] were to get a Boost online order, they are supposed to get that order and make it first.”

Since the Change.org petition received immediate action, it was asked if the newly added time frame for meal swipes in the Roost would be expanded, but the idea was quickly shut down.

“We’re still exploring, but there is a cost associated with all of the options that are presented,” Goodwin noted. We want to keep the meal plan as inexpensive as possible.”

An SGA representative relayed a comment from an EU student on how the food on the hot line of the cafe is often mislabeled, resulting in those with dietary restrictions not being certain what they can eat. Almodovar quickly made it clear that staff are there to assist these students in ensuring they get a proper meal.

“It’s a very customizable program,” Almodovar said. “If there is something that you don’t see or don’t like, nine out of 10 times, we have something different in the back. If you ever see pork on the menu, most likely we have chicken in the back. We always have halal chicken cooked, and we just have it in the back.”

The directors touched on adding variety to the made-to-order amenities within the cafe. At the beginning of the school year, the menu was kept simple as a way to ease into the new all-you-can-eat layout.

“Now that we have the timing right, we can add additional options to it,” Almodovar clarified. “When students were waiting an hour, we couldn’t have added more stuff to the menu; we would have just made it worse.”

So having more variety within the cafe is something that needs to be earned. As the staff becomes more comfortable with processes, students will have access to more variety.

Chartwells has made it very clear that they are listening to what students have to say by responding to the petition and having ongoing surveys for students to complete. The results they have gathered, as Goodwin shared, show two main demographics enjoying the new all-you-can-eat system.

“As we surveyed, our freshmen rated the change very high, along with all of our athletes,” said Goodwin. “They are most pleased within the student population.”

Other students are still waiting to be as pleased as first-year students and athletes supposedly are with the changes.