Purdue News

Hall dining revovation, consolidation just latest innovation For decades, food service in Purdue residence halls was the same. You ate in the hall where you lived and you were served the same menu, no matter which hall you lived in. Serving hours were at traditional meal times. Everybody had to buy the 20-meal-a-week plan. A decade ago, Purdue began to canvass students about their likes and dislikes in the halls. These initial attempts to gauge residents' satisfaction, in the form of surveys and focus groups, were driven by market forces. As more and more apartment buildings sprouted around campus, residents were lured away from the halls. The surveys found that students wanted: * More choices in food, service and hours. * Restaurant-style dining, with more cooked-to-order food. * Less-institutional environments. "At about the same time, we traveled to other schools, and we realized that most were moving away from traditional offerings," says Sarah Johnson, director of food service for University Residences. In 1992, students were given the option of buying a 13-meal plan rather than 20 meals a week. More than 40 percent chose the new option. By 1993, residents were given an electronic card that allowed them to eat their meals in any hall. By 1996, 80 percent of residents had chosen meal plans other than the traditional 20-meal option. Since 1993, the halls have continued to offer other forms of flexibility to residents: * "Dining dollars" that can be used in mini-marts and grill operations. * Dining halls that remain open as late as 8 p.m. * "Pack-A-Sack," which allowed students to pack a lunch at breakfast time. * Mini-marts at Meredith and Tarkington halls. * Carryout meal options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, known as PDQ or Purdue Dining Quickly. The changes have had the desired effect. The halls are so popular that the Purdue Village - formerly Married Student Housing - now is home to dozens of undergraduates. The 11 undergraduate halls and Hilltop Apartments are filled to capacity. All of these options also cost more money than food service the way it once was done. "We get to a point where we can't continue charging more and more to our residents," says Marvis Boscher, director of university residences. "We have to maintain the flexibility and choices our customers expect but manage costs better." Another challenge faced by the halls is a chronic shortage of labor. The tight labor market in Greater Lafayette makes hiring enough food-service workers difficult. A plan to maintain attractive choices, control costs and manage labor problems began taking shape in 1995, when a consultant was hired to study food service in Purdue residence halls. "One conclusion was that we had excess capacity for the number of meals we are serving," Johnson says. Other conclusions included equipment in need of replacement and a general need to renovate facilities that are, on average, 40 years old. The consultant laid out a range of alternatives, and in February 1997, a committee of administrators and residents began considering the options. At one end of the spectrum was renovating and maintaining all 11 dining facilities, with a $31 million price tag. At the other end was construction of one huge dining facility to serve all undergraduate halls, whose dining operations would be closed. The projected cost: $17 million. The committee also considered savings associated with various choices. Renovating all 11 dining operations would produce no savings. The proposal to move from 11 dining halls to one would provide $2.7 million in savings a year. Eventually, the committee and Housing and Food Services administrators settled on a plan to enlarge and renovate about half of the existing operations and consolidate nearby operations into the improved facilities. The cost of the compromise option will be $20.6 million. Annual savings is expected to be $2.6 million. Stories by Jay Cooperider Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page