Adding meal swipes wasn’t the only dining change which occurred on campus over the summer. The University and ARAMARK have brought forth new attitudes and new food to campus.
One of the first moves was Java City going from its location in the student center to the Plangere Center in place of Einstein Bros Bagels.Not all students are happy about the move. “I personally dislike the change,” said Lisa Syphiewski, a junior student. “I loved Einstein’s and I think it had more to offer than Java City does.”
Vice President for Student and Community Services Mary Anne Nagy felt it was time for a change, as she noticed there was an annual drop in revenue and customers at Einstein’s.
“I know people had a real affinity for Einstein’s, but I think brands have cycles and I think we were out of that cycle,” Nagy said. “There used to be Einstein Bagels all around this area outside of the University and now there are none because it didn’t have the stability of a place like a McDonald’s or Wendy’s.”
With the Einstein’s franchise leaving, the University decided to bring in the Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers franchise.
“We knew we wanted to put in some sort of a franchise concept, chicken being the lead because in surveys chicken is big here,” Nagy said. “Seeing Einstein’s was going down we moved Java and retook that area to make it Raising Cane’s and I think in the long run it’s going to be a great decision.”
Raising Cane’s had its grand opening on September 4 and celebrated by giving out free chicken to all students who were in attendance. There was also a soft opening on September 3, where faculty members were invited to test out the product so they can see how the staff would react, how quickly they are getting product out.
“I’ve had the product, I think it’s a great product and I’ve been down there every day to talk to people to say what do you think and from what I hear is that people really like it,” Nagy said.
Over 500 portions of free lemonade were given out as samples at Saturday’s football game in order to promote the product. Java City and Raising Cane’s will both be open six days a week, including Saturday. This gives students on campus more options for places to eat at, besides just the residential dining facility. It also allows students who have Saturday class to have the opportunity to pick up a coffee or a pastry from Java City before their class.
For night time dining, Shadow’s is now open seven days a week. Shadow’s is also composed of a brand new team of chefs, more workers and a new retail person. According to Nagy, it is the University’s goal to cut back on the waiting time of students looking to eat and to also deliver them a fresher product.
This change can even be felt in the McGill Commons dining hall. There is a completely new Aramatk team on staff, which Nagy refers to as a refocused team. “I think it is a team that gets that it is about the students and it’s about freshness, being friendly, and making it for you as much as we can,” Nagy said. “No longer are you seeing big pans of pasta, but instead pasta is being put into an individual dish and fresh parsley and parmesan cheese being put on it right there instead of slop.”
Aramark is also trying to be more active online. Students can now like their Facebook page which is called “MU Dining” and they have a website, which is www.monmouth.campusdish. com.
According to Molly Chamberlain, District Marketing Manager for Aramark, students will be able to stay in the loop more.
“Students will have the opportunity to go more in depth on our website and they will be able to see what is being served in the dining hall at that time,” Chamberlain said.
Many food changes have been put in place for this academic year, and Nagy has high hopes for all of them.
“Every day I focus on food service in some fashion because it is important and we’ve had a lot of blips and I’m very confident you will not see those blips in the future,” Nagy said.
