Focus groups to gauge dining services quality

As a result of Vassar's expiring contract with ARAMARK Food Services, the Campus Dining Review Committee (CDRC) has begun to collect student input with regard to Vassar's dining system as a whole.

The CDRC, co-chaired by Vassar Student Association (VSA) Vice President of Student Life Charlie Dobb '12 and Assistant Dean for Campus Activities Theresa Quinn will develop several focus groups, administer campus-wide surveys, host informal dinners at the All Campus Dining Center (ACDC), organize "Food for Thought, Thought for Food" meetings in each dorm, and arrange a town-hall-style meeting in Main. According to Jewett President and CDRC member Clayton Masterman '13, the goal of these events and research programs is to "try and start a conversation and try to answer the questions that people want answered."

The focus groups will be comprised of 10 to 15 students each. There will be one group of athletes; one group of students with special dietary interests; one group of students with special political, social, or environmental interests; one group of faculty; and two randomly selected control groups. The focus of each group's discussions will be weighted by the results of the campus-wide survey, which will be administered some time in October and the membership of each group is in varying stages of finality. "The charge of the students on [the CDRC] is not to represent every student on campus, because they can't, but to think creatively about how to get every student's voice that wants to be heard, heard," said Dobb, adding that, although it's impossible to get 2400 students in focus groups, the survey and focus groups will certainly produce a helpful approximation.

The programming half of the CDRC's plans is meant to both collect information and disseminate. The town-hall-style meeting, for example, will give students a chance to talk directly to administration in a public forum. "There's a tendency to see dining as a sort of mysterious process. For example, how are price points set? This is an effort to address that," explained Dobb.

President of Main and member of the CDRC Jeremy Garza '14 believes that the committee's focus should be on gathering student input regarding broad, systematic changes, saying, "[the CDRC] is interested in structural changes, not specifics." Dobb agreed with Garza, adding, "the contract is not a relevant document to the everyday student. Most of the contract is occupied with employment language and insurance issues. It's not a contract that spells out in detail a lot of the quality things."

Dobb echoed Garza, saying that the CDRC isn't concerned with what food stations are where, or how many chocolate desserts there are. He thinks that the most important considerations for the contract renegotiation are "What do students want dining to look like? What do their lifestyles demand? What kinds of hours do they need out of a dining center?"

"It's really about understanding the role that dining plays on campus and in students' lives in a very broad sense," added Dobb.

Despite their committee's systemic focus, both Dobb and Garza agree that detail-level issues are extremely important. However, they are already handled internally by the Food Committee and the Food Dining Implementation Committee. Although, as Masterman pointed out, a variety of food in general is also an important consideration for the CDRC. He explained, "if we find that's what students want, that's something we can push for."

Some of the biggest suggestions that have been made so far have been bringing ACDC back to an à la carte (pay for what you buy) system similar to the Retreat, an increased focus on local food or regular themed nights (such as Meatless Mondays), although there is some degree of opposition to both changes. Other students have expressed interest in bringing back the Atrium, which was an UpC-style cafe in the Athletics Center that served smoothies, fruits and fresh sandwiches for a meal swipe until 2007.

Although Vassar first asked ARAMARK to manage campus dining in 1989, new contracts between them have been made regularly since then. Before 1989, Vassar managed it's own food service system but, as Senior Director of Campus Dining and ARAMARK representative Maureen King explained, "the College is in the business of educating students, not in providing dining." The most recent contract, which was signed during the 2007-2008 academic year, was the only one made after Vassar "went to the market" for alternatives to ARAMARK since 1989.

Unfortunately, none of the CDRC members could disclose any financial details due to the nature of the negotiations process. However, they did say that Vassar would probably not "go to market" and leave ARAMARK. Garza and CDRC member Jacob Greenberg '14 attributed this decision to the high cost of bringing in a new provider, although, as Dobb pointed out, "nothing is set in stone," adding, "if the research really shows that this current situation is untenable, then that option [of leaving ARAMARK] is on the table."

Some members of the CDRC like Garza and Greenberg have been disappointed with the administration throughout this process. They both felt that "the administration has not been transparent" and that "there has been a lot of bureaucratic miscommunication." Specifically, they criticized the administration for not providing students on the CDRC with a copy of the actual contract. Masterman and Dobb disagreed, however, saying that most of their requests have been honored, and that those that haven't weren't necessary. "I don't feel as if I've had important, helpful information not shown," said Masterman.

Although the contract doesn't expire until the end of the 2012-2013 academic year, the CDRC's research and programming will begin as early as October. As the dining discussion gains momentum on campus, Dobb wants both his committee and students at large to "start from a blank state."

"Instead of asking what's wrong with the current system, let's figure out what kind of a system we want to see," emphasized Dobb.