Chartwells Dining started the semester with the slogan “Students spoke and we listened.” New dining hall hours and a wider variety of food options at Southeast Missouri State University sparked conversation and a chance to have a late night snack.
Students complained about early closings of Subway and Houck’s Place, so Chartwells formed focus groups to solve the issue and put a plan into action.
“We hosted focus groups in October and had a total of 12 groups and they were collaborating for three days. A lot of feedback was about hours of service, wanting more ethnic food, more of a variety of breakfast options and fresher vegetables at Towers,” Shayna Arndt, Chartwells Dining marketing director, said.
The focus groups consisted of faculty and staff, catering services employees, residents, commuter students and graduate students. According to Arndt and student requests, all dining halls needed new hours so that students could access them, especially during common hour.
“Students were looking for somewhere else to go when the [University Center] was busy or during common hour,” Arndt said. “The students that live over there missed [Olive’s] being open so we extended and expanded the hours to open for lunch. We also changed Rotations into what we call Celebrity Chef Series. The reasons we changed it was because people were growing tired of what was presented and people wanted more ethnic variety in the foods. They loved the action stations but wanted more variety.”
The UC is great for on-the-go breakfast, but some of the options could be less filling, so the addition of the breakfast burrito added a heartier menu option.
“We made a wider breakfast variety at the UC in the morning. We have added egg whites and breakfast burritos. We did this because students in the focus groups love how fast the UC provides breakfast, except they want more food,” Arndt said.
She added that in addition to the burritos, Towers has more “fresh vegetables on the menu and faculty and staff were requesting healthier vegetables rather than cheesy broccoli or buttered corn.”
Southeast employs interns on campus, including Samson Webster. Webster works in the marketing department for Chartwells and is responsible for being a representative for the student body at Southeast, managing and updating the website, planning merchandising and coordinating resident dining events. Webster said he feels positive about the new hours and changes on campus.
“I think it was a great idea for Chartwells to reach out to the student body in regards to their opinions on campus dining,” Webster said. “Many of the students’ requests were valid and, I believe, much needed in some cases. As an intern in the marketing department, I’m always connected with the student body, especially through social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We rely heavily on social media marketing and it is a great tool to quickly and efficiently gauge students’ opinions on dining.”
Arndt wanted to fulfill student and faculty requests that were stated during the meetings and throughout the focus groups so she, along with her colleagues, extended the hours at a brand name location.
“Students wanted a late-night option that was a brand name, so we extended the hours of Subway to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Towers closes at 7 p.m. So does the UC, and commuters were saying they get out of their late classes at 8 p.m. or later and nothing is open for them,” Arndt said.
Students on campus took to social networks such as Twitter to address their likes and dislikes in regards to the changes.
Sonali Singapuri, a Southeast student, said she likes the additional hours.
“I think the edited version of hours is pretty good,” Singapuri said. “Places close pretty early such as the UC and Towers, so Rowdy’s is the only late-night option.”
Singapuri stated that the quality of the food “needs work, such as the main course at Towers is good, but the side dishes lack quality.”
Chartwells put the plan into action Jan. 20 and plans to continue building and listening to Southeast students and the changes that they want to see happen. In order to come up with an effective plan, Arndt said long-term and short-term goals are necessary to formulate a plan.
“We had a short list which consists of plans that can be finalized in six months and we have a long list which stretches for about a year and the things fixed in this semester were on our short-term list. We will be making continuous change throughout the semester according to the feedback from the focus group,” Arndt says.
Arndt said Chartwells Dining Services are always looking for feedback or suggestions. Suggestions can be sent to [email protected].
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