Of all the dining services offered at JSC, Late Night was the program most affected by the changeover from Aramark to Sodexo.
Formerly a retail grab-and-go store in the Stearns Stage Space, Late Night sold prepackaged snacks, Ben and Jerry’s pints, and drinks, as well as a la carte food such as cheeseburgers, chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks. There was also the option for a whole pizza or calzone to be made to order and picked up.
This year, Late Night is essentially a fourth meal in the dining hall, offering students pizza, pasta, salad, ice cream and sometimes specialty theme nights such as taco night, all for a flat fee of $5.85 for each pass through.
According to Dean of Administration Sharron Scott, the changes mark an effort to reduce the cost of the food to both students and the college, while at the same time raising the quality of the food.
“We had a lot of conversations about being able to provide a better quality product to students in the evening with healthier choices, and to be able to do that more cost-effectively,” Scott said, adding that according to Aramark, last year’s average Late Night check was around $10-12.
Scott hopes that providing food buffet-style at a set price will reduce the strain on students’ wallets.
While a buffet-style Late Night is very effective for students looking to eat a full meal, many students are accustomed to only buying one product in the grab-and-go method used last year. As a result, the student response to the new system has varied.
Scott hopes students will keep on providing feedback about the program. “What we really would encourage students to do is to continue to make good comments on the comment cards,” she said. “Every single one of them is read and responded to.”
Because the changes to the food service programs are so new, student feedback is essential for the college and Sodexo to work out what is working and what needs to be changed.
Starting towards the end of September, students will be able to take part in a food service committee focused on discussing and evaluating the dining options at JSC. The committee will consist of representatives from dining services and residence life, along with 10 to 15 students. “[The aim of the committee is] to facilitate a conversation about what’s working and what’s not working in our food service program, so that we can make improvements that will improve the quality of the food that we are providing and better meet students expectations and need,” said Scott. “It’s our opportunity to really work with students and help figure out what we need to do to make it even better than what it is now.”
