Half baked
With the Sodexo contract expiring, Xavier’s search for a food service provider has been narrowed down to three companies with less-than-sterling records.
Katie Rosenbaum
Campus News Editor
The quest for a food service provider at Xavier University has been narrowed to three companies that, in the past, have been cited for having poor food and service quality and questionable business ties.
Sodexo, Inc., formally Sodexho, currently is Xavier’s food service provider. Sodexo’s contract ends on May 30. On June 1, Sodexo, Chartwells Inc. or Aramark Corp. will be the food service provider at Xavier.
Sodexo previously owned stock in Corrections Corp. of America (CCA). CCA is the largest operator of private prisons and the fifth largest prison system in the United States.
In 2001, Sodexo broke ties with CCA because “the investment was no longer in line with our strategic objectives,” said Sodexo Marriott’s Vice President of Public Relations, Leslie Aun.
Not With Our Money, an organization protestings Sodexo’s involvement with private prisons, had an active chapter on Xavier’s campus in 2001, when a group of over 50 students rallied against Sodexo’s presence at Xavier University. These students demanded that Xavier terminate its contract with Sodexo based on Sodexo’s relationship with CCA. Sodexo ended up selling their stock in CCA on May 23, 2001, though Not With Our Money officials claim that Sodexo maintained ties to the private prison industry.
In response to Sodexo’s involvement with CCA, a company accused of violating the human rights of its prisoners, the Xavier Student Senate passed a resolution on Dec. 10, 2001 calling upon Xavier University to not renew its contract with Sodexo. Xavier, however, renewed its contract with Sodexo in 2003.
Sodexo is also the food service provider for the U.S. Department of Defense, having signed a 10 year, $23 billion contract in 2004 to provide food service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Chartwells, another company that Xavier is considering, has had service problems at other schools. Resident Advisors at UNC Charlotte were served severely undercooked chicken at an event catered by Chartwells last year.
This chicken was served after different sized pieces of chicken were cooked together in a fryer. The larger pieces of chicken were under-cooked when they were removed from the fryer. Andrew Lipson, resident district manager of Chartwells’ higher education, said that because of this incident, meat would no longer be cooked together in mixed sizes.
An editorial published in the St. Louis University News on Mar. 7, 2008, says that “though Chartwells does, in fact, serve food, the price of this food, quality of service and current hours of operation are questionable. The products that Chartwells sells are neither consistently high-quality nor uniformly nutritious, and the service is, in some venues, sub-par.”
University of Louisville is also currently under contract with Chartwells. The administration and the Food Advisory Board, where both the university and Chartwells receive feedback from faculty, staff and students about campus food service, is currently looking at this contract and deciding if it should be renewed in August.
Students at the University of Louisville complain about a lack of variety and have proposed offering competing food service providers on the University of Louisville’s campus.
Duke University has hired two food service groups to compete for business on campus. The Compass Group, which owns Chartwells as well as the other food service provider, Bon Appétit, provides food on Duke’s campus. Chartwells is providing food for Duke’s West Campus while Bon Appétit serves the East Campus.
Duke hired the Compass group after the director of Duke Dining Services said that bringing Aramark, their previous provider, to campus was a mistake. The Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee gave Aramark three votes of no confidence during its tenure at Duke.
The Alliance for Quality Services, a coalition of more than two million working people, has raised concerns over Aramark. These concerns include legal issues, fiscal mismanagement, poor food and service quality, public health risks, issues with alcohol sales, mistreatment of workers, reports of discrimination and severed accounts.
Included among the allegations made against Aramark is a scandal involving the retirement of a Tennessee State University official. President James A. Hefner retired in 2004 after audits discovered that he had accepted Super Bowl tickets and other gifts that totaled $9,000 from Aramark officials.
Kenyon University terminated its contract with Aramark in 2005 after it issued an ultimatum to Aramark over problems “ranging from poor sanitation in the dining halls to poor service and unimaginative menus,” said Kenyon’s Chief Business Officer David McConnell. He said other complaints included double-billing and overcharging for events.
The Yale Daily News reports that “top Yale cooks have openly expressed disgust with the quality and variety of food” from Aramark.
Aramark also faces quality issues in elementary schools. Members of the Detroit Public School board raised questions over quality concerns. Dr. Carla Scott, a DPS board member, said Aramark served inedible food at a committee meeting. “On more than one occasion they served rotten chicken breast and fruits at a human resource meeting,” said Scott.
The Princeton Review rates the best and worst food services in the country. Four of the 10 worst schools used Sodexo as their provider, three of the schools used Chartwells and one school used Aramark.
Out of the 10 best schools, two schools use Sodexo, one uses Aramark and three of the schools use Bon Appétit.
Bon Appétit Managing Co. is one of the companies that submitted a bid to Xavier, but was not selected to participate.
Dr. Kathleen Simons, Associate Provost of Student Development, said, “Bon Appétit is known as a more upscale food service that uses the best ingredients, fresh food, progressive menuing, etc. However, they are very costly. Because of cost, we chose not to pursue them as a candidate.”
Meal plans at Seattle University—a Bon Appétit subscriber who Xavier uses as a benchmark in this process—are on average 33 percent cheaper than Xavier’s current Sodexo managed meal plans.
This year, the Olympic Club meal plan at Seattle University costs $1,350 for the 2007-2008 academic year. This allows students who eat most of their meals on campus to purchase about $17.50 in a la carte items per day.
For the 2008-2009 school year at Xavier, the Carte Blanche plan plus $75 in board points costs $2,085.
“We looked at the five year performance of all the companies and how many clients a vendor lost. More often than not, it is the local management and their leadership which is critical to the quality of the food service,” Simons said. “When we evaluate a company, we look at a number of variables: cost, innovation with food concepts, management accountability, sanitation procedures, treatment of employees, purchasing arrangements for food, experience with student dining, catering, concessions and retail.”
After the food selection committee reviews the proposal, Xavier is expected to select a food service provider this May.
The end of Sodexo?
Expiring contract means opportunity for changes in caf.
Kelly Shaw
Senior News Writer
Erika Breese
Patrons of the Hoff Dining Hall could have new options if Xavier chooses a new food service after the 2007-08 school year.
After a 10 year contract with Sodexho Inc. as Xavier’s food provider, administrators are showing interest in new companies for a five-year contract, set to begin at the end of this fiscal year.
Student complaints as well as dissatisfaction from some administrators led the university to begin the bidding process for a new contract. Last semester, a consultant was hired to study Sodexho’s service, and from that consultant’s recommendations a request for information (RFI) was sent to other national and international food providers.
Five companies responded to the RFI, and a board of Xavier administrators recently narrowed the possible choices to two new food providers and Sodexho. Those companies will make their final presentations to the board in April, and the board will choose a new provider in May. The new provider will begin their contract on June 1.
This board is focused on providing the “best value for students,” said Dan Schloemer, director of Purchasing. He also said that this may not necessarily mean the lowest price, but instead would focus on quality and economic factors.
Sodexho is the world’s second largest food provider, making $17 billion per year. It currently provides food to Xavier for the Hoff Dining Center, catering services, Cintas Center’s concession stands and for retail restaurants—such as Ryan’s Pub and Toni’s Little Italy.
Administrators offer different explanations for why the bid process was begun.
“It is a good business practice to re-bid these services at least every 10 years, allowing us to review other types of programs and services that could be in the best interest for the Xavier community,” Tom Barlow, director of Auxiliary Services said. “This does not mean that we are looking for a different food provider.”
Yet, other administrators believe Sodexo has been somewhat inadequate in the past.
“There was some dissatisfaction with food service…in a number of areas,” Dr. Kathleen Simons, Associate Provost for Student Life said, referencing the fact that many students have recently complained about the variety of food offered, the hours of service and the lack of vegan and vegetarian options.
“By going into the marketplace to see what is available, we are going to be able to have a better food program whether it is from Sodexo, Aramark or Chartwell,” said Schloemer.
Dr. Phillip Jones, director of Cintas Center agrees that there were previous “catering and concession issues” with the Sodexo services, but he believes those issues have been resolved.
“We now have a good partnership in catering and concessions with which we are well pleased,” Jones said, adding that Cintas Center was not responsible for beginning the bid process.
Despite the reasons for the bidding process, a new contract could affect students in more ways than they can taste.
As the relationship between Xavier and its food provider will be readjusted with the new contract, so too will the relationship between Xavier and its students who buy meal plans.
According to Barlow, 70 percent of the cost of a student meal plan currently goes to the food provider, while the remaining 30 percent goes back to the university as a whole.
However, Barlow also stated that the price of the meal plans are set by Xavier through the budget process, and will not be changed with next year’s new food provider contract—indicating that 30 percent is not an exact figure.
“It is important to understand these funds cover the significant costs to Xavier that the food service contractor does not cover,” Barlow said, listing utility costs, insurance, pest control, debt service to dining buildings, custodial costs, plant costs and equipment maintenance as the additional costs paid for by student meal plans.
Based on her experience working at different universities, Simons claims that many universities take percentages between 20 and 50 percent of their students’ meal plans to use for overall support of the university.
“Sometimes if catering is expensive to the users, it could be that the call of the university is taking a greater percentage back,” Simons said. “It includes overhead, but it also includes a certain contribution back to the university.”
Barlow, Simons and Jones are members of the board of eight administrators who will evaluate the three companies in April. Students Katie Grant, Chris Hale and Christopher Schroeder will also serve on the board, representing students’ opinions.
Legislation may reduce some textbook burdens
Patrick Stevenson
Editor-in-Chief
New legislation being debated in U.S. Congress promises to hold textbook publishers and universities more accountable for the cost of a college education. These measures may help reduce the cost of tuition and the price of textbooks for college students across America.
The bill, known as the College Opportunity and Affordability Act (H.R. 4137), is the first federal legislation that addresses the exploding cost of textbooks, which according to a 2005 federal study averages $898 per college student per year.
For the Newswire's Editorial response, see "Proactive Professors, perhaps?" on Op-Ed.
H.R. 4137 was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 14 and must now pass through the Senate before being signed into law.
The textbook publishing industry has become a lucrative business in America over recent years, as the rate of textbook price increases have more than doubled the inflation rate over the past two decades.
Follett Corporation, the number one seller of college textbooks in America and the operator of the Xavier bookstore, collected $2.37 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2006 alone.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a major proponent of H.R. 4137, says that one practice in particular has played a major role in the textbook price explosion.
“One of the biggest factors driving these increases has been the practice of ‘bundling,’ in which textbook publishers package books with expensive supplementary materials, such as DVDs, CDs or workbooks. In many cases, colleges and universities are only given pricing information on “bundled” textbooks, making it harder for them to purchase cheaper alternatives,” said Nicole Allen, a GAO spokesperson.
Several student advocacy organizations think H.R. 4137 is a positive step towards curtailing textbook prices.
“This legislation contains several important policy changes to increase access to college and help protect students, families and taxpayers. The bill mandates publishers disclose the price of textbooks when they sell them to faculty as well as additional information about the book’s history of revisions. In addition, publishers must sell books and supplemental materials unbundled, ending a practice that drives up the cost of textbooks for many students,” said Jennifer Price, a spokesperson for the United States Student Association.
A major complaint of faculty and students is that textbook publishers will frequently issue new editions of textbooks with only superficial revisions or updates, making old editions obsolete, and therefore inhibiting students’ ability to sell their books back to a bookstore.
“This bill will force publishers to provide professors with information about the updates and revisions made in new editions of textbooks,” said Rachel Racusen, an aide on the House Committee of Education and Labor. “If a professor determines that the revisions are not significant, they can choose to use an older edition, which will cost students less.”
“Most biology textbooks are on a three year cycle of revision,” said Dorothy Engle, chair of the Biology Department at Xavier. “Intro level bio does not change that fast. I would prefer the text to last maybe 10 years, with an optional update supplement available every few years.”
A spokesman for Follett Corporation declined to comment on the new legislation.
Kathryn Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Peters
Ann Tassone
Darren LaCour
Senior News Editors
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