Student Government Association and Sodexo representatives agreed on more changes to campus food services.
SGA leaders began negotiating with Sodexo officials after passing a resolution in February that allowed SGA President Chance Johnson to address six requests. The requests were for Sodexo to:
– release its contract with the university for review,
– allow students to take hot food out of the cafeteria,
– develop new meal plan options for students,
– refund students for unused meals,
– allow outside food vendors on campus for some events, and
– clearly display prices on pre-packaged items in Alvin’s café.
SGA, Sodexo and university officials attended negotiations, including Nirali Mickow, director of food service, administrators, and the SGA cabinet.
The meetings resulted in four of the six requests being met. University and Sodexo officials refused to release their contract to SGA. The request to refund unused meals at the end of the year also was denied, Johnson said.
“That one is not going to happen, quite frankly,” he said. “It would cause too many logistical problems, not only for the university, but also for Sodexo.
Sodexo officials began displaying prices on pre-packaged items in Alvin’s at the beginning of the month.
Pilot program
Students will be allowed to take hot food out of the caf during a pilot program in Fall 2016, officials said.
Johnson said this was a highly discussed and difficult part of the negotiations, but ended with all parties agreeing to allow students to take hot food out of the caf in a to-go box like they would expect.
Mickow said the pilot program will last a certain number of weeks, but students will only be able to take hot food out once a week. The pilot program will test whether taking hot food out of the caf is mutually beneficial for students and Sodexo
Matthew Cook, dance sophomore, said this will help.
“I’ve always wanted to take hot food out of the caf because I have a very busy schedule and have very short time to eat lunch,” he said. “If I could take more things to go, that would be very helpful.”
The program’s success is dependent on the next student government administration assisting Sodexo with its implementation, Johnson said.
Nic Rhodes, SGA president-elect, said he will continue working with Sodexo so more positive changes can occur.
“The program will require student honesty because they don’t want people to eat a lot in the caf and then take more food because they need to base their pricing on how much food is being eaten,” Rhodes said.
The crucial part is making sure students respect Sodexo, Johnson said.
“It’s just an opportunity,” he said of the pilot program. “If there’s abuse of the program when we test it, then it’ll almost assuredly go away.”
Outside food vendors
SGA members also focused on getting more flexibility in Sodexo’s exclusivity on campus. Johnson said Sodexo officials clarified instances where they would allow outside food vendors on campus.
“In a situation where Sodexo lacks either the personnel or the resources or the skills to meet a specific sort of catering or culinary need, student organizations can go to an outside vendor and approach them about providing those services,” Johnson said.
If Sodexo can provide the service, they will exercise their right of first refusal, officials said.
“The right of first refusal means, if we want to get food trucks on campus or if you want to get pizza for your organization meeting, technically you have to ask Sodexo first and they have the ability to say ‘no you cannot do that, we will provide the food,’” Rhodes said. “For instance, multicultural events that have specific foods that the caf can’t make, Sodexo said they would not use the right of first refusal.”
Sodexo officials said students should come to them first to see if they can provide the food.
Johnson said Sodexo has some liability in terms of food provided on campus.
“One of the things they’re a little bit leery of is bringing outside vendors on because of safety issues,” he said. “We at least agreed with them that, if we ever sought to bring outside vendors onto campus, that they would meet strict standards for food safety compliance.”
To contact Sodexo about outside food vendors, email Mickow at niraliben.mickow@sodexo.com.
Meal plans
Sodexo and university officials created another meal plan option available for next academic year.
Meal Plan F consists of 10 meals per week, $450 in points and $50 in Stars Cash. It costs $2,137, according to the OCU website, okcu.edu.
“I only get to eat lunch twice a week, which is why I think the new meal plan development would be a fantastic idea,” Cook said. “SGA is doing good.”
If the new plan is popular, Johnson said SGA members want to negotiate to develop even more meal plan options.
“The success of almost all of these programs are predicated on students’ response to them,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to get to the point where Sodexo is open to them. If we want them to continue, we have to be willing to treat them appropriately.”
Mickow said SGA does a good job relaying student concerns to Sodexo officials
“They are our way of knowing what students think about us,” she said.
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