MSU dining system to be completely integrated

Some dining facilities on campus already have become unrecognizable because of renovations, and students should expect even more changes in the future after plans to revamp the entire dining system were approved Friday.

The MSU Board of Trustees met for its first meeting of the academic year and voted to authorize planning on projects that would renovate and integrate all dining programs on campus.

The board’s Trustee Finance Committee recommended the authorization for the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services’ master plan to renew students’ dining experiences.

The goal of the plan is to become the best college food service in the country in five years, said Vennie Gore, assistant vice president for residential and hospitality services. The cost of the plan hasn’t been determined because the university still is in the preliminary planning phase.

“We stumbled onto a food model that would be the model for the country,” he said. “There is no one out there that’s doing that at the level and complexity that we’re doing, at the skill that we’re doing. We’re not the best, but we’re going to be the best.”

Although university budgets have been tightened in light of the economy and decreases in state funding, MSU still is trying to provide a better environment for students, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said.

“Part of what we’re trying to do is align a set of planning discussions in a way that gives us a better future while we’re cutting budgets,” she said.

The dining plans will be part of what university officials are calling “the neighborhood concept,” keeping students connected to campus even when they move out of the dorms.

“We’re having more and more off-campus students actually beginning to eat in the residence halls,” Simon said. “The neighborhood concept is really what’s critical for the connection of students who are living off campus.”

The plans will focus on sustainability, affordability and becoming more environmentally friendly, as well as incorporating more local Michigan products in the dining facilities, Gore said.

Hospitality business sophomore Dan Hiergeist is a resident of Abbot Hall and eats at Snyder-Phillips Hall, which he describes as “the best cafeteria around.”

“I think it would be helpful,” he said. “It’s offering more variety to the cafeterias.”

Hiergeist also said if other dining and retail facilities on campus were renovated, he would use them more often.

The upgrades would not mean any increases in costs to students, MSU Trustee Melanie Foster said.

“We have the resources to create this model and it’s kind of enhancing the student’s experience … at no additional cost,” she said. “If you can enhance the experience without it costing more money, then it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Plans for renovations to Case Hall now will begin and completion is scheduled for fall 2011, Gore said.