8 ways to improve Sodexo

I have looked all over Mavzone and I have yet to find the weekly menu for the cafeteria. Doesn’t it make sense for students who are deciding whether to go to the cafeteria on any given day to have easy access to the menu? I think so.

Working for an organization, you learn fast that you are not allowed to bring in any outside food into any building on campus that has a Sodexo run facility in it for large gatherings.

That means you are not allowed to bring a Little Caesars pizza to your meeting in the University Center, or a dozen donuts into the library, because you are only allowed to have Sodexo products.

How dumb is this?

Well, during our mandatory organization leader training, we had to walk outside. That is right, we had to do physical exercise, down to the quad where Jimmy Johns was able to deliver to us. Rather than allow us to continue our meeting and eat inside, we had to move. Sodexo should end the ban on outside food and allow for students to have the option to bring in other food sources for their large gatherings.

Why is it that I can use a gift card at the Sodexo run Starbucks, but I am not allowed to use one at the Chick-Fil-A or the Einstein Bros. Bagels? If you can do it for one, then you should be allowed to do it at all. When my mom sends me Chick-Fil-A gift cards for my birthday, I should be allowed to walk into the University Center and use them as I please.

Every so often I will walk in to Rowdy’s and I will see some small deal running on a bag of chips or a package of six mini donuts. But why don’t they have some more deals for students? They should be running a deal of the month inside Rowdy’s to get more students in there, and it should be bigger than just saving one dollar on mini donuts.

A cool idea that Sodexo might consider is allowing students to vote on what they are going to have for dinner once a week. There could be a poll as you walk in that the students would just fill out on an iPad that lets them vote on what they want to have the following Friday. It would get more students in there on slow Friday nights, while allowing them to have a voice in what they are spending their money on.

What is the point of the outside patio eating area if every time I go out there I have to beg to be let back in? If I want to eat my buffalo chicken sandwich with my tater tots out on the patio I should be allowed to come back in for seconds without looking to a stranger for assistance.

Last year I was in a class where it began at 5:15 p.m. and ended at 8 p.m. That makes it nearly impossible to be able to get dinner on those days. Yes, I could go in and get my slice of pizza and pasta with marinara sauce to go at 4:45 p.m. and be able to make it, but that means I am missing out on the dinner choices. And, I know I am not the only person that has class at those times. Staying open just another hour would really help out a lot of students utilize the cafeteria and not just settle for a grilled cheese at the Flat Top Grill.

And lastly, why so many oatmeal cookies? Let’s just come to an agreement that no one needs two trays of just only oatmeal cookies. Chocolate chip or bust I say.