Title: Executive Summary Report
1Executive Summary Report York College of
Pennsylvania February 5, 2009
2Scope of Work
- Conduct qualitative quantitative market
research - Campus visit November 10-11, 2008
- Focus groups personal interviews
- Web-based survey
- Approximately 600 respondents
- Interactive Work Session
- Master Plan Development
- Executive Summary Report
3MARKET RESEARCH
4Market Research
- Campus Overview
- YCP is one of the lowest cost private colleges
in the state of Pennsylvania. - Slight decline in enrollment this year.
- YCP plans to open a new 360 bed residence hall
on West Campus in Fall 2009. - Suite-style living (no kitchens)
- Residential complex will also include a new
dining hall c-store - The College also has long-term plans to develop
land north of campus. - The center of gravity for the campus is
changing. - YCP has added/renovated several buildings over
the last few years, but the Student Union is
dated cramped. - The Colleges foodservice program hasnt been
critically evaluated in more than 20 years. - Students are allowed to use Flex Dollars off
campus at up to 15 campus partners including
restaurants c-stores (i.e. Rutters).
5Market Research
- Johnson Dining Hall
- Entrance does not make a good first impression.
- For prospective students, seeing Johnson Dining
Hall can be a let down. - Servery is somewhat attractive but too enclosed.
- Feels a bit like a maze
- Congested during peak periods
- Signage could be more attractive user-friendly
- Back of the house is undersized for service
catering food production. - Staff reported problems with equipment not
functioning properly - Dishroom is flooding/leaking below
- Many comments in the survey about
under/overcooked food, especially undercooked
rice. - Training vs. equipment issues
- Dining room is extremely dated the seating is
not customer friendly or efficient. - Many administrators students commented on
this. - One administrator described the dining area as
an airplane hangar. - Several campus community members described it as
a high school cafeteria. - Definitely not in step with many other college
campuses that feature dining rooms with
student-friendly ambiance amenities such as
booths, small large tables, background music,
etc.
6Market Research
- Johnson Dining Hall
- Many comments from students about food
quality/quantity menu mix. - Food is not perceived as fresh.
- Perceived as limited variety during the week
and more so on weekends. - Requests for more international foods
- More fresh fruits
- Seems like leftovers on the weekends
- It seems like its been the same food since my
freshman year. - Customers like the healthy food bar.
- Some comments about running out of food staff
shooing customers out of the venue, especially
near closing time. - Positive comments about the staff, especially
Josie Elsie. - However, the staff should not be taking their
breaks at the tables near the entrance. - They also appear to be shutting down stations
early starting to clean before closing (putting
chairs up on tables, etc.) - Hours of operation are not aligned with
students lifestyles. - Weekend hours especially
- Staff like the 5 lunch door rate feel that it
is a good value.
7Market Research
- Survey comments regarding Johnson Dining Hall
- I go for lunch at 230 p.m. to find they only
have pizza. 230 p.m. is still lunch, especially
for people who have afternoon classes. - I think that JDH should be open to at least
9-10 p.m. every day, including weekends. Its
very annoying and inconvenient that it closes at
7 p.m. weekdays and even worse that it closes at
6 p.m. on weekends. - I have track practice five days a week until
630 so by the time I get done, the dining hall
is closed. - I feel as though 7 p.m. is far too early to be
closing. Most other colleges that I have visited
have dining halls that do not close until 9-10
p.m. - I understand the no tray trend, but if that is
going to work, the tables need to be cleaned much
faster because sitting down at a dirty table is
disgusting. - Ive been it JDH numerous times around 650
p.m. and have watched people come in and the food
is gone at exactly 7 p.m. That is not fair to
people who are allowed to come until 7 p.m.,
swipe a meal and pay almost 9 and not be allowed
to eat all they want or what they want. - I know you guys need breaksbut during certain
hours, there seems to be a complete lack of food,
especially during lunch around 1-2 p.m. - They stop making food shortly after the last
hour of work begins and bother students to finish
up and leave with more than half an hour of
operation remaining.
8Market Research
- Sparts Den
- 80 of transactions are meal equivalencies.
- Several negative comments about the service in
this location. - Not opening on time
- Shutting down before closing time
- Except for the made-to-order foods, are
offerings too similar to those offered in the
bookstore? - Some students many faculty/staff buy the 3.99
bagged lunches coffee in the bookstore. - Self-operated bookstore generated 500,000 in
c-store sales in the first year it was available. - Sales appear to have dropped with the
introduction of Flex Dollars usage off campus. - Bookstore could use some of the space currently
occupied by Spart Den seating for expansion. - Pura Vida
- Great location/comfortable setting/ feels
modern - Popular but perceived by students as expensive.
- Limited ability to use meal equivalency here
- Campbell Coffee Bar
- Serves as the commuter student lounge although
fairly high use of meal plan money in this venue
(approximately 11,000/month) - Mix of vending limited services
9Market Research
- Survey comments regarding Sparts Den, Pura Vida
Campbell Coffee Cart - Sparts Den
- They are inconsistent with what they offer and
how they make things. - Sometimes the wait is really long and the
customer service isnt good. - It would be nice if Sparts Den would remain
open at times when they are supposed to. On
different occasions, I went to find they were
closed at a random time (such as 7-8 p.m.) or
they would tell me that they werent going to
cook any more hot food because they didnt feel
like it. - Get more workers in the Sparts Den because it
takes too long to get your food and sometimes you
dont even get the right thing! - Pura Vida
- Pura Vida has the best quality food on campus.
- Pura Vida doesnt accept credit cards which is
frustrating. The place looks super nice, but the
food quality isnt all that great, especially
when factoring in the cost of eating there. - Pura Vida is the best food on campus and I
would eat there more on a regular basis if the
prices were better. - Campbell Coffee Cart
- The vending machines NEVER work or are out of
stock for a week at a timehave coffee at
separate ordering to speed processmicrowave
needs to be visible to staff so it will be
cleaned more often. - I really like their baked potato soup. Bring
back the chocolate chocolate chocolate cookies!
10Market Research
- Meal Plans
- Students feel like they are getting ripped off.
- Leftover meals
- Meal plan holders are buying their friends meals
with leftover meals. - Meal equivalencies arent equivalent/ viewed as
a poor value. - One equivalency doesnt cover the cost of a
meal. - Students are doing the math it costs more to
use a meal equivalency than to pay cash. - Its not fair that 8 turns into 4.
- Dissatisfaction with rules limiting no more than
two meals during a meal period. - Hours of operation are not aligned with
students lifestyles. - Class schedules conflict with hours of operation
including night classes until 915 p.m. - College students live on a different clock. Most
of them choose not to eat dinner between 4-6 p.m. - Weekend hours are problematic, too. (Opens too
late closes too early) - Students miss brunch on weekends when they sleep
in. - Parents dont seem to like or understand that
the students have to visit the cafeteria during
specific meal periods. - Very low participation among optional meal plan
holders (upperclassmen non-required students).
11Market Research
- Survey comments data regarding meal plans
related issues - Sparts Den is a complete rip-off. I pay around
7 for each JDH meal, but when I walk downstairs,
I only get 4 credit for that. - Currently, its cheaper to pay for Johnson
Dining services with Flex Dollars than it is with
a block plan averaging 7.40 a meal when, for
example, breakfast is only 6.50 with Flex. - I know sometimes I will eat breakfast in JDH
during the beginning of lunch hours and then
return for lunch a little while later. Since I
already ate lunch, for the day, I have to wait
until dinner begins. That doesnt seem fair, does
it? I say, let us use our meals whenever we
want. - 43.3 of overall respondents disagreed or
strongly disagreed that the current meal plans
are a good value. - 43.2 of overall respondents disagreed or
strongly disagreed that the current hours allow
them to use their meal plan money when they want
to. - 58.7 of on-campus freshmen respondents
disagreed or strongly disagreed. - 48.8 of overall respondents said they have
meals leftover at the end of each semester. - 1 reason on-campus freshmen survey respondents
said that they eat off campus is because of menu
variety selection followed by on-campus dining
venues are closed. Also the 2 reason (after
convenience) on-campus freshmen respondents cited
for ordering food delivery.
12Meal Plan Trends
- Meal Plans
- Building community by encouraging undergraduate
students (especially freshmen) to purchase meal
plans that promote social interaction bonding
(see and be seen). - Higher retention rates
- Higher graduation rates
- Unlimited access, continuous service meal plans
- Ultimate in flexibility
- Easy transition from home environment,
especially for freshmen - Appeals to parents
13Meal Plan Trends
- Meal Plans
- Program enhancements to make it more attractive
for students to stay in on-campus housing longer
and/or on the meal plan. - Extended hours of operation
- Attractive settings and dining venues
- Wider variety of food choices
- Competitive in terms of quality, price service
with off-campus restaurants - Value-added meal plan options for
non-residential customers including commuters and
faculty/staff to increase participation social
interaction with residential students. - Customer-friendly, year-long marketing campaigns
to reinforce the value of the meal plan program
and to maintain customer awareness of on-campus
dining options and services.
14Market Research
- Many students go to the nearby Rutters to buy
food beverages. - Rutters accepts Flex Dollars. (Its mobbed on
weekends.) - This currently is the only option for students
on West Campus. - So much money is walking off campus, said one
administrator. - Campus One Card can be used in 26 off-campus
locations including some restaurants. - Future West Campus dining venue
- Mostly upperclassmen live on this side of
campus. - Many live in full apartments with kitchens/new
res hall will not have kitchens. - Students in new res hall will be required to
have a meal plan - YCP hopes to grow meal plan sales with the
addition of this new venue. - All-you-care-to-eat vs a la carte?
- Fairly strong support during site visit from
students administrators for all-you-care-to-eat
service. - Some students said that thought that this would
be more of a social gathering space if anytime
dining was available. - Many also like the idea of a la carte dining.
- What type of meal plans should be offered?
15Catering/Conference Services
- Most campus community members are satisfied with
the catering services provided by Chartwells. - Many administrators spoke very highly of Nina.
- However, some customers have had issues with
food quality, slow service and/or late
deliveries. - Limited space on campus for events larger than
200 people, must be held in Johnson Dining Hall. - Campus events department works closely with
Chartwells but they do not share and/or utilize
an events management software program. - YCP hosts some conferences in the summer.
Administrators are hoping to grow this business
with the addition of an air-conditioned residence
hall.
16Potential Contractual Issues
- YCP is responsible for repair maintenance of
equipment. - Typically, for accountability purposes, the
Contractor should be responsible. - YCP pays for all utilities including
exterminating services, garbage removal
telephone services. - Contractor should be responsible for direct costs
including those listed above plus utilities
within the commission goal. - YCP is responsible for all necessary cleaning of
walls, windows, electric light fixtures floors
in all of the dining areas. - Contractor should be responsible for cleaning
all dining areas. - The daily rate is based on a sliding scale.
- Typically, this number is tied down in the
contract allowed to fluctuate with the regional
CPI.
17Self-Op vs. Contracted
- Should YCP have self operated dining services?
- Is the College committed to being in the
foodservice business? - Will it invest in the necessary business systems
to make this style of operation work? - How would YCPs rich benefits package impact a
self-operated dining program? - The YCP Bookstore is self-operated.
18Final Direction for YCP Campus Dining Program
19Final Direction for YCP Campus Dining
- College administrators have decided to take the
following approach to future campus dining
options. It should be noted that this approach
differs from Porter Khouw Consultings
recommended approach which is outlined in
subsequent slides. - Hours of Operation
- Johnson Dining Hall 7 a.m.-830 p.m. seven days
a week. - The LRL Dining Hall 830 a.m.-Midnight seven
days a week. - Anytime dining will be available until 830 p.m.
After 830 p.m., customers will use cash or
Dining Dollars to pay for purchases and all
food/beverage options will be priced
individually. - Sparts Den 730 a.m.-Midnight, Monday-Friday, 3
p.m.-Midnight Saturday Sunday - C-Store in LRL 830 a.m.-11 pm.
Monday-Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday noon-10
p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday - Pura Vida 7 a.m.-830 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7
a.m.-230 p.m. Friday - Campbell Coffee Cart Maintain current hours of
operation
20Final Direction for YCP Campus Dining
- Final Meal Plan Direction
- All students who live in traditional,
suite-style and LRL residence halls will be
required to purchase a full meal plan as defined
below by YCP. - Unlimited access plus 125 Dining Dollars
- This plan will provide unlimited access during
operating hours in Johnson Dining Hall before
830 pm. daily in LRL Dining Hall - Block 225 meal plan plus 100 Dining Dollars
- This plan will allow students 225 meal swipes per
semester into Johnson Dining Hall during
operating hours or into LRL Dining Hall before
830 p.m. daily. - This plan differs from unlimited access which
allows meal plan holders to come and go as many
times as theyd like during unlimited access
hours of operation in the two dining venues.
Students with this meal plan use one swipe each
time they enter these dining venues before 830
p.m. - The following block meal plans will be available
to all students except those required to purchase
a full meal plan (as outlined above). - Block 5050 meals per semester plus 30 Dining
Dollars - Block 7575 meals per semester plus 50 Dining
Dollars - Block 125125 meals per semester plus 75 Dining
Dollars. - There will be no meal equivalencies for use in
the retail dining venues. - Dining Dollars will be accepted at all campus
dining venues. Students using Dining Dollars as a
method of payment will receive a 10 discount off
of cash prices.
21Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Offer anytime dining in Johnson Dining Hall
(continuous service during operating hours seven
days a week). - Students may take food out as well (checker will
hand out eco-friendly take-out containers). - Hours of operation 7 a.m.-Midnight,
Sunday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday
Saturday - Substantial choices should be available during
non-peak hours (it appears that choices are very
limited after 1 p.m. before dinner). - After 9 p.m., menu options could be more limited
but still offer a wide variety. - Grill (made-to-order)
- Pizza
- Deli
- Salad Bar
- Desserts
- Service on the weekends should not be any less
robust than it is during the week. - Consider offering special brunch items on
weekends like made-to-order omelets, carved
meats, special desserts, etc. - Offer a wider menu variety selection more
made-to-order foods/display cooking. - Customers complained about repetitive menu
items. - Menu items should be properly labeled at all
times. - Step up table cleaning to ensure that clean
tables are always available. - Dining employees should not take their breaks at
the tables in the front of JDH.
22Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Methods of payment in JDH LRL Dining Halls
- Meal plan money (meal swipe during unlimited
access hours) - Dining Dollars
- Flex Dollars
- Credit card
- Cash
- Consider installing biometric hand readers at
the entrance.
23Renovation Options for Johnson Dining Hall
- Short term
- Renovate the dining area to improve ambiance
to lessen the cafeteria feel. - New tables chairs and/or booths
- Create more intimate seating areas higher
seating efficiency - New flooring options
- Ceiling banners other effects to lower the
ceiling - Attractive room dividers to hide unused areas
add interest - Consider using mobile stations in the dining
room to add interest lower congestion in the
main servery - More attractive easier-to-read station signage
24Renovation Options for Johnson Dining Hall
- Longer term
- Eliminate walls around the servery to open up
this space. - Create a true marche-style servery with more
made-to-order stations more display cooking
(eliminate the straight line). - Renovate the dishroom area.
- No longer need tray belt (continue trayless
service) - Renovate enlarge the kitchen to improve work
area efficiency. - Consider eco-friendly equipment.
- Energy saving dish machines
- Pulp cookers reduce pulp volume into
compostable materials - Energy saving hood systems (Melink)
- Preliminary Schematic Assumptions
- All residential students would be required to
buy a meal plan (2,330 in Fall 2009) - 10 takeout factor
- 5 of commuter students (2,629) would eat here
at the peak meal - 10 of faculty staff (50) would eat here at the
peak meal - 70 of meal plan holders would eat here during
the peak meal
25Johnson Dining Hall Schematic
26ESTIMATED Costs for JDH Facelift
NOTE These costs are estimated and will depend
on what actual changes the College decides to
make in JDH. These estimates need to be confirmed
with an architect and/or any other firm that
plans to work with York College on completing a
facelift at JDH.
27Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Offer anytime dining (all-you-care-to-eat) in
the main servery in LRL Dining Hall with takeout. - Research showed strong support for this style of
service. - Offer a wide menu variety selection more
made-to-order foods/display cooking. - Items rated as very important include
- Hot cold beverages
- Salad bar with fresh fruits vegetables
- Made-to-order sandwiches/wraps
- Breakfast foods
- Pasta pizza
- Comfort foods
- Grilled/fried chicken
- Baked goods
- Smoothies
- Ice cream
- Hours of operation 7 a.m.-Midnight
Sunday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m. , Friday-Saturday - Consider installing biometric hand reader at the
entrance(s). - Offer trayless service permanent ware
(non-disposables) as environmental strategic
options. - Methods of payment Meal plan swipe, Dining
Dollars, Flex Dollars, credit/debit cards cash - Maintain the c-store on the first level of the
new commons building.
28Porter Khouws Recommendations
- The main dining venue on West Campus will
require some physical changes in order to offer
anytime dining (all-you-care-to-eat) service. - Cash registers will need to be removed from each
station. - Checkers will need to be added to the entrance
points. - Freshens will need to be relocated.
- The dishroom will be undersized to hold a
dishmachine large enough to wash dishes. It will
also need to be relocated so that customers can
bus their own tables. - The current dishroom is designed to wash
utensils, etc. only.
29New West Dining Anytime Dining Venue Schematic
30Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Consider offering Anytime Dining meal plans.
- Three levels Unlimited Silver, Unlimited Gold,
Unlimited Platinum - Each plan offers varying levels of guest meal
passes Dining Dollars - Unlimited Silver Unlimited access (anytime
dining) to all-you-care-to-eat dining in Johnson
Dining Hall the new dining venue on West campus
during operating hours plus two guest meal passes
and 50 in Dining Dollars. - Estimated cost 2,075/semester (current cost of
Ultimate 21 Meal Plan) - Unlimited Gold Same privileges as Unlimited
Silver plus four guest meal passes and 150 in
Dining Dollars per semester. - Estimated cost 2,225/semester
- Unlimited Platinum Same privileges as Unlimited
Silver plus eight guest meal passes and 300 in
Dining Dollars per semester. - Estimated cost 2,375/semester
31Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Anytime Dining meal plans can provide students
with a more meaningful campus dining experience
(social bonding), especially freshmen. - All residential students would be required to
purchase the Unlimited Silver Plan but could
voluntarily buy up to Gold and/or Platinum Plans. - Go for the Gold marketing plan
- Market these plans to commuter students.
- Dining Dollars could be used in any retail venue
on campus. (They cannot be used off campus.) - If there is push-back from students who live in
apartments on West Campus, consider reinstating
current block meal plans for them.
32Meal Plan Revenue Projections
NOTE These projections are based on PKCs
recommended program only.
33Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Offer block meal plans for faculty/staff.
- Block 75 75 meals per semester at a cost of 4
per meal during unlimited access hours
Monday-Friday. Cost 300/semester - Block 50 50 meals per semester at a cost of
4.50 per meal during unlimited access hours
Monday-Friday. Cost 225/semester - Block 25 25 meals per semester at a cost of 5
per meal during unlimited access hours
Monday-Friday. Cost 125/semester - These customers may also purchase one of the
unlimited meal plans.
34Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Eliminate acceptance of meal equivalences at all
retail venues. - They arent equivalent.
- No need for them for residential students with
unlimited access meal plans. - Will help improve customer throughput
potential increase cash sales, especially at
Sparts Den. - Meal plan holders can use their Dining Dollars
if they want food from these venues. - Sparts Den
- Maintain current hours of operation service.
- Pura Vida
- Maintain current hours of operation service.
- Campbell Coffee Cart
- Maintain current hours of operation service.
- Make sure vending machines are operational
fully stocked at all times. - Accept credit/debit cards in all campus dining
venues including Johnson Dining Hall.
35Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Create three tiers of catering service in order
to better meet customers needs budgets - Premium Service For presidential and
high-level catered events - Standard Service For traditional luncheon
meetings and similar gatherings - Budget Service For groups with limited budgets
(pick up/no set up or tear down) - Offer campus customers the ability to order
pay for catered foods and have it delivered to
their offices/conferences rooms. - Maintain an updated catering webpage with menus,
specials, upcoming events calendar, promotions
and contact information. - Ideally, the College would utilize an events
management computer system that would interface
with the dining services physical plant
departments.
36Self Op vs. Contract
- Factors that go into making this decision
- Does YCP want to be in the foodservice business?
- Is YCP willing to commit the time, money
effort to recruit maintain a highly-qualified
foodservice general manager and staff? - Is YCP willing to continue to make the necessary
investment in equipment, facility point-of-sale
and inventory management business systems? - If the answer is YES, self-operation may be the
best option in the near future. - If at some point in the future, YCP is no longer
willing or able to make these commitments,
contracting could be re-considered.
37Factors to Consider
- Capital Investment
- JDH needs to be renovated.
- Can YCP fund this renovation?
- Self funding is preferred if possible.
- Secondary option Capital from a foodservice
management company - Most expensive option
- If contractor leaves before the end of the
contract period, unamortized capital generally
must be paid back in full within 1-30 days. - This option can be considered if YCP does not
have any other source of money to renovate JDH.
38Factors To Consider
- Financial
- Any dining services department, whether its
self-operated or run by a contract management
firm, must fully utilize the necessary business
tools to successfully manage the foodservice
operations. These business tools include - Weekly/month profit loss statements
- Weekly food costs for all units
- Weekly labor costs for all units
- A weekly physical inventory for all
food/non-food products - Standardized recipes for all menu items tied to
food production and inventory management in each
unit. - Daily adjustments of standardized recipes
inventory purchasing requirements based on
input from chefs/managers.
39Factors To Consider
- Customer Satisfaction
- For a self-operated dining services department,
all decisions are based on what is best for YCP
and its students and campus community. - By nature, foodservice management companies
first responsibility is to their stockholders.
Therefore, every decision made by these companies
in any account is driven by that responsibility,
not necessarily what is best for the client. - In general, a self-operated dining services
department is in a better position to make
immediate changes to its dining program when
necessary. Foodservice contractors often have
more red tape and corporate protocol to wade
through decisions and changes are often delayed.
40Porter Khouws Recommendations
- Rebid the foodservice contract.
- YCP is opening a new facility on West Campus
possibly making major changes to its dining
program. What is the optimum business model and
opportunity available in the marketplace? - Rebidding the contract allows YCP to make sure
that its program benefits from all that is
available in the marketplace. - Financial picture will change with new program,
what opportunities are available in the
marketplace?
41Trends on College Campuses Nationwide
42University of Georgia
43University of Georgia
44University of Georgia
45University of Georgia
46University of Nebraska
47University of Akron
48University of Akron
49College of Saint Benedict
50College of Saint Benedict
51College of Saint Benedict
52University of Pittsburgh Litchfield Towers
53University of Pittsburgh Litchfield Towers
54University of Pittsburgh Litchfield Towers
55University of Pittsburgh Litchfield Towers
56Ohio University
57St. Bonaventure University
58St. Bonaventure University
59Concordia College
60Concordia College
61Concordia College
62UC Berkeley
63UC Berkeley
64Executive Summary Report York College of
Pennsylvania February 5, 2009