Nov. 16, 2015
Dear Drew community members,
I write to share an update on our efforts on a University priority—enhancing dining on campus through a renovation of the Commons and a review of food options campuswide.
We anticipate that the new Commons will open in fall 2016, and our goals center around the theme of Community:
- Renovate the Commons to provide a top-notch dining experience.
- Provide vibrant, diverse and well-executed dining services, with product quality as the number one goal.
- Utilize the dining program itself to build community across all campus constituencies.
- Apply traditional and non-traditional concepts and services to meet the unique and diverse dining needs at Drew.
To date, we have:
- Formed a Dining Task Force with representation from Athletics, Campus Life, Facilities, Students, Sustainability, Finance and Student Accounts.
- Conducted focus groups with students on the food and services such as hours of operation and venues.
- Hired Brailsford & Dunlavey, a food management consultant, to assist us with selecting a food services provider, an architectural firm and a contractor.
- Chose Kimmel Bogrette as our architectural firm.
- Solicited proposals from food services companies, and received five.
Some of our next steps include:
- Engaging in the design phase of the project with the architects, which will include opportunities for input from the campus community, especially students.
- Selecting the contractor and signing a contract, likely by mid-December.
- Exploring locations and logistics temporary kitchen and dining facilities in case they are necessary.
- Finalizing the project timeline.
We will continue to share updates on this project over the coming months, and I look forward to working with the campus community to make it a success!
Best regards,
MaryAnn
MaryAnn Baenninger
President
