Hospitality Services is trying to reach out to its customers and offer “multi-sensory” and more convenient services. Vicki Dunn, senior director of strategic planning and marketing, explained multi-sensory by saying that the changes hope to create locations that appeal to many of the customer’s senses simultaneously. According to their presentation, the focus of the food services is changing from a nine month campus to a year round campus. They are attempting to “create a restaurant experience rather than just a dining hall,” says Dunn.

They have been working with MGT Consulting and Duffy and Associates to develop the plans for revitalizing hospitality services. They are also tracking student patterns on campus using “Map2” software to determine which areas students congregate in at which times. This involves taking into consideration class schedules, traffic patterns, and event scheduling.

A change that Hospitality Services hopes to see in the DCC in the near future is the development of the full service “Jazzman’s Cafe.” The cafe will serve Seattle’s Best Coffee, in addition to Starbucks or Green Mountain, which are already served on campus. The design of the Jazzman’s Cafe will represent a large change from the current food cart. “We want something where you walk up and go wow,” says Dunn. Jazzman’s Cafe will be open whenever the DCC is open.

Across from Academy Hall they are developing a new Coffee House, which will include ice cream from the Cold Stone Creamery. Entertainment will include poetry reading and classical guitar music, and based on student feedback, the plan is to not have TVs. The site used to be the Screen-It t-shirt store. “We want to make it a funky kind of place, not just the old t-shirt shop,” says Dunn. They will be serving a fourth brand of coffee in the yet to be named coffee house.

There are plans to renovate the Library Cafe or add a food location to the Mueller Center. “[Students] can grab something so [they] can work out a little longer’” says Dunn.

In the Rathskellar, Hospitality Services is planning to enlarge the current eateries to include a few “signature retail restaurants.” These include Subconnection, based on Subway; Sky Ranch Grill, which will feature hand made burgers and chicken sandwiches; Salsa Rico, featuring Mexican food; and “Pandinis,” says Dunn. They want to remove the wall separating the game room from the seating area, take out the bowling lanes, and add more seating “neighborhoods” in which to eat. The pool tables, ping pong tables, and arcade machines will stay under the current plans.

Hospitality Services had planned to make the McNeil Room in the Union into a “15th Street Marketplace” that would include sushi and fresh made or pre-prepared sandwiches Dunn said. The plans also included opening up the entire room, removing the lobbies, and having more space with fewer tables.

Objections to this proposal, however, were strong. “This would turn the two large spaces in the Union into two giant restaurants,” said Grand Marshal Mike Dillon. Dunn said that their plans for the McNeil room would have to be looked at again.

The most major change in the Commons will be flipping the Pacifica and Grill locations. “We have places with too many people going to it but not enough space,” stated Dunn. She said that plans currently call for an exhibition cooking area for Pacifica.

They are also planning renovations to the BARH dining hall. “We’re looking to give it more of a casual restaurant dining experience,” says Dunn.

Plans for the Russell Sage Dining Hall include enlarging the dining area. “It’s a very popular place; we know there’s not enough seating,” says Dunn. The plans call for certain walls to be removed, and to use differently sized tables so as to increase the amount of seating available.