Dining Proposal Review Postponed Until After Break
BY BILL LASCHER

The stress of midterms does not only affect students individually. Members of the committee that will be choosing a finalist from among the companies vying to be Oberlin’s new dining service provider have decided to postpone their review of proposals until after Spring Break.
Midterms loom for the two student members on the committee and details are still being ironed out about how much influence individuals involved with the selection process but unable to vote on the proposals will have. As a result, there is little chance the entire committee would have had the time to pore over the immense volumes these companies have submitted with their proposals in order to make an informed decision before Spring Break.
“Maybe it was a bit ambitious to think that we could get all this read [this week],” Kim LaFond, director of Residential Life and Services and a committee member, said. Officially dubbed the Request for Proposals committee, the group was originally due to review proposals this week in order to discuss and rate them in a March 17 meeting. 
Much is at stake in the decision and those who are involved are clearly cautious about rushing into it. Six companies are bidding to take the meal plan management reins from Sodhexo-Marriott, which is competing with them to remain as the College’s dining service provider. The decision will determine the provider for the next five years.
RFP is actually a six-seat subcommittee of the 20-seat Housing and Dining Committee. The entire Housing and Dining committee will have the opportunity to discuss the various bids in a meeting on April 7, but the RFP alone will decide on the final proposals. This has led to some confusion among members of both committees as to who should be allowed to participate in the actual voting, a process which must ultimately reach a consensus.
In fact, none of the sources the Review spoke with presented the same understanding of how the members of the committee were chosen. Senior Daniel Schwartz is a residential coordinator in Barrows and a member of the Housing and Dining Committee. Despite his interest in serving on the RFP he said he was not allowed to be a member because the school’s regulations require that to have voting status, a student member must be appointed by Student Senate to ensure that he or she is representative of the student body. Schwartz was chosen by RCs to represent them on the committee.
“It’s the way Student Senate and the school decides to govern things,” Schwartz said. “I wish it was different.”
There are two positions on the six-seat RFP committee held by students. Neither of the students currently eats in the Campus Dining Service. Although senior Brie Abbe said that she was not aware that both student RFP members ate in OSCA, she recognized the problems that fact might pose. Nevertheless, she said that OSCA will be affected by the decision as well and that she will be able to be impartial.
“Though I’m a co-op member and I’ve been one for four years,” Abbe said, “I’m not a vehement co-opper.”
One of the reasons she volunteered to be an RFP member, Abbe said, was that no one else volunteered when the Housing and Dining Committee selected the members. According to her, when the issue came up the members of the Housing and Dining Committee said they didn’t have enough interest or were too busy to serve on the RFP. She acted surprised when it was brought up that there were other students, such as Schwartz and senior Kirk Harris, who wanted to be on the committee.
“I’m really happy to be in this position,” Abbe said. “I’m honored, but I didn’t expect this. But I do think I will do a good job.”

The issue students have raised more than any other is the current organization of the meal plans. “Students have been loud and clear as far as the meal plan itself,” LaFond said. Specifically, students who live off-campus have made it clear that they want the opportunity to eat off-board, and those on-campus do not find the choice of meal plans flexible enough.”
This issue is not a responsibility of the dining service providers. It is the College that sets the meal plan, said Assistant Director of Residential Life and Services Michele Gross, a member of the RFP committee. “We look for companies to make recommendations,” Gross said. Both she and LaFond emphasized that whatever the recommendations, they must respect the underlying identity of Oberlin College and its status as a residential college. She said they will tell the companies “Let’s try to bring your abilities and our campus and culture together.”
Harris is a member of the Housing and Dining Committee as well as a student manager at Dascomb and Stevenson. Like Schwartz, he also expressed an interest in being on the RFP. Although he is not a member, he has paid close attention to the whole bidding process and to students’ concerns about the dining system. He also said everyone seemed to be concerned about the meal plan, but he recognized that this was an issue for the College to decide upon rather than the dining service. 
One issue of interest to students that the companies will be able to address is the use of organic and locally grown foods. “All the companies genuinely seem to be trying to reach out to the community,” LaFond said.
Any student who wants to look at the seven proposals can request to see them at either the ResLife office or in the reserve room at the library. If students wish to make any comments, they can fill out a form by hand or electronically on the ResLife web page.