Taylor University, in partnership with AVI, has unveiled a number of new dining features for students as they return to campus for the semester.
“I’m really excited about the upgrades,” Skip Trudeau, vice president for Student Development, at Taylor said.
The university and AVI are in the process of resurrecting the food truck that Taylor used for a period of time during COVID. They hope to have it in operation starting in November, at a few different popup locations on campus, offering a variety of foods depending on the day.
“It could be used for special events, concessions, catering events and just outside events in general,” Stephen Olson, the chief financial officer at Taylor, said. “It is another food option for students with the meal swipe during the lunch period.”
This food truck concept will help to minimize long lines that tend to form during lunch and dinner hours at the DC and the Campus Center, said both Olson and Trudeau.
The university is working to find additional ways to manage the lines by creating new options to mitigate the wait time. They are also working with employees to be as quick and efficient as possible as they serve.
“AVI and I are constantly revising the best practices for managing the lines,” Sean Wojtkowski, the resident director of AVI at Taylor, said. “There is no quick fix, but I can assure you that my team is working with our staff to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible and doing everything we can to get the food to the students as quickly as possible.”
Additionally, the school will be introducing mobile ordering on the student dining app, Nown Campus. They conducted a trial over the summer, experimenting with different iterations of the feature before the entire student body returned to campus.
Olson said they are aiming to have the Jumping Bean be the first location on campus to use the mobile ordering option.
He hopes mobile ordering will be fully operational by the end of October. Mobile dining will be available for Freshens, Chick-Fil-A, Zondy’s and The Jumping Bean.
The main two issues they have encountered are throttling and working through permission from Chick-Fil-A corporate, Olson said.
Throttling addresses the challenge of balancing how many orders can be received at a time. This number is limited in order to prevent any given dining location from becoming overwhelmed.
While working on the internal functions of dining, Taylor also completed a number of construction projects surrounding the renovated and expanded DC. A large plaza with three fire pits and a pavilion branching off to the side offers much more seating for students. It has also already become a popular space for socializing, homework and wing events.
“It’s a spectacular venue,” Trudeau said. “I think there will be a lot of programming, a lot of extra events that happen in that space.”
Olson said the plaza features heaters under the covered area in order to allow for students to enjoy time outside even in the colder months. The patio also includes pipes beneath the concrete that will run hot water to prevent ice from forming on the surface.
AVI made acai bowls available for a meal swipe at Freshens in the Campus Center. Alongside the acai bowls, they also added two additions to their smoothie menu.
“Freshens approached us to be one of the several locations testing the new acai bowls and smoothie options,” Wojtkowski said.
The Jumping Bean also has a new menu option – the Tractor Beverage Refreshers. Four different flavors are available for purchase with dining dollars. The Jumping Bean also switched from 12 and 16 ounce cup options to 16, 20 and 24 ounce options.
Overall, said Olson, Taylor and AVI have worked hard to introduce many improvements over the summer and the course of the fall semester. They want the dining experience at Taylor University to be ever-improving and adjusting to the needs of the growing student body.
