In the Spring 2008 UofL began the Request for Proposal process (RFP), to solicit proposals from other dining service providers.  This was in response to SGA’s advocacy and the desire to provide dining services that meet student expectations.

Three dining services providers expressed interest and only two of them presented a plan about how they would best serve student expectations as determined by our request. After a diverse committee of students, faculty and staff vetted each plan, which did include the proposed meal plan, they made a unanimous recommendation on which dining service provider we should pursue.  Then this committee made their recommendation to University Leadership team.

Even after unanimous agreement from the committee, the University Leadership team sent it back to obtain more student feedback.  Specifically feedback was requested about the $250 meal plan for full-time, undergraduate, commuter students on the Belknap Campus.  They charged Student Affairs and SGA to assemble another dynamic group of students that represents all aspects of the University; it had commuter students, traditional students, scholarship students, etc., who also unanimously agreed with their decision.

With unanimous assurance from this outside group, the decision to choose Sodexo as UofL’s Belknap Campus dining service provider was made in late June 2008.

2008-09 will mark the third step of this plan.  Under the leadership of SGA President Rudy Spencer and Services Vice President Dani Smith, SGA will continue to use its resources to develop an infrastructure to maintain the level of student expectations for dining services throughout the remainder of the Sodexo contract.