INTRODUCTION: UNVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOOD COURT This study was designed to inform readers about the University of Central

Oklahoma (UCO) food court. Specifically, this study seeks to answer these questions: What is the history behind the UCO food court? Has there been anything new recently? What are the food court choices? What are the sales percentages? Who organized the composition of the UCO food court choices?

BACKGROUND: THE ROLE OF THE FOOD COURT AT UCO A team of Business Communication students organized this study of the UCO food court at the request of Professor Denson. Before authorizing the report topic, Professor Denson requested a list of topics for approval. Team members wanted to discuss topics related to the restaurant industry, and they chose the University of Central Oklahoma food court as an example. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the UCO food court is located in the Nigh University Center which is located in front of the visitors parking on the campus. The food court is across the hall from Starbucks on the side of the building closest to the Broncho Lake. It is on the main floor of the Night University Center making it an easy access to students and visitors alike. In the summer of 2009, renovations occurred for places such as Buddys and the food court. The main purpose of the UCO food court is to provide convenience to students and UCO faculty. After the 2009 renovations, the UCO food court and other dining services obtained many peoples attention. After receiving such attention with new aesthetics, the UCO food court and Buddys were able to grab more sales enough to where anyone could tell the difference. The UCO food court now contains five food selections, two in-house brands and three franchises. They have also recently installed another register at the cost of $25,000 due to high demand of shortening lines which have been seen as an incredible investment. There are currently few ideas being brainstormed about improvements that can be done to the food court as a whole, like with restaurants. The information for this study came from an interview from Bruce Barringer who is the senior director of dining services here at UCO and works under Compass Group; the Compass Group website; and physical observations of the food court itself.

DISCUSSION: HISTORY, FOOD SELECTIONS, AND COMPASS GROUP The results of all the research conveys to us how the food court and other dining services are managed and just some of the mechanisms of the dining services at UCO functions. The researched topics will be aligned with these three subjects: (a) history, (b) food selections, and (c) Compass Group. History The UCO food court has been in place for a very long time and had many changes, like the recent 2009 renovation. Although some restaurants stay the same from time to time, the UCO food court was generally always subject to change. For instance, there were different restaurants in 1998 that follows: Blimpies Sub Shop, a burger joint, a Mexican restaurant, a pizza joint, and the long standing Chick-Fil-A (Barringer). This portion of this report will be over history of UCO food court. Why Did It Start? The UCO food court started long ago simply because students needed convenience with busy schedules of studying. The UCO food court offered that to students with a variety of food types and convenience of being at the Nigh University Center. Companies like Sadeko or the present Compass Group help manage things like the UCO food court. Mr. Bruce Barringer said how his company develops menus fit for a college student. Renovations There are always many types of renovations that have been done to the UCO food court that are either on a big or small scale. The recent renovation was the one briefly mentioned earlier. Specifically, the 2009 renovation was done in response to the new management of Compass Group that decided remodel the Legends Restaurant, Buddys, the convenience store (now Outtakes), and the UCO food court that included the 2009 food composition: A&W Express, Chef Yan Can Cook, Quiznos Subs, and Mamma Leones (Barringer). There are still small remodeling like the in-house brands Chef Yan Can Cook (now Fire and Rice) and Mamma Leones (now 2. Mato). Mr. Barringer explained the reasons for those happened due to the poor performance. Competition There will always be competition in the food industry with the UCO food court being no exception. With big names like McDonalds, Flatire Burgers, and Starbucks surround the campus. Although Flatire Burgers was a fierce competitor to the food court, UCO has obtained Flatire Burgers in the composition. Mr. Barringer told us that Starbucks in the Nigh University Center is doing better than the one near campus and said that with big names surrounding, the UCO food court has a good fighting chance.

Food Selections University of Central Oklahoma offers students and faculty a combination of in-house and franchise food selections to choose from. 2.Mato and Fire and Rice are the in-house selections. Flatire Burgers, Chick-Fil-A, and Quiznos Sub are the franchise selections. This portion of the report will list food selections which includes menu items with prices. A comparison of total sales percentages are presented after all the menu items are displayed. 2.Mato 2.Mato is an in-house brand offered at University of Central Oklahoma. 2.Mato offers Italian food choices. The food choices are pizza, calzone, and pasta. 2.Mato sells whole pizzas or a slice of pizza. Combination meals include two slices of pizza and a soda, or a calzone and a soda. Figure 1 displays the menu items for 2.Mato.

Figure 1 MENU ITEMS FOR 2.MATO Pizza 2x4 Cheese Peperoni Sausage The Works Calzone & Pizzans Pasta Combo Meals 2 slices of cheese pizza & 20 oz. soda Calzone or Pizzan & 20 oz. soda Source: UCO food court menu board Whole $14.99 $15.99 $15.99 $16.99 $4.99 each $5.99 Slice $2.69 $2.99 $2.99 $3.19

$5.75 $5.39

Fire and Rice Fire and Rice is an in-house brand offered at University of Central Oklahoma. Fire and Rice offers Oriental food choices. Fire and Rice offers a one item combo, two item combo, and three item combo meals. Spring rolls can be found with the A la Carte items. Vegetable egg rolls are also sold at Fire and Rice. Figure 2 displays the menu items for Fire and Rice.

Figure 2 MENU ITEMS FOR FIRE AND RICE One item combo Two item combo Three item combo A la Carte Vegetable Egg Roll Source: UCO food court menu board $5.99 $6.49 $7.49 $3.49 $1.59

Flatire Burgers Flatire Burgers is a franchise brand offered at University of Central Oklahoma. Flatire Burgers offers a variety of burgers and a variety of fries. Fried pickles can be bought at Flatire burgers. The menu below lists part of the menu items offered. Flatire also offers several breakfast items which are not included below. Figure 3 displays the menu items for Flatire Burgers.

Figure 3 MENU ITEMS FOR FLATIRE BURGERS Classic Burger Cheeseburger Bacon Cheeseburger Mushroom & Swiss Burger Hickory Burger Flatire Blowout Flatire Famous Fish Taco Fried Pickles Fries Sweet Potato Fries Flatire Cheese Fries Source: UCO food court menu board $3.99 $4.25 $5.25 $4.99 $4.25 $5.99 $2.25 $3.89 $1.99 $2.50 $3.99

Chick-Fil-A Chick-Fil-A is a franchise brand offered at University of Central Oklahoma. Chick-Fil-A offers chicken sandwiches, chicken salads, nuggets, and waffle fries. There are regular chicken sandwiches and chargrilled chicken sandwiches to pick from. Chargrilled Chicken Salad and Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad are the two salads offered at Chick-Fil-A. The nuggets are sold with an eight count or a twelve count option. Figure 4 displays the menu items for ChickFil-A. 4

Figure 4 MENU ITEMS FOR CHICK-FIL-A Chicken Sandwich Chargrilled Chicken Salad Nuggets 8 count Nuggets 12 count Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich Chargrilled Chicken Garden Salad Waffle Potato Fries Source: UCO food court menu board $3.09 $5.89 $3.09 $4.49 $3.75 $5.89 $1.65

Quiznos Sub Quiznos Sub is a franchise brand offered at University of Central Oklahoma. Quiznos Sub offers a variety of sandwiches in that can different in size. The sandwich options include deli style, variety of chicken, and grilled flatbread. Figure 5 displays the menu items for Quiznos Sub.

Figure 5 MENU ITEMS FOR QUIZNOS SUB

Deli Style Small Regular Large All Natural Chicken Small Regular Large Savory Chicken Small Regular Large Grilled Flatbread Small Large Source: UCO food court menu board 5

$4.59 $5.99 $6.99

$4.99 $6.29 $7.79

$5.29 $6.69 $7.99

$3.29 $5.99

Sales Actual revenue amounts for these food selections are confidential. Compass Group at University of Central Oklahoma knows the actual revenue amounts. Right now Fire and Rice, Flatire Burgers, Chick-Fil-A, and Quiznos Sub each make about 20 percent of the overall profit for the food court while 2.Mato makes 10 percent of the overall profit which is making Compass Group currently brainstorm ideas to fix the low sales profits from 2.Mato (Barringer). Mr. Barringer continued to mention that the other 10 percent are the miscellaneous sales like food, chips, etc. Figure 6 displays a pie chart of the percentages for the combined sales of each food selection.

Figure 6

Comparison of Combined Sales

2. Mato (10%) Quiznos (20%)

Chick-Fil-A (20%) Flatire Burger (20%)

Fire and Rice (20%)

Source: 2012 Sales Percentages from Bruce Barringer

Compass Group Compass Group is the worlds leading food management and support services company. They operate in over 50 countries with leading market positions in the UK, Continental Europe, Australia and the US. Compass Group employs 470,000 associates worldwide and it serves around 4 billion meals a year in locations including offices, factories, schools, universities, hospitals, major sports and cultural venues, mining camps and oil platforms (Brown). Compass has several operating companies that each serve to different locations and audiences because of the diversity of their needs. The operating companies that makeup Compass Group are Canteen, Wolfgang Puck, Eurest, Chartwells, Restaurant Associates, Morrison, Bon Appetit, Crothall,

Thompson Hospitality, Levy Restaurants and Flix. From sporting events to healthcare facilities to upscale dining for corporations, all of these companies specialize for different markets. Chartwells Profile Chartwells is made up of three divisions: K-12 Schools, Independent Schools, and Higher Education (Stein). Because Chartwells is a division of Compass Group North America, it combines the resources of a global foodservices network with the on-site expertise of local managers. The combined resources behind Chartwells help them offer schools an affordable range of nutritious dining. What does Chartwells do for UCO? Chartwells has several assignments, aside from serving the food, to accomplish here at UCO. Serving food is an obvious function that Chartwells does but it is also responsible for things like maintaining and cleaning the food court, selecting which restaurants to install, contributing with budget decisions, and deciding on when to remove and make new restaurants. Chartwells is more of an advisor and mediator for the University of Central Oklahoma. Chartwells in Action Mr. Barringer said that cleaning and sanitation is always priority restaurant and Chartwells outsources for UCOs food court cleaning and other maintenance needs. UCO ultimately decides how it is going to spend its budget but Chartwells contributes to the decision. Mr. Barringer gave an example when UCO installed another cash register, costing $25,000, due to students complaining about long lines; Chartwells recommended this. He continued to say that there are two components for deciding on restaurants: sales and student feedback. Sales are always crucial for restaurants, but customer feedback is always important. Surveys are always an easy way to obtain information, especially amongst verbal students. Guiding Principles for Compass Group and Chartwells 1. Safety, Health and Environment First Never compromise on the health and safety of our customers and our people, and to responsibly manage the impact that our business has on the environment. 2. Delivering for Clients and Consumers Earn the continued loyalty of our customers by consistently demonstrating why we are the first choice for quality, service, value and innovation. 3. Developing our People and Valuing Diversity Recognize the diversity and contribution of our people. We create a work environment that is challenging and provides the opportunities and support for everyone to develop, learn and succeed. 4. Profitable Growth Deliver shareholder value through disciplined, sustainable growth, underpinned by strong governance, which contributes to and leverages the benefits of our global scale. 5. Constant Focus on Performance and Efficiency Deliver the highest quality and performance, whilst relentlessly driving to be the lowest cost, most efficient provider. 7

CONCLUSIONS Analysis of various physical observations, personal interviews, and extensive online research conveys the following conclusions about the UCO food court: 1. There are constant renovations, from small to big, for the food court and other related dining areas. 2. Competition is definitely around the corner, but the food court has its own advantages. 3. The sales percentages for each of the food selections are relatively similar except the weakening 2.Mato. 4. The UCO food court is ran by a company called Compass Group with the sub-division Chartwells primarily deals with UCO. Based on all the information gathered, it can be concurred that the UCO food court is operated by Compass Group who makes decisions and proposals as an advisor. Although many students or even faculty may not be familiar with this name, they are the masterminds behind the dining services at UCO. They are actually very involved in making decisions to help cater to students needs, including surveys being used for information. The history and food selections wouldnt exist without companies like Compass Group smoothly running the show.