Firm cooks up plan for Dining

Food services consultant John Cornyn had never seen so many food trucks at a university before coming to Penn. "The food trucks are everywhere," Cornyn said. Cornyn and his partner, Joyce Fasano, have been hired by the University to conduct a comprehensive study of all food services across campus, including restaurants and food trucks that service the area -- and Dining Services. The Cornyn Fasano Group is an independent food services consulting group. After just one week on campus, Cornyn and Fasano have already met with several administrators and student leaders to discuss food services informally. "Our goal right now is to define a program that is successful and meets the needs of the campus community," Director of Support and Business Services Marie Witt said. When Executive Vice President John Fry announced this summer that Dining Services would undergo a full evaluation, employees voiced concern over the possibility that they could lose their jobs if the department was outsourced. But Cornyn said the study is not focusing on outsourcing Dining Services, although that is one option under consideration. "We're not here to deliver a predetermined outcome," Cornyn said. "The facts and the research will guide everyone to the ultimate solution." Witt said University administrators are looking at several options to improve food services on campus, including partnering and developing strategic alliances with food companies. "If we limit this to simply a decision to outsource or not, we really have kind of negated all the other possibilities, I think," Witt said. "We really want to find out what's the best direction for Penn to go in." Representatives from Cornyn Fasano have met with Dining Services managers and hope to meet with other employees as the study continues. The food services study will be split into two phases. Cornyn Fasano first plans to survey at least 400 people over the telephone. The company will survey more than 600 others by intercepting them on campus during various times of the day. The consulting group will formulate the survey questions after meeting with eight different focus groups this week, Fasano said. The focus groups will include undergraduates, graduate and professional students, faculty and University staff. All of the data should be collected before Thanksgiving and the study's first phase is expected to be completed by December, according to Cornyn. Cornyn Fasano, based in Portland, Ore., will visit the campus nine times during the first part of the study. "Our challenge has been to learn what Penn's all about," Cornyn said. The second phase involves analyzing the data and identifying possible options for managing food services. Cornyn Fasano should have a final proposal prepared by April, Witt said. A steering committee that includes administrators, faculty and students has been appointed to work with the consultants on the study. Cornyn Fasano has performed previous studies at Yale, Washington and Stanford universities, in addition to several other institutions.

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