Above the West Union Building, unbeknownst to most students, the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee meets weekly to discuss issues that impact almost everything on campus related to food.
At its meeting Monday night, Plato's European Cafe presented DUSDAC with its proposal to establish a new venue on campus. It was one of three restaurants that DUSDAC has heard from in the past month as they try to improve campus dining.
"This is a very exciting time for Duke Dining," said DUSDAC co-chair Jason Taylor, a junior. "We are very interested in improving the dining experience for all students no matter what that means."
Plato said it would bring variety to the current dining options on West Campus by serving homestyle meals as well as gourmet coffee in a casual, sit-down environment. DUSDAC committee members said they were still in the process of finding a location for such a venue and considering the other options. The committee continually evaluates campus eateries, a practice that lends itself to changes to the Duke dining scene.
The most recent addition to Duke Dining-Chinese restaurant Panda Express, opened at the beginning of this semester-incited mixed responses from students, some of whom said they were disappointed by yet another fast food chain on campus.
"We would be serving WaDuke food at Great Hall prices," said one of the four Plato representatives at the meeting.
DUSDAC also heard a proposal from a group of freshmen participating in the Office of Student Activities and Facilities' Duke Student Ventures program. Their student-run company hopes to incentivize off-campus dining by offering discount cards to freshmen for restaurants within walking distance of East Campus as a supplement to their meal plans. The proposal would give the option of purchasing a discount card at the same time incoming freshmen choose their meal plans.
Though the group provided few details regarding the logistics of the plan, DUSDAC gave feedback on the proposal, suggesting that the group needs to secure approval from dining administration before moving forward.
In addition, representatives from the student group said they felt Duke Dining does not always take student interests into account in making dining decisions.
Taylor and co-chair Sarah Ramig, a senior, said DUSDAC hopes to counter this notion by soliciting greater input from undergraduates. They emphasized the need for students to step forward with suggestions and comments through the committee's Web site and e-mail address.
"I'm excited to make DUSDAC more accessible to students and to begin getting more feedback," Ramig said. "Improvement can mean many things to many different students, which makes things difficult."
To follow through on that promise, committee members discussed a new Merchants on Points survey which will soon be available to students. The survey will ask participants to rate their transactions with each of the Durham-area restaurants who accept food points and provide feedback to the committee.
"I'm excited for the Merchants on Points programs," Taylor said. "I think [DUSDAC] can greatly improve it for all parties."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.