by Zachary Zettler
T
he classroom and the dining hall share an important goal: Keeping students engaged and providing a sense of belonging and community positively impacts student persistence. This engagement can improve persistence and can lead to more memorable campus experiences, which ultimately may create engaged alumni. As hubs for student activity, dining facilities play a key role in keeping students (and their dining dollars) on campus. Three key strategies can help institutions get the most out of student dining facilities: broadening menu choices, optimizing dining facilities to be occupied outside of meal hours, and creating intentional environments that encourage students to choose spaces on their own terms.
Well before COVID-19, fast casual dining was responding to changing consumer demands. Familiar standbys like pizza and burgers had yielded market share to global flavors, lifestyle bowls, and gluten-free offerings that use healthy, freshly prepared ingredients. Also, the pandemic accelerated changes in how people get meals, where they eat them, and the dining experience they want. Door Dash, GrubHub, and other mobile ordering apps have only increased competition and convenience. Students expect options – vegan, dairy-free, keto, and low-carb options – and will go off campus if they can’t find what they’re looking for.
Heightened awareness about food allergens is also impacting the design and operation of dining facilities. A good example is the recent renovation of the University of Cincinnati’s MarketPointe, which includes a dedicated food preparation area to avoid cross-contamination and provides menu options that align with student demand. It is conveniently located between two residence halls and offers a boost to student well-being with its natural lighting, inspiring campus views, and a nature-based color palette.
Giving students options goes beyond considering what they eat. Dining facilities are hubs for student connection, offering opportunities to build their peer network, make friends, feel a sense of belonging, and learn from each other. Incorporating a coffee shop vibe helps encourage students to use the space when it’s convenient for them. Anyone who has stepped into an off-campus Starbucks in the late afternoon knows they’re often bustling with students catching up after a day spent in class. Dining facilities can become an on-campus version of that through intentional design and operation. With the right combination of furniture design and placement, they can support different seating postures (booths, banquettes, counters, soft seating, and tables) for both dining and social activities. Equally important is access to power outlets. Students are more likely to frequent a venue and stay longer if they can easily charge their devices.
Callahan Dining Hall at Northern Kentucky University is a good example of this. Portions of the space are flexible thanks to sliding doors that allow it to be reshaped and remain open after dining hours. Liz Birkenhauer, associate director of planning design and construction, explains that during its last renovation they focused on making the space cozy as well as flexible. “Our survey prior to construction asked students about their seating preferences, food choices, and what they would like to see in the dining area.” Part of the feedback from students was the request to make the space feel less branded and more like home, so following that advice they took the seating capacity down from 180 to 100 and toned down elements of the university’s branding. Along with the seating choices and the warm atmosphere, Birkenhauer says it’s a beautiful space that students seem to enjoy. According to a 2020 survey of their facilities, Callahan received a satisfaction rate between 60% and 75%.
A well-optimized student dining facility could also host outside organizations for otherwise low use periods: think breakfast meetings, evening community meetings, campus club gatherings, or movie nights. All these strategies help keep dining facilities feeling populated, welcoming, and lively outside of meal hours. Additionally, a marketplace strategy that co-locates dining and student services can further optimize dining facilities and increase the likelihood of students taking advantage of critical support, like mental health services.
The renovated Posner Hall/Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) offers a mix of academic and student services. Co-locating these services along with food service options made it more convenient for students to discover and access those services. Posner GSIA is now part of a student services ecosystem for the mind and body thanks to the food options and the nearby campus recreation center. Joe Beaman, director of dining services at CMU, notes that bringing food space into the building made it possible to complete this ecosystem. Posner is in its 20th year with the dining partner for this space and serves as an example of wanting to offer students an experience beyond the plate. As Beaman notes, “This is one of many spaces built like this, we have a dance studio space that is similar, where we are making the most of non-revenue space to drive community.”
Research reveals that what seems like a simple act – choosing a seat in a crowded room – is actually a complex psychological process impacted by the qualities of the environment and the presence of other people. Also at play is a desire to balance intimacy, individuality, and freedom. Creating a series of transition zones between campus and the dining space can help students, especially first-year students or introverted students, feel less exposed and vulnerable when they enter the dining space.
At the University of Cincinnati’s MarketPointe, the entry zones let students scan the room at successive scales, find familiar faces, and survey the seating options, which avoids thrusting students into the middle of the lunchroom scrum. Spaces without these zones increase students’ anxiety about dining to a point where they may consider off-campus options. Different seating options also help students feel comfortable by making them feel less on display if they’re dining alone. At Cincinnati’s Marian Spencer Hall, counter seating with a view provides single diners a welcome perch.
Dining options play a bigger role today in attracting and retaining students (and winning over parents during campus tours). They can be a critical factor in a decision to attend a school. Therefore, it’s important to adapt how these spaces are designed and operated. Campuses can no longer rely on the traditional dining models of the past. Attractive, flexible, and welcoming campus dining facilities support positive student outcomes by satisfying more than their appetite for menu options. This connective space, away from the classroom, feeds their desire to connect, feel a sense of belonging, make friends, build networks, and make memories.
Zachary Zettler is the director of higher education and a principal at the architecture firm GBBN.
