New changes are happening within Aramark Dining services on the campus of Grambling State University. Former catering director Karen Ashford has been named as the new Service Director for Aramark dining.
She is taking the place of Chuck Parson who was promoted within the company and relocate to Seattle to serve West Washington University as their Campus Service Director.
Ashford has been with Aramark going on 14 years, and says that so far “her journey has been smooth.”
Other changes also include Carday Marshall who was recently promoted from Tiger Express Retail Restaurant Manager to Manager for Aramark.
One of her main focuses is that she wants the community to know the dining hall and Cash Street is open to everyone, not just on campus students. For many who don’t know Cash Street is also a food service that Aramark offers, they serve more of a down home cooking style food as well as northern Louisiana cuisine.
With campus dining under new management, new menu changes have also been implemented. Vegetarian options are now readily available, dietary information is advertised so students are educated about the nutritional value and more proteins options are being served.
Throughout the semester Aramark not only handles issues about dining hall, but Tiger Express as well. Tiger Express which operates Burger King, Homezone, Panda Express and Tapio’s Pizza. These options offer alternatives to only students but commuter students as well. One of the ongoing issues that seem to frustrate students is that the network that handles Gflex and Tiger buck transactions goes offline therefore only allowing students to pay with cash. The declining balance and Gflex option is available to all students, primarily geared towards commuter students it allows students to set aside funds from their refund so they don’t have to use their cash to purchase food and personal items from the C-store.
Ashford says that ” Aramark has no control over the system but when the declining balance server is down, we place the calls in to IT hoping they can solve the issue. ”
Students have also noticed the limit of people that are allowed to enter into the C-store. Due to excessive theft, this contributes to the increasing price of items, this also limits the services that Aramark is able to offer. Senior Education major Danielle Copeland says “the fact that management would have to post a sign it’s sad, we are in a college setting “.
Ashford is also encouraging commuter students to purchase off campus meal options, with late classes and not a variety of healthy options available after hours when going home. The dining hall allows students all you can eat at an affordable price. Commuters and students can also reload their Tiger one card to accommodate their budget. Graduating Senior Mass Communication Savannah Dillon commuter says “I love eating at Cash Street but wish it was available in the evening”.
As students will see positive changes are happening to make your dining experience worth a bite. For more information contact Aramark Dining Services