COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Chartwells Higher Education launches BLUEPRINT evaluation framework for campus dining The three-tier evaluation framework uses in-depth data and analytics to provide a roadmap for campus dining programs to improve student satisfaction and program performace.
C hartwells Higher Education is digging into the data to help dining teams across the country enhance their pro- grams. The foodservice pro- vider announced the official launch of BLUEPRINT, an evaluation framework that uses in-depth data and analytics to provide campus dining programs with a roadmap to improve student satisfaction and program performance. The goal of BLUEPRINT is to help din- ing teams “uncover opportunities,” says Chartwells Higher Education’s VP of Insights Janelle Craft. “So maybe areas that could use additional food services, or maybe it’s an area that is really pop- ular at a certain day part, like it’s a late- night area, so what can we do there?” BLUEPRINT is built around three tiers that allow campuses to tailor the frame- work based on their individual needs. The most comprehensive tier involves a full campus study and focuses on long-term goals; the middle tier is more focused and homes in on things like a dining hall renovation, and the final tier focuses on short term, specific program changes. Data is at the core of whatever tier a campus chooses, and the Chartwells Higher Education team uses a variety of analytics to determine their recommen- dations, including student traffic pat - terns, consumer preferences and insights, sales performance, campus master plans and even the different hubs on campus. “Often, you’ll find there’s like an ac - ademic core, there’s like a social hub, there’s residential areas,” says Craft. “And so, we look at all of that, and fac- BY BENITA GINGERELLA
says Craft, adding that they saw “some increases in satisfaction scores at Florida, when some of it was initially rolled out.” It’s still a little early to “real- ize all the results,” says Craft, so the team will continue to monitor out- comes from the pilot as time goes on. As the needs of today’s college students are constantly evolving, Craft feels that the data-driven guid- ance offered by BLUEPRINT will be key to helping Chartwells teams at schools across the country stay up to date on what students expect from the dining options on campus. “We have our Gen Z students today, we’re looking at Gen Alpha coming up, and, they continuously want really per- sonalized experiences, and they want lo- cations and brands that really resonate with them and reflect their values and who they are,” she says.“[BLUEPRINT] is really helping us to understand what the students are looking for, and even get a little bit of a glimpse into what’s to come and the way that they like to move and interact with campus.”
tor all of that into our overall analysis.” When it comes to analyzing con- sumer preferences, the team relies heavily on its annual Campus Dining Index, which had over 100,000 respons- es this year, as well as focus groups that take place every spring semester. Along with analyzing data behind a screen, subject matter experts (SME) visit campus to conduct on-site visits and gain a deeper understanding of the school and its students. Once all the data is in and the SMEs have done their visit, they present their findings to campus of - ficials and make their recommendations. “We walk through it togeth- er and answer questions, and at the end of the day, come togeth- er on one direction,” says Craft. BLUEPRINT has been piloted at the University of Florida where it has been met with positive feedback so far. “We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from our partners as well as our inter- nal team members through the process,”
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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