Aramark Collegiate Hospitality works to continuously strengthen campus dining options and enhance experiences by engaging feedback from all consumers—especially students.
One way that happens is through a Council of Student Advisors, which meets throughout the year with Aramark Collegiate Hospitality leadership to gain insights and feedback on current and future programs.
"The Council is one of the ways we directly talk to customers that we serve from across the country,” said Jack Donovan, President and CEO, Aramark Collegiate Hospitality. “It gives us a chance to vet ideas with them, bounce ideas off of them, and talk about things we may think about in the future in terms of the way hospitality can unfold on a university campus."
"I'm hoping to make the dining experience more diverse and also more convenient for students across all campuses. I'm hoping my feedback here will contribute towards that."
- Deborah Adebanjo, Fordham University
For the 2023-2024 school year, 11 students from various universities across the U.S. were invited to participate in the Council of Student Advisors. Several of those students traveled to Philadelphia in January 2024 to take part in an in-person summit at which they shared presentations on topics such as:
- Importance of campus events contributing to the student experience. Students have expressed a desire to make campuses feel more like home through meals, culture-friendly menus, and engaging events;
- Ways to express compassion for others, including addressing food insecurity and creating personal connections on campus;
- Elevating the use of technology and forward-thinking ideas, such as expanded chat bot capabilities, enhanced student dietary profiles, and expansion of robot delivery on campus; and
- Ways to enhance service and quality with menu variety and innovation.
"One of the best things about being a leader is that sometimes you have to serve. If I'm not able to serve on the Council again, maybe I can prepare the next person to go in there with the energy, go in there with charisma, go in there with the drive to be different."
- Tre'Vione Johnson, Southern University
Video: Learn more about this year's Council of Student Advisors
