By KELLI FONTENOT
Published Oct. 1, 2008 by The Current Sauce
Students in Vic's who appear to be casually working on their homework might actually have something more mysterious up their sleeves.
Sodexo general manager Vance Howe teamed up with the Student Government Association this week to collect constructive criticism and comments that may improve students' campus dining experience.
The program will start this week if Howe can find at least two students willing to participate in his new "Mystery Shopper" program.
He plans to add $50 to the meal plan of each shopper as well as questionnaires to use while ranking the quality of the food and service they encounter. The students must keep their shopper identities secret and avoid tipping off any of the Sodexo employees.
A mystery shopper must eat at each location - Iberville and Vic's - about once a week, Howe said.
He said he will also consider sending student shoppers to the C-Store on campus - and Grill 155°, once its new location opens later in the semester.
Because the plans are still in the early stages, Howe may reconsider the project depending on the amount of students who are intrigued enough to apply.
"I don't even know if there are any students interested in doing this," Howe said.
Howe developed his plan after a discussion with SGA vice president Mark Daniels and student affairs commissioner Jason Thibodeaux.
"It's a partnership," Howe said. "We want to make sure that we're both on the same page and we're working together to improve dining services."
Daniels met with Howe after he and SGA president Cody Bourque visited Iberville around 6:20 p.m. earlier this semester and found many of the serving lines closed. The salad bar was taken apart, and employees were no longer serving French fries, despite the boiling hot oil in the fryer, Daniels said.
Closing down 40 minutes early is unacceptable for a cafeteria on a college campus, Daniels said.
Some SGA senators conducted an informal mystery shopper program of their own last semester, writing down some of the issues they noticed while dining at Vic's and Iberville, Daniels said.
Thibodeaux, a sophomore history major, said he and other SGA members have noted that the long lines and monotonous menus could definitely see some improvement.
This week is "crunch time" for the mystery shopper project, so Thibodeaux said he plans to fill out paperwork and meet with Howe to finalize things as soon as possible.
He is also on the lookout for potential mystery shoppers.
"I had talked to a few students, and they were really excited about something, some kind of program like that that would help the students," Thibodeaux said.
Thibodeaux said the SGA is looking for honest opinions regarding the "all-around experience" of dining at Vic's and Iberville.
One of Thibodeaux's priorities would be to keep more than one register open between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to cut down on wait time, he said.
Daniels also said that because Grill 155° may be open as late as 10 p.m. once it opens, he suggested temporarily keeping Iberville open later so that there will be at least one dining area open on campus after 7 p.m. in the meantime.
Howe plans to take these problems - as well as those discovered by the mystery shoppers - into consideration.
Daniels, who works as a chef for Mama's and Papa's restaurants on Front Street, said he is familiar with the culinary industry and mystery shopper programs.
The method has been a part of the restaurant industry for years. Owners and managers implement similar programs to keep tabs on their workers and make sure every entrée meets standards.
The mystery shopper program may be followed by a comment card system for students who want to offer their feedback.
Howe even plans to display a board comparing the time the mystery shoppers express their concerns with the time it takes to solve the problems.
"That way, you can actually see that there's something being done," Howe said.
Daniels said he has enjoyed working with Howe, the third general manager NSU has seen in the last three years.
The mystery shopper program will have students paying attention to what they eat - and to the students around them.
Knock three names off the list of people who may be mystery shoppers, though. Because Daniels, Bourque and Thibodeaux brought the issue of campus dining improvement to light, they've decided to stay on the business side.
