in brief 2008-09-01

Via Christi Senior Services will take over management of dining and some other services for the Wichita Center, a convent housing 80 Catholic nuns of the St. Louis-based Adorers of the Blood of Christ order. Via Christi plans to try to get the convent, which includes an onsite nursing home for elderly nuns, licensed as a long-term care center eligible for state Medicaid reimbursement.

Ball State University Dining Services has launched a blog site on which students can interactively communicate with the department about campus dining issues.

Delaware North Companies Sportservice has been named the exclusive food and beverage services provider at the XL Center in Hartford, CT, the state's largest indoor sports and entertainment facility.

The University of Florida has opened outlets of the Moe's Southwest Grill and Chili's Too commercial chains on its campus. The Chili's Too is the first in Gainesville while the Moe's is the first on the UF campus.

Southern Utah University has engaged Chartwells Educational Dining Service to manage its previously self-operated campus dining operations. As part of its deal, Chartwells will invest around $600,000 to renovate and restructure the Sharwan Smith Center.

Aramark Higher Education was awarded the contract to manage the Georgetown University Hotel & Conference Center on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Spartanburg (SC) Day School has opened its 11,000-sq.ft. new dining commons. It includes a new kitchen with modern equipment that allows the school's new executive chef, Edward Kaminski, and his 12-person staff to prepare healthy, appealing meals for the school's 475 students.

Hawaii public schools are seeing a decline in the number of students enrolled in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program in the past two years following a drop in enrollment and the opening of more charter schools. Last year, 68,833 students received free or reduced lunches, down from 72,100 the year before.

The University of Michigan is opening its new Hill Dining Center as part of its completely renewed Mosher-Jordan Hall residence/social space complex.

Foodservice is the most frequently privatized support service among Minnesota schools, according to a report from The Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The study found that 29.1% of the state's districts report having contracted either management or operation of their foodservice program.

The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, has closed its three onsite food outlets serving McDonald's branded menu items, ostensibly as part of planned refurbishments. Three outlets serving the McDonald's menu remain in operation at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Dexter Tompkins of Sodexo and Marc Zammit of Compass Group were elected to the foodservice board of directors of the Produce Marketing Association during the group's recent Foodservice Conference & Expo in Monterey, CA.

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