Institute Dining Review
Scope Statement

Based on the work of the Committee on Student Affairs, the Dining Review Working Group wrote the Review's scope statement over the summer of 1996. This Statement is a formal description of what the Institute Dining Review is to achieve. It describes the purpose of the Dining Review, the deliverables of the project (tangible items the Review will produce -- in particular, a new framework for campus dining), and the objectives the Review's deliverables are to meet.

Justification

The purpose of this Institute Dining Review is to develop a new framework for campus-wide dining that will satisfy the needs and desires of the MIT Community.

This project will achieve its results by:

1. Conducting a detailed analysis of the current food service situation at MIT, and of the requirements for a sucessfull MIT food service.
2. Developing and considering a variety of food service models for MIT.
3. Engaging the MIT Community throughout the process to determine what its needs are, and which food service models it prefers.

Deliverables

The major deliverables of the project are:

1. An interim report that includes the following: (1) The current state of MIT food service and justifications for the current model. (2) The requirements and "desirables" of MIT food service. (3) Information about any food service models discovered by the committee to date. (4) A plan to involve the MIT Community in making decisions about the future of MIT food service.
2. Metrics that will determine how well the new food service model is meeting the objectives listed below.
3. A formal statement relating campus dining to the educational mission of MIT.
4. A final report that includes the points above plus an implementation plan for a new model of food service that meets the objectives listed below.
5. A "Request for Proposals" (RFP) that meets the requirements of the new food service model described in the Final Report. (RFPs are formal guidelines for would-be MIT food service providers.)
6. After-action reports that include measures of community satisfaction with both the new food service model and the process by which the model was determined.

Objectives

The project's objectives are to develop a food service model that:

1. Meets the educational and community-building requirements of dining as determined by the Working Group.
2. Encourages student responsibility, participation, and the development of citizenship skills.
3. Provides a variety of good, tasty, and nutritious food at reasonable prices.
4. Is convenient to the MIT Community in terms of hours of operation and location.
5. Will keep house dining rooms open.
6. Will convert areas around the Institute into comfortable places where the MIT Community can gather to eat lunch (and other meals).
7. Will not lose money.
8. Will satisfy at least 75% of the MIT Community by July 1, 1998.

In addition, the project seeks to use a process to develop the new food service model that will satisfy at least 75% of those who participated in it.

Process

This project has three distinct phases.

1. The first phase will take place over the summer and the beginning of the Fall term. During this phase, the Working Group and the Advisory Board will: (1) Study the current food service situation at MIT. (2) Contact members of the MIT Community to find out what the Community wants in its food service. (3) Collect ideas that the MIT Community might want to use in designing a new food service framework.
2. The second phase will begin in October and will take continue through the remainder of the Fall term. During this phase, the Group will present the MIT Community with a list of food service constraints and desires, as well as a list of ideas to help build a new framework. The Group and the Advisory Board will then help the MIT Community design a new food service framework by: (1) Providing the MIT Community the information necessary to design the new model (as gathered in Phase I). (2) Providing a process for the Community to participate in developing the framework (to be determined). (2) Collating the decisions of the Community into a single model. (3) Writing the framework the Community decides upon into a formal proposal.
3. The third phase will take place during IAP and the beginning of the Spring term. During this phase, the Working Group and the Advisory Board will oversee the writing of a "Request for Proposals" (RFP) that meet the requirements of the new framework.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Then send mail to the Institute Dining Review.