Niche.com recently released its 2015 rankings for Best Campus Food, placing the Michigan State University Culinary Services dining program at No. 24 with an A+ score among traditional four-year colleges and universities in the United States.
According to the rankings, Culinary Services—a department of the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services—is the top university dining services in Michigan.
Best Campus Food ranks 1,175 colleges based on data sourced from the Department of Education and more than 471,000 survey responses about campus food from more than 64,000 current students and recent alumni. A high ranking indicates students are happy with the quality of campus dining; the university offers a variety of healthy, quality food options that accommodate various dietary preferences; and dining services operate during hours convenient for students, including offering late-night food options.
Culinary Services offers on-campus dining options from 7 a.m. to midnight, daily. Dining plans include Combo-X-Change, which enables dining plan holders to use a meal access to get a combo from on-campus Sparty’s convenience and coffee shops, on-campus quick service restaurants, the Eat at State ON-THE-GO food truck and to get takeout from the dining halls.
“This is great recognition,” said Guy Procopio, director of Culinary Services. “We have achieved a lot over the past five years—having completed six of seven major renovations with the opening of Heritage Commons at Landon. We are excited to bring parity to all campus neighborhoods when The Edge at Akers opens in January.”
To determine rankings, student survey responses counted as 85 percent of the overall university score, with average meal plan cost determining the remaining 15 percent of the score.
Culinary Services employs more than 3,500 team members—including 3,000 student team members—to provide the services students and the campus community expect when they dine at MSU. “Our ranking reflects the university’s commitment to an excellent residential experience and the hard work and dedication of our team members,” said Procopio. “We couldn’t nourish our Spartans without contributions made daily by all Culinary Services team members—from the front line to management—and all of MSU.”