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While the USCB campus is for the most part an orange-free zone, Chancellor Jane Upshaw promises that students will have access to fresh fruits and vegetables from the school’s new food service operation this fall.
“It’s an exciting day for us because we’re rolling out something that’s been in the planning stages for a very long time,” she said.
In addition to the cafeteria, the new 26,000-square-foot Campus Center will include a student lounge, a ftness center, and a bookstore stocked with many school-spirit branded goods, along with 48 common grocery/sundry items.
The facility will ofer both residential and commuting students who are now relying on Wendy’s, Walmart and Huddle House an alternative for meals and snacks.
Upshaw said the expanded food service is critical to recruiting and retaining students. USCB also plans to upgrade food service ofered to students on the Beaufort campus, by opening a Cyber Cafe there, that will be three times the size of the current facility at the south campus. Previously the school’s Cyber Cafe could only ofer students pastries and bagels for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, but the new cafeteria promises a full menu of three meals each day, Monday through Friday. The cafeteria will also ofer service in the evening, well beyond the late afternoon service ofered now.
Room and board options can be decision makers for students in choosing a school, Upshaw said. The student housing currently available at Palmetto Village provides kitchen facilities to residents within their four-roommate suites.
The new student center, ofering amenities such as the cafeteria and gymnasium, along with basketball, tennis and volleyball courts, provides “opportunities to build community,” within the student body, she said.
USCB is using a tuition-driven funding model for the new facility. Earl Hol-ley, vice chancellor for fnance and operations, explained that $7.5 million, half of the cost of the new facility, will come through a partnership with BB&T Financing. The other half will be provided by the Beaufort Jasper Higher Education Committee.
“Excess revenue” from the bookstore and food service operations, will be used to pay for the facility, he said.
USCB receives the lowest percentage of state appropriations in the USC system and the second-lowest level in the state, Upshaw said. South Carolina has experienced the greatest decrease in higher education funding in the nation.
“Tuition funding is critical to our future,” Upshaw said.
Doug Oblander, vice chancellor for student development, said the new student center would provide a “badly needed place to gather for students,” and provide service to both residential and commuting students by offering two meal plans, one supplying 10 meals a week for a semester and another offering a bulk package of 30 meals per semester.
The plan offering 10 meals per week will be $850 per semester, while the 30-meal plan is $235 per semester. The food service operation will “do breakfast right,” he promised, and all cooking will be on display, with several items cooked to order and all-you-care-to-eat meals.
The food service contractor is Compass Group North America, an international company with operations at institutions across the country, and experience with major events such as the Olympics. Workers at the cafeteria will be employees of the Compass Group and the company will offer students in the school’s hospitality management program internships as well.
