Eagle Dining to host job fair

Lauren Gorla

Eagle Dining Services will be hosting a job fair on April 23 from 6 – 8 p.m. in the Russell Union with representatives from Lakeside, Landrum and other dining locations on campus.

Currently, Eagle Dining Services employs approximately 450 student employees.  At the Eagle Dining Services Job Fair, Eagle Dining Services plans to fill approximately 150 positions, Demetrius Bynes, director of the office of Human Resources, said.

“Eagle Dining is actually the second largest employer of students on campus,” Greg Crawford, assistant director of Eagle Dining Services, said.

Jeffery Yawn confirmed that The NEST would close once Landrum and Lakeside are open for business in Fall 2013, Bynes said.

Those employed by The NEST are hired under Landrum and Lakeside, so they will be moving back to their original jobs, Bynes said.

Along with new jobs, there will be new dining plans and facilities that will be implemented in Fall 2013.

Eagle Dining Services and the Eagle Card Center presented these changes at the ‘Feed the Eagle in You’ event that was held Thursday.

“Through joint efforts between (Eagle Dining Services) and the Eagle Card Center, we’re trying to develop something that improves dining on-campus and creates the best environment for everyone,” Michael Murphy, marketing coordinator for Eagle Dining Services, said.

The development of the new dining plans and facilities came from a survey of 3,000 students on what they wanted in their dining facilities and from their dining plans, Murphy said.

Starting in fall 2013, there will be four new dining plans that students will be able to purchase.

The Eagle Unlimited Blue will cost $1650 per semester with $100 Dining Dollars and five guest passes to use at Lakeside and Landrum for family and friends per semester.

The Eagle Unlimited Gold will cost $1800 per semester and will have $300 Dining Dollars and eight guest passes per semester.

Dining Dollars can be used at any location on-campus like Chick-fil-a or Talons Grille.

Both of these plans feature complete unlimited access to Lakeside and Landrum.

“If you want to go into Landrum fifteen times in one day, you can go into Landrum fifteen times in one day,” Murphy said.

Students who do not wish to purchase one of the dining plans will be able to choose two Eagle Express packages, Eaglexpress 350 and Eaglexpress 700.

Eaglexpress 350 will cost $350 and include $35 Dining Dollars and Eaglexpress 700 will cost $700 and include $70 Dining Dollars.

For those who are not on a dining or Eaglexpress plan and still wish to eat at Lakeside or Landrum, the price of entry will depend on the time of day, Wynn said.

Breakfast will cost $8.50, lunch will cost $11 and dinner will cost $13. But those paying with Eagle Express will always be charged on $8.50, Wynn said.

The Lakeside and Landrum facilities have undergone renovation to accommodate the new dining plans.

“We wanted to create the kind of atmosphere that fosters education and gives every person that sense of community. We wanted to make certain kinds of food that you wanted us to serve,” Murphy said.

Lakeside and Landrum previously housed a combined 600 seats but will now have a total of 1,600 seats, Landrum being the larger facility with 1,100 seats, Murphy said.

Each new dining location will also use iris cameras instead of a card swipe for access, making it faster for more students to enter the building and eat, Richard Wynn, director of the Eagle Card Center, said.

Along with the new facilities, students will receive a wider variety of food choices at each location.

Jason Pickard, executive chef for Eagle Dining Services, said that a few of the new options in Landrum will be an international cuisine station called Traces of Places, and a brick pizza oven. Lakeside will have a salad station called Field of Greens and Wok and Roll for stir-fry.