~Chartwells hopes to improve campus dining with new options

Students at Southeast Missouri State University will soon have two well-known international dining services available to them on campus.

Southeast's on-campus dining service provider Chartwells is installing a Starbucks and Subway on campus in hopes of improving its on-campus dining experience. Construction of the restaurants is expected to be completed some time during the fall semester.

"We need to stay on the edge of improvement, especially with another residence hall coming," Chartwells marketing director at Southeast Trevor Sumner said. "Since enrollment has been increasing, we need to keep growing with enrollment."

Starbucks will be located in the University Center where the Beanery Cafe was previously located. According to Sumner, Starbucks is estimated to open in mid-September after Chartwells staff complete a two-week training program required by Starbucks. Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee company that has over 12,000 retail stores in the United States.

"Starbucks is a very, very popular brand among college students," Sumner said.

The installation of the Starbucks is part of a larger improvement project in the University Center. According to a press release by the university, dining capacity adjacent to the Redhawks Market will increase by 120 to 150 seats and the serving area of Smashers Grill will move.

Subway will be located in Sully Building in what used to be the Center for Child Studies, which has been moved to a building on Bessie Street. Subway will be the only dining service on the north side of campus that supports the usage of student meal plans and flex dollars. Sumner said construction of Subway will be completed after Starbucks opens.

"Subway is a really good fit for college students and it's right in their demographics," Sumner said. "They offer a healthy line of sandwiches that are also very popular."

There also are plans to increase seating capacity and improve food options at Towers Cafe in the Towers Complex in 2013. Sumner said that Chartwells wants to update and modernize Towers Cafe and is exploring different possibilities, but has not committed to anything.

The Board of Regents approved funding for improvements to campus dining services in June. According to the press release, Southeast will contribute $800,000 to the project. Chartwells will pay the remaining $3.34 million of the estimated $4.1 million cost of the project.

Sumner said Chartwells has received good feedback about the new construction from Southeast students.

"Half of the students we talked to are excited about Subway and Starbucks," Sumner said. "The other half are excited about having a place to eat [on the north end of campus]."