Many of Miami University's Housing, Dining and Guest Services employees recently rallied in an attempt to stop a rumored outsourcing of their jobs.
According to Vice President of Finance and Business Serivces David Creamer, however, those concerns are unfounded.
"I've never initiated a conversation with a vendor," Creamer said. "We'll go through some evaluations, but there is no decision made to give these operations to other venues." According to Creamer, if an effort to outsource jobs were being made by the university, it would be a very public and open process.
"No one has done anything because if we had it would be very visible," Creamer said. "Once these things do start to occur, people will be aware it's occurring."
While several firms have reportedly approached the university with information, Creamer said it is not out of the ordinary.
"They do this all of the time," Creamer said.
One of the companies mentioned by various employees of the department is ARAMARK, a Philadelphia-based food services company that is used at many schools across the country.
ARAMARK Director of Communications Karen Cutler said no decisions or official proposals had been made.
"There has not been a proposal requested or submitted," Cutler said via e-mail. "At the request of the university, we supplied some general background information about our company and its capabilities."
Still, Creamer did not rule out the possibility of cuts in the department in the future.
"We know that we have to find ways to operate in a more efficient way," Creamer said. "A lot of (decisions) will take place as we continue to evaluate."
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Creamer believes the concerns of employees began when the Strategic Priorities Task Force released its draft report. He said some of the recommendations may have been misunderstood and many employees may not have read the report themselves, which may have contributed to misinformation circulating across campus.
Many student employees who work in dining halls and markets throughout the university have become very active in the effort to save full-time housing and dining employees.
Junior Elmer Smith, an employee at Spring Street Market in the Shriver Center, created a Facebook group called SAVE MU FULL TIME JOBS. At the time of publication, the group had 778 members.
Smith said he created the group to inform the student body after he heard from other workers that two to three companies were planning to look at Miami's housing and dining services and propose to cut many of the full-time jobs. He was mostly concerned because of the tight bonds between the employees.
"These are not only workers, but they're friends and family here," Smith said. "They're part of the Miami community."
Senior Joshua Wagenknecht, a Haines Food Court employee, is also concerned about the future of the department and joined the Facebook group because of concerns for his own job along with the well being of full-time employees.
"They have to work really hard to make a sustainable living," Wagenknecht said.
He said he has been working to publicize the possible cuts not only amongst his fellow workers, but also to students who utilize dining services on a daily basis.
"A lot of (my effort) is through my interaction with students while I'm at work," Wagenknecht said.
He said if students compliment the dining services, he warns them of the possibility of cuts and encourages them to get involved.
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