This story has been updated: Friday, Nov. 4, 2004 at 12:05 p.m. CDT

Editor’s Note: The original headline for this article was incorrect. The headline has been corrected.

Warren Madden on Thursday addressed the concerns of members of the Inter-Residence Hall Association about the possible privatization of ISU Dining.

“No decisions have been made about this,” said Madden, vice president for business and finance. “This is an evaluation process and we need to complete the evaluation activities before people get too concerned.”

He said he wanted to make sure food-service quality was not compromised.

“Quality food, prices and services are all important factors,” Madden said.

IRHA members responded by asking questions about the committee evaluating the companies that bidding on the privatization.

Of the 21 members on the committee evaluating the dining services, only five are students.

Anasia C. Sturdivant, freshman in biology and ISU Dining employee, said she had concerns that no athletes were included on the committee because athletic students have been known to support the dining services.

“I have a lot of friends who are athletes who are really concerned with the issues because they have practices during dining hours,” Sturdivant said. “We often have later hours for them after game days so they can eat.”

She said she was also concerned that dining employees wouldn’t find out what the decisions are until after they have been passed. She said Madden reassured them they would be informed about the proposals from the private food-service companies.

Madden said that information will be made public.

“Our goal is to make this as transparent as possible,” Madden said. “Hopefully, we will have information so you have time to look over the proposals during break.”

Sturdivant said after the meeting she didn’t feel like Madden addressed her concerns very well, but just repeated her questions in a “backward way.”

“We sent in a letter to the president and just got it back, but he didn’t answer any of our questions,” she said. “He did keep telling us that they would keep us up to date.”

Madden said similar privatization processes at other universities have met positive results.

“This isn’t brand new,” Madden said. “The University of Minnesota went through the transition. It was a challenge, but many say it’s better.”

He said until they get proposals, there is no way to know what the final decision will be.

Madden said the committee will be asking for a lot of documentation to prove the quality of services.

“The committee will make a recommendation based off of the evaluations,” he said. “I highly doubt that you choose a school based on food, I don’t know, but at the same time we’ve all got to eat.”