Iowa State’s director of campus dining has decided to step down from his position at the end of the month to pursue an employment opportunity elsewhere.

Jon Lewis announced his plan to take a job at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., last week as Iowa State continues to explore the viability of outsourcing its food service to private firms.

Todd Holcomb, associate vice president for student affairs and new interim director of campus dining services, said food service has been working for the past two months on a proposal to keep ISU Dining in-house. ISU Dining will compete with proposals from three national food service providers: ARAMARK, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Sodexho, of Gaithersburg, Md.; and Chartwells, of Mississauga, Ontario.

An advisory committee will review the proposal along with offers from private food-service companies interested in running Iowa State’s on-campus operations.

“We’re very optimistic about the proposal,” Holcomb said.

ISU Dining’s already established connection to students, he said, gives it an advantage private firms can’t offer.

“We have an intricate knowledge of campus and the community,” he said. “Our staff has a deep commitment to the university, and we understand students.”

Lewis said he reached his decision to step down because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of ISU Dining and the opportunity to work at Ball State.

He declined to speculate on ISU Dining’s ability to compete with national food service providers, but said the process will be fair.

“This is a fabulous opportunity, and the possibility of outsourcing put me over the top,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of anxiety among the staff about the future of ISU Dining.”

He said despite his resignation, ISU Dining still stands a strong chance of keeping food service from privatizing.

“This is the best staff I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “They’re very talented, and they have an excellent opportunity to keep food service in-house.”

Should Iowa State decide to outsource food service, he said union contracts would keep private firms from making drastic personnel changes among full-time, nonstudent employees.

“The merit staff’s jobs would be protected in the short term by a labor union contract,” he said. “So cooks, cashiers and anyone promoted based on merit won’t just find themselves without jobs.”

Lewis said the quality of the staff would also provide job security if food service was privatized.

“You can’t ignore employees of that caliber with that kind of experience,” he said.

If the university decides against privatization, Holcomb said Iowa State will begin a national search process for a new director of campus dining.

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