Iowa State’s new vending contract with the ISU Memorial Union was unanimously approved Thursday by the Iowa Board of Regents without the portion of the agreement to install a McDonald’s in the Hub.

“There have been a number of individuals who have requested more time for input on the matter,” ISU President Martin Jischke told the board Thursday.

Board member Nancy Pellett of Atlantic said, “I compliment you for getting more input on this matter.”

University officials announced on Wednesday their decision to postpone bringing the McDonald’s-Hub portion of the vending contract to the regents until the fall in an effort to provide more opportunity for comment on the issue.

Madden said the university plans to take its recommendation concerning a McDonald’s in the Hub to the October meeting of the Board of Regents.

The revised recommendation to the board stated, “The intention of the University, through the Memorial Union and McDonald’s, has been to improve food service on the university campus. The desire for improved food service and the installation of manual food operations has been supported in previous surveys, follows consultant recommendations and is consistent with the pattern being implemented on many campuses across the country.

“However, the publicity regarding awarding the contract to the Memorial Union, including the installation of McDonald’s in the Hub, has raised a number of concerns by some members of the university community.

“All of the parties are in agreement that taking additional time to review the issues and be sure concerns that are being raised can adequately be addressed is reasonable. The delay will not have major adverse affects other than a reduced level of service and reduction in the manual portion of commission revenues.”

The revised five-year contract projects that $3.5 million will be generated for ISU, but that projection included the McDonald’s income.

The contract allows ISU to retain the right for student organizations to sell food products and to hold events where food products are sold.

It also includes installation of new vending equipment that uses the cash stripe option of the ISUCard and establishes the Memorial Union Vending Scholarships.

In other news

The Board of Regents approved a measure to have MGT Consulting, a firm based in Florida, follow up on the Pappas Report.

The Pappas report included ten specific recommendations for the universities, the Board of Regents and the board’s Organizational Audit Oversight Committee. MGT Consulting will undertake a study of the ten recommendations and do a comprehensive review of the Board Office in Des Moines and its structure.

Regents Tom Dorr of Marcus and Pellett voted against the proposal.

“Are we going to end up with a whole menagerie of things?” Dorr said. “We’ve already had the universities create a strategic vision. I’m not sure what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Wayne Ritchie, the executive director of the board, said this proposal is “for the aggregate of schools,” and said the consulting firm will help keep the entire board informed.

The board also approved the final fiscal year 1997 operating budget for ISU for an amount just under $663 million, a 4.7 percent increase over the fiscal year 1996 revised budget.

Although this was the largest among the three state universities, Jischke told the board that it wasn’t enough. “We hope this $1.7 million will materialize. It is a part of achieving equity among employees,” he said.