The University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK) has ambitious growth plans: from 40,000 students to more than 50,000 by fall 2029. To feed this growing population, it needed a dining master plan for its dining service, Vol Dining.
Sojo Alex FCSI, managing director at Envision Strategies, led the planning work. “A dining master plan is a long-term strategy for foodservices, typically spanning five to 10 years. As consultants, our job is to assess the client’s current situation and determine what they’ll need – locations, revenue, labor and cost – before any design happens,” she explains.
Ayers Saint Gross (ASG), the architecture firm behind UTK’s 2023 housing master plan, brought Envision Strategies onto the project. As ASG project manager Nicole Ostrander explains, the main goal was to increase the dining offer across campus: “The 2023 master plan projected a slight deficit of dining space over the next ten years. The university determined that a more in-depth study was needed.”
A data-driven approach
Envision Strategies first mapped existing infrastructure. The campus operates 42 dining locations: two all you care to eat (AYCTE) locations and 40 retail outlets. Based on research and campus needs, it was clear the proposed facility would be an AYCTE.
“Students with meal plans have a set number of swipes per week. With one swipe, you can go into an all-you-care-to-eat as many times as you want. But at retail locations, that only gets you limited food, or you have to pay extra,” explains Alex.
Determining where on UTK’s 920-acre campus to locate the dining hall – and how large to make it – required multiple data points. “We engaged with students through a survey and focus groups and also with the administration. What emerged was that the biggest need for students was convenient access to food options,” says Alex.
To identify underserved areas, Alex analyzed traffic data: “We broke the campus down into West, Central, and East precincts, then looked at traffic patterns, including Wi-Fi data. We found out that the East Precinct is the busiest, especially at lunch, because of the academic buildings – and there’s not enough AYCTE food around this location.”
Planning for growth
The size of the new facility would depend on the university’s expected enrollment growth trajectory. Alex’s team developed two scenarios based on different projections of meal plan participation, housing capacity, and transaction data. UTK ultimately chose the higher growth option: 10% annual enrollment increase, reaching 56,700 students by fall 2029, plus 5% annual growth in faculty and staff. In this scenario, the proposed new facility would require approximately 25,000 square feet and at least 640 seats.
The dining master plan now moves to university leadership for approval and funding. “It is important that we develop a long-term strategy to reinforce dining as a key part of the campus experience,” says Amanda Hough, director of Vol Dining.
Andrea Tolu
