Chartwells President Lisa McEuen and Interim President Ashish Vaidya signed a collaboration agreement to work together for student success, professional development and institutional support.
Interim President Ashish Vaidya and Chartwells President Lisa McEuen signed a collaboration agreement and celebrated their commitment to working together Sept. 7 in Atwood Memorial Center.
“We think of Chartwells as more than just a vendor, Vaidya said. “In fact we think of them as a business and a strategic partner beyond that. And we’re taking this now to a whole new level by signing a collaboration agreement.”
Among other collaborations, Chartwells and St. Cloud State seek to work together to:
- Establish an internship program at Chartwells for students and identify pathways for permanent employment by connecting with St. Cloud State’s Career Center.
- Develop an international student success program to identify student ambassadors who will have a clear path to employment.
- Create professional development opportunities for Compass Group employees. Compass Group is Chartwells’ parent company.
- Explore opportunities to support St. Cloud State’s Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2018-19.
In addition the agreement seeks to explore creative uses of food including a food recovery network, a program with the Community Garden that helps students buy groceries and cook at home and a program to engage students through diverse menus and special events.
“It was incumbent upon us to look beyond just the provision of dining services to seek other ways in which we could collaborate to bring measurable benefits to our students and of course to the community we serve,” Vaidya said.
This is something Chartwells has been seeking to do as a company at the institutions it serves, McEuen said.
“I’m excited to be able to talk about what Compass is about and the opportunities they have not only in Chartwells but throughout the globe — we are in 60 countries,” she said. “… I do believe that we should be a part of the entire experience for students, so we put a lot of effort and spent the last two and a half years to build a robust internship.”
Chartwells has provided dining services to students, faculty and staff at St. Cloud State University since 2016. Chartwells is a member of the Compass Group, a food servicing and support services company that serves restaurants, corporate cafes, hospitals, schools, arenas and more. The company is the sixth largest employer in the world with a revenue exceeding $1.4 billion. Chartwells operates at more than 270 higher education institutions in North America.
