Students stranded on front campus for class do not need to worry about rushing over to the Hub or Eastway during lunchtime this academic school year. The dining cart started its rounds Monday.

The new mobile dining cart will drive around Cartwright, White and Oscar Ritchie halls from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m Monday through Friday. Richard Roldan, director of Dining Services, said the cart may be used at sports games, concerts and university events if there is a strong demand.

“We want to run the cart during lunch hours this first week as we test the program,” Roldan said. “Provost Leadership Academy just had the idea to put something up on that end of campus, and we came up with the detailed solutions.”

The PLA is a team of freshmen students who propose two ideas each academic year to change or improve Kent State based on the needs of students. PLA chose to put its food cart plan into effect first.

The cart will only accept cash the first couple of days, but meal plans, FlashCash, credit and debit cards will be accepted later this week. Tia Protopapa, a marketing specialist with Dining Services, said Kent State is still working with its vendors to get the meal plans to work properly for the carts since it will run on wireless access.

“Once all this chaos is resolved, we’ll accept all payment methods,” Protopapa said. “This will be extremely convenient for passersby between classes.”

Food from the cart will be mostly grab-n-go snacks and meals for students rushing between classes. Sue Huzvar, a manager with Dining Services, said the menu will include pre-made Boar’s Head sandwiches, Simply-To-Go sides, cookies, brownies, bottled beverages and coffee from Eastway Deli. Food prices will be the same as listed prices at Eastway Deli.

Roldan said Dining Services followed as much of the PLA’s advice as they could to put this into effect.

“There’s definitely been a lot of noise made about (the cart),” Roldan said. “People know it’s coming. I think the support of the Provost Leadership Academy, along with the need for students to use their meal plans, will be a huge advantage to bring traffic to the carts.”

Funds for planning and organizing this project came from the Student Success Programs office. N.J. Akbar, assistant director of Student Success Programs, said students from PLA performed research among other Kent State students to see what they wanted most on campus, and the mobile dining cart was something that was in strong demand.

“The Provost Leadership Academy did a great job with this first task, and I am impressed to see their research and ideas move forward,” Akbar said.

Heaven Burns, a sophomore biology major, expressed her approval of the new dining cart.

“I think the cart is a good idea since it will slow down some of the busy lines at both the Hub and other major eating places on campus,” Burns said.

Contact Megan Wilkinson at [email protected].