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Time to bring back Pizza Bella and Pizza DaVinci!

Clubs that are used to getting pizza from off-campus locations can rejoice! A new amendment to the purchasing policy has allowed clubs to purchase pizza, soda, candy, bagels, and other random foods from vendors other than Sodexo. The only catches are you have to allow enough time for Martha to go through the Financial Division and you have to have a valid reason for purchasing from someone other than Sodexo. Once you get the item approved, it’s on the exempt list and you don’t have to ask again.

There are still some changes that are not met with happiness from students since it makes other purchases more difficult, like declining balance cards, but I guess this is a start.  See the jump for the whole e-mail from President of the Union Mike Spitz announcing the change:

Hello Club Officers,

I am writing this email with great excitement. Ben Hunt and I sat down with two representatives from the Financial Division of RPI this morning. The meeting was called to discuss the current issues relating to clubs being forced to buy from Sodexo. The main issue on the table was buying pizza, soda, and candy. The Financial Reps stated that they will consider each item that is requested to be purchased outside of Sodexo. For the case of pizza, and no offense to Sodexo, but Sodexo is not a pizza parlor and does not have the same quality of pizza as local business or provides similar low prices or times of service. Pizza will now be allowed to be purchased using the Club Operating Fund. For the case of soda and candy, it is far cheaper to purchase these items elsewhere and purchasing them through Sodexo will significantly increase the expenses of many clubs.

However, it must be noted that Sodexo is RPI’s preferred vendor and should be considered for the majority of purchases if there is little difference in quality and pricing. If your club thinks that they have a valid reason for another food/drink item to be purchased elsewhere, here is the process:

1) You ask “Martha McElligott” mcellm@rpi.edu about the item in the Union Admin Office. 2) She then asks the people in Finance and Administration about the item. She will not have to ask multiple times for the same type of item. For example, if you go to Martha about bagels, and bagels get approved, then bagels will not have to be asked for again. However, there needs to be a serious proposal as to why an item should not be supplied by Sodexo. Once an item is on this exempt list it theoretically will stay on that list for all clubs. 3) Martha will notify the club and they will receive funds from the Club Operating Fund to purchase the items.

And let me please reiterate that culture foods have already been exempted under the reason of authenticity.

So to sum up, feel free to go to Martha now to purchase your pizza, candy, and soda, and cultural foods. Ask her about other items. But please, as always, approach Martha ahead of time so that she has enough time to ask the Financial Division and they have enough time to answer. We will work on an initial item list for the Financial Division to review. If you have any questions about this new amendment to the Sodexo policy, please do not hesitate to contact me at pu@rpi.edu. And let it also be known that the Financial and Administration Reps were very helpful and open to listening to our student issues. This was a definite win for administration and student relations.

– Mike Spitz Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2011 Mathematics/Science, Technology & Society Phi Mu Delta Fraternity 121st President of the Union

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