Olin switches up hospitality support

To the WashU Olin community: We’re announcing a change in the hospitality company at Olin Business School that supports so much of the behind-the-scenes work we do every day.

Effective July 1, WashU Olin will transition from Aramark to FLIK Hospitality Group for dining services, conference support and hotel management at the Knight Center.

On a day-to-day basis, we expect to continue seeing the same hospitality associates—who have been dedicated to providing help and support—as they transition to employment with the FLIK team. You can also expect to continue getting coffee at Starbucks, lunch in the Bauer Café and a bagel at Einstein’s, as well as the other dining outlets we’re used to enjoying at Olin.

It’s in the bigger picture—with hospitality leadership committed to overall creativity, variety and a higher level of service—where we expect to see the main changes. That was the motivation for this transition. In reviewing providers, we were deliberate and careful in our evaluation, involving representatives from Executive Education, Alumni & Development, the Olin events team, faculty support and graduate programs.

After comparing a variety of potential vendors, FLIK came to the table with an exciting approach to providing healthy and international cuisine options, new and novel ways of running meetings and a strong commitment to a collaborative partnership in event and conference planning. In short, we concluded that FLIK could “up our game” in a very outward-facing, personal way.

FLIK leadership will set up shop here, working on site throughout the transition. Among their first tasks will be to speak with Aramark associates about a transition to their team. Again, we expect familiar faces to remain familiar, and for their transition to occur without affecting their pay or seniority.

You’ll be hearing more about this transition over the next few months, including how to engage with the new team. We also are hosting information sessions, offering more details about hospitality upgrades and inviting feedback about what is working and where improvement opportunities lie.

Scheduled sessions include:

• April 23, 4:15–5:15 p.m., for BSBA, MBA and SMP students, in Bauer 130.
• May 9, 12:30–1:30 p.m., for EMBA students, in the Knight Center dining hall during lunch.
• May 9, 9:15 p.m., for PMBA students, during happy hour, Knight Hall 301.