Experts in food service said consistent food quality issues at GW dining locations indicate lapses in staff training and management, which they said could constitute as a breach of contract with GW’s dining provider.
GW partnered with Chartwells Higher Education — owned by Compass Group USA, one of the leading dining providers in the country — to provide its dining services in 2021 ahead of it’s introduction of the University’s new dining hall system. Repeated safety violations in dining halls and student reports of foodborne illness, combined with previous food quality lapses at other institutions served by Chartwells, reveal a pattern of inadequate training and lack of managerial support at GW, food service experts said.
Students have consistently cited food quality and safety at GW’s dining halls as an issue since officials debuted the dining hall model in early 2023. Earlier this month, students reported instances of inadequate ingredient labeling and undercooked meat resulting in foodborne illness, mirroring complaints students have made in years past.
Two inspections by the D.C. Department of Health this year also revealed persistent cleanliness issues at Shenkman Hall. A February inspection stated that food safety officials observed evidence of droppings near dry storage areas, and the kitchen lacked a sink with hot water, while a September inspection found the same hot water violation and said cutting boards were not properly cleaned and sanitized — though the report specifies that staff corrected the issue immediately.
A March 2023 inspection also revealed inadequate labeling, mice droppings near open dry food containers and improper cooling practices, which prompted the Student Government Association to create the Special Committee on Dining Reform in May 2023.
Compass Group USA operates 28 specialized companies across the country, including Chartwells Higher Education, which provides dining services to 350 campuses across the U.S. GW paid Chartwells Higher Education $35.7 million in fiscal year 2024, according to University tax forms.
Schools like Suffolk University, University of Pittsburgh and New York University that employ Chartwells have also faced repeated student reports of foodborne illness and health and safety violations.
University spokesperson Claire Sabin said GW maintains an “active, collaborative” relationship with Chartwells, and officials work with Chartwells leadership to review staffing, training and compliance practices on an “ongoing basis.”
“We remain in regular dialogue with Chartwells to monitor progress, share feedback, and ensure that training and management protocols align with GW expectations and industry standards,” Sabin said in an email.
Sabin declined to comment on when the University’s contract with Chartwells expires or if the University has considered ending its contract with Chartwells.
Junehee Kwon, the head of the Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said the quality and safety violations reported by D.C. Health are “severe” and could warrant officials going to Chartwells and demanding they fix the issues or let them out of the contract.
“Obviously they’re not either putting due diligence about the products they’re using, whether it’s the cost involved, cost savings issue, or it could be also a clearly just poor management issue,” Kwon said.
Kwon said it is crucial for universities with third-party food contractors to have an open line of communication with the dining managers so they can convey the standards they expect and raise concerns when safety issues arise. She said the violations are likely a result of inadequate management at those specific locations, rather than structural problems with the company as a whole.
“If you don’t really have a good relationship or somehow you have a mechanism how the interests of the university and students are clearly communicated and also followed through by those contract management companies, there could be some challenges with the satisfaction,” Kwon said.
A Chartwells representative said the company takes every reported violation seriously, adding that Chartwells implements “immediate changes” when leadership is made aware of an instance that falls short of company standards to ensure it does not happen again.
“We continuously refine our operational playbooks, training programs and quality-assurance practices to ensure we are always improving and exceeding expectations at every level of service,” the representative said in an email.
Bruce McAdams, an associate professor of hospitality, food and tourism management at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, said food service contractors, like Compass, remain competitive by keeping their food and labor costs low, which helps them win contracts with universities. He said such a move leads to companies relying mainly on prepackaged, frozen food that does not require skilled labor to make.
“It’s advantageous for them to sell the cheapest food that they can,” McAdams said. “Typically, when I’ve gone in the fridges and studied food waste in these places, what you see is, pre-made. Often, the freezer is full. The refrigerators aren’t, because there’s nothing fresh.”
McAdams said labor shortages across the food service industry have forced companies to rely on unskilled labor, or people who have never worked in food service, which he said can lead to increased instances of cross-contamination and foodborne illness. These labor shortages, combined with rising minimum wages that drive up labor costs, are causing companies like Compass to cut back on employee training and hire workers with less experience, McAdams said.
“This comes to a lack of standards and often that can be attributed to misfit management, poorly trained management, lack of staff, pressure to run tighter labor on management, because labor costs have been increasing,” McAdams said.
Associate Vice President of Business Services Seth Weinshel said at an SGA meeting this month dining’s staff retention rate rose significantly to 73 percent this year, up from 43 percent last year and 23 percent in 2023. Weinshel also said officials audited dining halls regularly to ensure staff are complying with the proper menu schedule set by dining officials and campus chefs, also adding that officials removed some staff this year due to noncompliance.
A University spokesperson earlier this month said officials hired David Cox, a full-time quality assurance manager, in April 2024 to oversee food safety and sanitation across all University dining establishments in response to student reports of foodborne illnesses from dining halls in February 2024.
The Chartwells representative said feedback and dialogue are “critically important” to the company and that they meet regularly with University stakeholders.
George Hendry, a senior lecturer of hospitality and tourism management at the University of South Carolina, said raising wages is a way Chartwells could attract more skilled workers.
A Compass Group job posting for a food service position at Thurston Hall currently offers employees $22.30 to $23.30 per hour, compared to D.C.’s minimum wage, which sits at $17.95 per hour.
Students in 2023 marched in solidarity with dining workers, demanding better wages and treatment from management. UNITE HERE Local 23 at the time entered union negotiations with Compass to increase worker wages at institutions like GW, which started at around $16.80 at the time.
The Chartwells representative said the company bargained in “good faith” and associates ratified a new contract in November 2023 following the negotiations.
“We remain committed to competitive wages and benefits, safe workplaces, reliable scheduling, and listening closely to our associates to ensure they feel valued and supported,” the representative said in an email.
Hendry said officials could also decide to run its dining operations in-house as opposed to hiring a contractor if Chartwells is not meeting its standards.
“It’s an excellent option if they’re willing to take on the responsibility, and I’m thinking that’s the only way to do it at that point, if you’re not happy with Compass Group,” Hendry said.
Pei Liu, an associate professor of hospitality management at the University of Missouri, said given Compass Group’s size, keeping quality consistent with the scale of operations that large can be difficult.
“When margins are thin companies may cut corners such as small portions, fewer stuff or cheaper ingredients,” Liu said. “So that is where the quality starts to slip, and that is a common tension in the industry as well.”
Liu said occasional quality lapses are not uncommon in corporations this size, but the repeated nature of those at GW signals a broader culture in which management does not enforce safety standards. She said officials should increase inspections of dining halls and prioritize communicating standards with Chartwells to resolve the issues.
“The officials from the University should conduct a formal review with the vendors, local and regional leadership and look deeper at what are the issues and how this could be resolved, and then also develop some written corrective action plan with a clear deadline,” Liu said.
