Dining Services Transition Planned for the Hammond Campus
I am pleased to announce Purdue University Northwest Dining Services staff will assume responsibility for operating the cafeteria on the Hammond campus effective July 1, 2026.
Ashley Clark, Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Enterprises, is the administrator in charge of events management and catering at the Great Hall in the Dworkin Student Activities Complex as well as cafeteria operations on the Westville campus. Ashley is also responsible for events and operations at Gabis Arboretum.
On the date referenced above, her Dining Services staff will begin operating the cafeteria, providing catering, offering new meal plans and initiating new food and beverage options on the Hammond campus.
For more than two decades food service on the Hammond campus has been contracted to third-party providers. Recently, PNW’s senior leadership team formed a cross-campus committee and charged its members with the task of considering how we might enhance quality and service of the operation.
The committee engaged a consulting firm with national experience in university food service operations to conduct a comprehensive dining assessment study and to administer a survey of all students, faculty and staff regarding dining patterns and preferences at all locations. Our transition to self-operated Dining Services at Hammond is consistent with the committee’s recommendations.
Moving to an internally managed operation gives PNW new opportunities to provide a consistent, high-quality dining experience to our campus constituents and guests. We anticipate implementing enhanced meal plans, updating catering options and expanding hours at select service locations. Dining Services will also implement new innovative choices for our residential students.
Ashley and her team will provide additional information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you are planning an event that will require catering this summer or when students return in the fall, please use the catering request forms currently available at pnw.edu/dining/catering to reserve your dates.
Stephen R. Turner
Vice Chancellor – Finance and Administration