Our Opinion: All projects planned by the University should be thought out well in advance of their fruition.
Students have welcomed The Creamery, which opened in the Erdahl-Cloyd Wing of D.H. Library Monday, but plans are still fuzzy as to where the revenue it generates will go.
The Creamery, which was a joint venture between University Dining, D.H. Hill Library and the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, has been successful in its first three days, but the fact that the three entities do not know how its revenue will be divided shows there needs to be better organization among the departments.
Although it may be far down the line, figuring out where the profits go should have been one of the first concerns of the project.
The three departments should have planned out every aspect of the Creamery before its opening, and for it to open without deciding where the money will go is irresponsible and a bad precedent for future projects.
This lack of planning does not reflect on The Creamery itself nor does it reflect solely on the three departments involved. The situation surrounding the Creamery is a microcosm of the way the University functions — for instance, Chancellor James Oblinger announced the creation of the Campus Enterprise Division earlier this semester without having a clear definition of what it is and what it will do, while the Student Health Center announced this week its intentions to cut hours to save money. Both decisions, without explanation or discussion among students or the departments involved, represent bad planning.
The handling of revenue in the case of the Creamery should be a model of what NOT to do in the future—it reflects poorly on the University.
What the three departments should do as soon as possible is figure out where the money will go so it cuts down on confusion and increases efficiency.
This disorganization shows the University does not have its basic information and needs in line.
From the looks of it, The Creamery will continue to be a success and will do its job of serving students, which may end up benefiting the University as a whole.
But everything about it should have been planned out, especially from financial perspective.
