University officials told potential dining contract bidders at a pre-bid conference in December that UA would accept bids for individual campuses as well as for a unified, statewide system contract as most have expected.

"Really, what we're looking for is the best deal for the entire system," said Michael Grahek, director of procurement and contract services at UAF. "If that means one contractor, then that's great. If it means more than one contractor, that's fine too."

Under previously announced plans, the university was aiming to consolidate the food contracts for UAF, UAA and UAS under a single company.

Currently, Sodexho Marriott/NANA manages UAF, Aramark runs UAA, and UAS operates its own kitchens. And while three companies want the consolidated contract, Grahek hinted that the final deal might get split up.

But he also said the pre-bidders conference Dec. 8 did little to show UA the direction things were unfolding in, as the bidders spoke little.

The meeting was intended to aid both the bidders and the university system in better understanding one another, but Grahek said there seemed to be little need for clarification.

"The meeting didn't result in any substantive changes [to the solicitation]," said Grahek. "I was surprised that there weren't more real questions that would change or clarify the specifications. The vendors that showed up were pretty much the ones we expected to show up, and there weren't any real surprises."

In fact, in an MP3 recording of the meeting posted online, the most talkative member seemed to be Ivan Ramos, a representative from the Homer-based Don Jose's Mexican restaurant chain.

Ramos attended to gage Don Jose's ability to compete in the bid process.

"We're a small company and we were looking mostly just to provide services as an outside vendor," he said. "The meeting was helpful, it gave me a look to see what the possibilities where for a small company to get involved with the university."

Since that time, Don Jose's has chosen to pull out of the bid, Ramos said. As a result, the one company most likely to bid for just one campus is now out of the mix.

"It's too large of a project," Ramos said. "Flipping burritos and doing a whole campus are two different things."

But the other competitors present at the bid, Aramark, Chartwells, and NANA, still seem interested.

"We will be bidding on all three campuses," said Aramark representative John Stavnik. Asked about the bid itself, all Stavnik would say was "that's pretty confidential."

Since the conference, vendors said they have been busy preparing their bids, trying to find the position that the university will be most comfortable with.

In the recording of the meeting, Grahek said a bid including contracting out to third party vendors – such as Don Jose's – would make a proposal more attractive.

But for the most part, the university is allowing vendors to make that decision on their own, granting them almost full-exclusivity in their contracts, he said.

Whether or not vendors choose to take that route remains to be seen; it's not something they have been willing to comment on.

All three have also been scheduling focus groups to see what the students want, in hopes that they have an idea of what will win the bid, they've said.

"We wanted to make sure that we had a good understanding of the different types of customer on campus," Stavnik said.

According to Stavnik, Aramark conducted a survey of students at major dining halls via Palm Pilot.

Grahek said the university might not know what they're looking for either.

"The bottom-line is, we don't know what the best deal is," Grahek said. "We're going to let the proposals tell us that. We're trying not to be stuck on anything going into it."

Meanwhile, UAF is mostly just waiting for bids to be submitted on Jan. 26, Grahek said, though he added that he has answered a few calls with minor questions.

"I expect we have quit a bit of work to do once the proposals are in," said Grahek. "In the end, I hope the students are happy, I hope the faculty is happy, I hope we find something that works for everyone."