Rahul Shrivastav has a long history in the food service industry.
He has worked for a variety of hotels, as well as colleges like Penn State and the University of Michigan, but at this point in his life, the new director of dining services said IU is where he wants to be.
Shrivastav was named the director of dining services for Residential Programs and Services in July, and despite only being in the position for four weeks, he said he has plans for IU’s dining halls, such as incorporating the local community and sustaining the options that IU’s dining services provide.
“Every place I go, my vision is great food, great service, great friends,” Shrivastav said.
Shrivastav said he plans to keep healthy options, a variety of choices for students and to be local and communicate with the people in the community. However, focusing on the students is a top priority, Shrivastav said.
“I love that about a university, that it’s student-focused, and IU has that,” Shrivastav said.
When Shrivastav started at IU, he said he was impressed by the number of choices that the dining halls provided. With the variety of options in Woodlands, the Bookmarket Eatery and Wright, Shrivastav said the choices were amazing.
“You could be dining here for a whole semester and get something different every day,” he said.
Shrivastav said that being at a university in the Big Ten Conference was a big deal to him, with the university's being well-known in the way of sports. He added that this position was what he wanted to do, to be in touch with students and work with food.
Shrivastav studied the skills that go into his profession in Bhopal, India, as well as Sydney, Australia, as he had a great interest in food and beverage. He said he came to recognize the connection of students in his interest through his job in hospitality services at Penn State.
He also said talking to the staff and students in the dining halls is important to him, as he likes getting feedback from the students.
“I usually am in the dining halls and talking to the staff and seeing what their troubles are,” Shrivastav said.
Shrivastav said he has made quite a bit of contact with the Residence Hall Association and IU’s student government through meetings at which he was able to discuss dining services.
Junior Elizabeth Kuras, a student supervisor through RPS dining services, said she knew of Shrivastav’s connection with the student supervisors of the dining halls after he came to their training.
Shrivastav said despite the fact that he is still taking everything in, the skill of the staff has been impressive.
“It’s a great place to be at, and the nimbleness of the staff is amazing,” he said.
However, Shrivastav said a large part of his vision starts with food.
“Food has to be the center of everything,” Shrivastav said. “Especially in this living-learning environment.”
