Faculty in the Robert W. Plaster School of Business hope to see a new coffee shop opened in their building by the fall 2015 semester.

The coffee shop will be located on the second floor, just across the hall from the Investment Center. Initially, Dr. John Groesbeck, dean of the school of business, hoped to allow business students to run and manage the coffee shop.

“Given the realities of our Sodexo arrangement, that is going to be difficult to accomplish,” said Groesbeck. “However, we are going to have opportunities to have retail space there for our clubs and organizations in the Plaster School of Business to sell items and make money for fundraisers.”

Despite not being able to have direct student control over the coffee shop as he had hoped, Groesbeck had nothing but good things to say about Sodexo.

“It’s just the nature of having these food service contracts,” said Groesbeck. “They have been very good to work with and they are very interested in collaborating with us to help our students get internships within their organization as managers and leaders.”

While the coffee shop being constructed is an absolute according to Groesbeck, a lot of work still needs to be done in terms of planning.

“We aren’t quite sure how we are going to do the plumbing yet, but we have done a couple of tentative designs for them,” said Robert Harrington, director of the physical plant.

Harrington noted that his team at the physical plant would be listening to design ideas from both Groesbeck and the director of Sodexo, as well.

The coffee shop will feature a full-range of coffee goods, as well as grab and go fridge items and hot foods. With between 1,300 and 1,500 students traveling in and out of Plaster Hall every day, Groesbeck believes the location is logical.

“I think this entire end of campus will be served by this,” said Groesbeck. “It’s not only the school of business, but the IT department is located here, the physical plant is just outside and the English department is located right across the street.”