Hungry students will gain another late-night eating option this Sunday when Dartmouth Dining Services debuts its new delivery service.
The new service will primarily feature cold items such as wraps and subs, which will be both prepared and delivered by student employees, according to DDS Director Tucker Rossiter.
Picking up at Food Court's usual closing hour, the service will offer delivery from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. from Sunday until Thursday this week and next and will allow students to pay for orders via their DBA accounts.
Although the delivery program is associated with Dartmouth, Rossiter said student employees will have to abide by recent College regulations that bar both students and outside organizations from using the new door-locking system for commercial purposes.
Instead, like non-College affiliated businesses, deliverers will be required to call students from the telephones installed outside dormitory entrances.
Rossiter stressed that the first few weeks of the service are only a trial run that will give DDS "a chance to get the kinks out," and to gauge student interest.
This year does not mark the first time the College has experimented with a delivery service of its own. An attempt in 1994 that had students deliver food on bicycles -- even during winter months -- later folded.
Rossiter, however, thinks the new system stands a greater chance of success. "This time we're using cars as a delivery system," he said, hoping that use of College-owned vehicles would help increase both the speed of deliveries and their practicality during wintertime.
Facilities for preparing the orders will be situated in Food Court initially, then moved to Homeplate for Fall term so as to avoid conflicting with Food Court's hours of operation. Such a conflict had proved problematic for the earlier delivery service, Rossiter said.
Though the service is being run through DDS, Rossiter said much of the energy for the project came from Student Assembly, which has worked with Rossiter and Assistant Director of Dining Services David Newlove to implement the project.
"This is really a student-run program," Rossiter said, adding that nearly 30 students had already applied for delivery service positions. A student-designed Web site will allow online ordering.
With late-night delivery previously the exclusive domain of local restaurants such as EBA's, Rossiter anticipated that the service "would provide competition" to local establishments, despite a menu that is "a bit more limited."
The critical element, Rossiter said, will be student interest the program. "What we need is students to want this service," he said. "We're hoping everything comes together."
