What should a campus dining facility look like five years from now? For Michael Murphy, Director of Dining and Campus Services at Georgia Southern University, the answer goes well beyond the dining hall as it’s traditionally been conceived.

Georgia Southern operates a self-managed dining program across multiple campuses, serving more than 10,000 students daily. In this conversation with Envision Strategies consultant Brendan Evje, Michael shares how his team is planning for a future where dining spaces are built to serve the entire campus community, not just residential students.

Michael describes a shift away from the traditional model, where a dining hall is constructed alongside a residence hall and largely left as-is for years. In its place, he sees a growing need for student-centered spaces that combine residential dining with retail and convenience options under one roof.