Fordham University will partner with Saxbys, a company that opens student-run coffee shops across the country. Fordham’s Saxbys location will be at its Lincoln Center campus, where Argo Tea was. The storefront is set to open in the fall.
Saxbys is entirely student-run, with a student CEO, managers and employees. The student CEO will receive a paycheck and course credit for their six-month tenure.
“Once it became clear that the bankruptcy of Argo Tea would result in the closure of the cafe at Fordham, Ram Hospitality proposed Saxbys as a great option both because of the type of dining venue it is and because of their innovative experiential learning platform that provides hands-on learning experience for students,” said Senior Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the Gabelli School of Business (GSB) Marisa Villani.
Saxbys has locations at 30 other universities in the United States; Fordham will be their first New York City location.
“Saxbys is an education company disguised as a coffee company,” according to Patrice Sakalosky, senior brand marketing manager at Saxbys. “So not only can students get amazing Cold Brew and Grilled Cheese, but there are also endless amounts of learning opportunities. The main one is our Experiential Learning Platform, where one student takes on the Student CEO role for a six month period. They learn how to manage a team of their peers, work on a P&L statement, campus marketing, and so on. Our overall goal is to have students learn and grow into leaders.”
Fordham is currently looking for their first student CEO, with applications due Feb. 28. This first student CEO will be sourced from GSB, but future student CEOs can be from Fordham College at Rose Hill.
“Student employees of Saxbys will arrange work around their class schedules,” said Villani. “The CEO role will work and remain a full-time student, with support from the class dean to arrange a schedule that includes coursework and course credit from tutorials that will largely be based on the experiential learning from doing the student CEO position.”
In addition to a student CEO, all of Saxbys’ employees will be students. All Fordham students can apply for team leader and manager positions.
“The CEO and a couple of team lead positions will receive some academic credit in addition to being paid, and all of the hourly student workers will be paid by Saxbys as well,” said Villani. “All students at Fordham are eligible to apply for these hourly staff positions.”
According to Deming Yaun, University Dining Contract Liaison, students will be able to use their meal plan at Saxbys. Saxbys, while an external company, will be beneath the Aramark umbrella on Fordham’s campus.
“Ultimately, Saxbys reports in to Aramark along with all the other University Restaurants here at Fordham,” said Deming.
Student CEOs are expected to handle the income and profit of Saxbys and write reports to submit to the corporate office.
“All expenses at Saxbys Cafe are paid as part of and like any accounting for receipts and expenses of any business,” said Villani. “The CEO and all food, labor, and other expenses incurred by Saxbys are paid by receipts Saxbys earns from every paying guest.”
Current employees of Argo Tea will remain employed by Ram Hospitality in different capacities.
