Rice Business graduated to better food solutions with ezCater

OVERVIEW

40

student-run organizations serving 1,200 hungry MBA students

600+

diverse, local restaurants to choose from, at their fingertips

1

centralized solution for ordering, expenses, and tax-exempt status

Ready to get in touch?

Contact us

The Challenge

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business in Houston, TX has over 40 student-run organizations serving its business school population of 1,200 MBAs. In addition to their core responsibilities, many organizations provide school-sponsored catering for weekly and bi-weekly meetings. Before ezCater, student leaders would search for menus online, use spreadsheets to keep track of orders, and negotiate with different vendors, creating extra work for everyone. Adam Herman, the school’s Executive Director of the Office of Academic Programs and Student Experience, felt that it was tough to track down receipts from students — the paperwork alone was very difficult.

Tax-exempt savings left on the table

If student organizations failed to take advantage of Rice University's tax-exempt status when ordering food, their small budgets could miss out on savings.

Managing the complexity of student ordering

With so many organizations under one umbrella, students needed to research and order from local restaurants around Houston for their events.

Feeding a diverse student body
With such a large and diverse population of students from around the world, being able to accommodate individual tastes, preferences, and dietary restrictions was a prerogative.

ezCater makes ordering food for events just easy. It is one of the best tools that we’ve started using here at Rice Business.

Taylor Anne Adams

MBA 2023 and Co-President of the Entrepreneurship Association and President
of the Women in Leadership Conference at Rice Business in 2023

SOLUTION & RESULTS

The Rice Business Office of Academic Programs and Student Experience chose ezCater as a way to consolidate and simplify ordering food. From lunch-and-learns and networking parties to cultural and affinity group events, ezCater’s all-in-one online platform has brought variety, convenience, flexibility, and reliability to Rice Business students — all while helping foster a sense of community through food.

Putting their tax-exempt status to work

Rice University’s tax-exempt status is automatically applied, so students don’t worry about being charged tax on catering orders — or chasing down vendors to remove tax from the bills.

Getting food ordering and spend under control

Using a single Rice Business credit card, the school can choose which student organization to bill and submit expense reports, replacing a complicated spreadsheet system.

Satisfying diverse appetites on campus
Students submit their organization’s orders with the ability to customize food options for individual preferences and dietary restrictions within their diverse student body.