Critique of KU Dining

Critique of KU dining

Positives
• Sysco as primary vendor.
o I think that Sysco is moving in the right direction with everything that they are doing and I hope to share with the Virginia Tech community all that they have been doing for KU Dining. I was especially glad to hear about the drop incentive and invoice rewards system that they have in place to help increase efficiency on both ends.
• Self- Branded concepts
o It’s always refreshing to see innovation and variety in the dining halls. In addition I think those who created the self-branded concepts take a lot of pride in their accomplishments which translates positive energy that is distributed throughout the workforce.
• Sustainable initiatives
o Market cart, tray less dining, biodegradable dinner ware, recycling cooking oil for biofules research, looking into composting, RECYCLING

• Benefits for employees
o It takes a lot to get fired. Full time employees get a lot of sick leave and up to 30 hours of relatively excuse free absence. Management is proactive about addressing attendance and attitude issues with staff in an effort to keep employees on board.

Potential Improvements
• The first and foremost thing I noticed was how disgruntled a lot of the staff is during summertime operation. I think it’s an issue that needs to be addressed and discussed with staff, especially staff that is relocated to Mrs. E’s from other dining halls for the summer. I say this because often times the tension between management and employees is tangible, which is a concern because if I am noticing it then certainly some of the customers are as well. I know that the majority of persons employed in food service are not typically highly motivated professional s with degrees but I think the same standards and expectations should apply whether the work place is a law office or a dining hall.
• I know that there isn’t really any other option than to relocate full time workers from dining halls that close for the summer to Mrs. E’s; however, something needs to be done to explain to employees the differences in work and management that they will have to adjust to for the summer months in hopes that this will help ease the transition and maintain a positive atmosphere in the work place. I think that it would help tremendously if management focused a little more on creating a culture of mutual respect between management and staff, where employees can enjoy and value what they do. From what I have observed this is heavily reliant on building positive interpersonal relationships between management and staff. I’m not saying that staff and management have to be best friends, and in most instances I think having that kind of relationship could be counterproductive, but I have seen and experienced an improvement in workplace operations (like communication and efficiency) when staff members and management have a mutual understanding and respect of each other. The encounter that sparked these thoughts in my mind was when I had the opportunity to work with the catering department. They accomplished tasks quickly and with efficiency with little need for prompting by management. I believe things ran so smoothly because of the relatively laid back attitude amongst the catering team despite chaotic settings. Everyone worked well together and respected each other because they had formed substantial relationships with one another.
• I know management at Mrs. E’s is trying to work towards more of a team mentality which I spoke with Jim about recently and I think it would really help reshape the work environment so I hope to see follow through with Jim’s plan. I think it will help people value their jobs and be more willing to be held accountable for their actions.
• Finding a way to make batch cooking a reality at Mrs. E’s
o Will require more labor, different equipment but will greatly reduce food waste and improve quality of food both of which are current issues here
-I think a solution to these problems would be to reevaluate where labor is allocated across all dining facilities. Many of the workers I have spoken to have expressed how much more laid back most of the other dining facilities are because there is not as much of a demand. If things are so laid back there then is there really a need for as much labor in those locations? Perhaps some of the labor could be relocated to Mrs. E’s to help improve the operation.
-Need more equipment, for instance a second oven for pizza. Also more variety would help alleviate the demand for pizza (calzones, Stromboli, Panini’s, garlic rolls, breadsticks, Caesar salads)
-Having a more concrete theme built into each food service station (i.e. a vegetarian bar so that these things are more obvious and thus more appealing) I also think, perhaps after renovating, that it would work well to have an Asian themed food service station to meet the multicultural demands of a diverse campus
• Education
In order to further promote healthy eating and sustainable initiatives amongst the student body there has to be more education on the subject so that students understand the reasoning behind said initiatives; otherwise they will get overlooked due to lack of interest that stems from not being informed.
- Advertising Better Bites programs through Facebook or list serve emails so that students are more aware
- Need people in the nutrition department that can better relate to students, people with more modern or youthful perspectives that better understand the college student lifestyle?
• Merger- pros and cons
-Can you truly raise the necessary budget without state funding or without being part of Housing
• Increasing meal plan purchases
-Having fresher, more appetizing food. I think you are well on your way to having outstanding options at many of the retail locations but of course there is always room for improvement. I know that I didn’t exactly get an accurate impression of what the menu is truly like at Mrs. E’s during the school year so perhaps that can be something that is emphasized and explained to future interns. I also understand that the menu is a constantly evolving entity that is perpetually subject to change and improvement but I think that more of that change needs to become a reality especially in the residential dining halls.
• Intern
o Having a Login available for the intern would be very useful. I sort of felt like I was pestering people whenever I had to get on the computer because I always had to ask someone to log into the system for me and use their account.
o Having a second intern would most definitely improve the experience. First of all it would help distribute the work load on projects thus providing the opportunity for more creative input. Second it is always nice to work with someone that is easy to relate to and share experiences with. Lastly, I think by having a second intern a lot more could be accomplished project wise not to mention it provides the opportunity for companionship which is always appreciated especially when far from home.
o I think that I would have been provided with a better perspective of KU Dining if I had worked in multiple venues (retail, residential, and catering) for more extended periods of time. Most of what I learned about operations at Mrs. E’s I grasped wit in a few days. For example I spent two weeks shadowing supervisory staff, which I certainly learned a lot from but it did get redundant after a few day and I think that time could have been spent exploring other aspects of KU Dining in more detail.
o Having weekend trips or tours or other activities schedule in advance and set in stone. As I was reading some of the other interns blogs it seemed like they got to take some really interesting trips and I think that would definitely enhance the experience. I was kind of looking forward to touring some of the local farms and was disappointed that it did not happen. There is a lot that the Lawrence community has to offer and I did get to experience a lot of it on my own but I think having specific planed trips through the internship would help exponentially.