University Dining Service
Newsletter
June/July 2012
Midnight Breakfast A Success
The Midnight Breakfast was held on the eve of Exam week, Wednesday, May 8, 2012, from 10:00 p.m. –
12:00 a.m. at both the Price Commons and North Point Dining Halls. The breakfast, which was free to hall
residents, offered a breakfast meal and opportunity to relieve some of the stresses that come with exam week.
The event was co-sponsored by University Housing.
There were 639 attendees at Price Commons 275 at North Point, for a total of 914 attendees. Housing &
Residence Life staff kept the games at both locations going through the night and prizes were given out to
many participants.
The surveys of 247 participants showed these results:
GRADE
Overall Event
Activities
Menu
A
56.7%
51.9%
43.0%
B
33.6%
30.7%
33.5%
C
6.9%
11.6%
15.3%
D
1.6%
2.9%
6.1%
F
1.2%
2.9%
2.1%
The students made requests for an enhanced menu, especially breakfast meats. Since the meal is free, we
need to control the cost, so we will not be able to add this. Ratings do indicate many enjoyed the event and
that it was well worth the extra efforts, labor and cost incurred by the hosting departments, University
Housing and University Dining.
June
10
Justin Krahn, Student Center Unit Manager
19
Janie Gilbert, Cook
22
Lisa Miller, North Point Service Manager
July
13
17
27
31
Brian Kalscheuer, Commons Service Manager
Dick Buckwheat, Baker
Nancy Beguhn, Cook
Diane Ternes, Cook
Marty Baumgartner Receives Safety Award
On May 17, 2012, Marty Baumgartner joined several other campus employees to receive the Safety
Committee’s annual award for demonstrating and
practicing safety in the work place. This award was
presented to Marty by Chancellor Sorensen at a
ceremony in his conference room.
Marty was nominated by Mike Kuhlman, who in his
nomination stated these things about Marty “Marty
is very safety conscious. One of the first items he
addressed upon his hire was to rearrange the main
storeroom, making it safer for the crew to rotate the
high use heavy items” and also “ensures that if new
dish room or kitchen chemicals come in that a copy
of the MSDS sheet gets to me to be included in our
MSDS book. He continually monitors the storage
areas for possible slip or trip hazards and is very
good about keeping me updated on any equipment
repairs that may be needed. He also ensures that the
storeroom crew has the proper PPE to do the job
safely”. Summarizing with: “All in all, Marty
ensures that the warehouse area runs smoothly and
efficiently, but above all, safely.”
Congratulations Marty.
2002
July
Danielle Tuschl, Catering Lead
Fall Professional Development Day
The annual fall professional development day has been set for Monday, August 27, 2012. The agenda for the
day includes: a look back at last year; our annual safety training topics; guest speaker Remy Diederich, who
was popular among administrative professionals for his unique approach to Conflict in the Workplace; and a
quick review of first aid and CPR basics. The Student Managers will head up to the Ropes course for part of
the day and for classified employees we will have a presentation on Estate Planning and review the student
employment program at UDS.
Student Employees of Month
Month
March
April
Price Commons
Ben Wery
North Point
Joel Weyenberg
Zach Deering
Retail Operations
Bao Vang
Heather Krause
Catering
Nicole Cohen
Kazmir Teuteberg - Student Employee of the Year at UW-Stout
Kazmir Teuteberg was employed by University Dining Service starting in
2008 and until the time of her graduation in May, 2012. During her time in
UDS, she has worked in many positions. She started at the MSC in food
production and service positions. She then applied for and was selected to be
the MSC Dining Student Scheduler. This was a good fit for Kazmir, whose
major is also in the Human Resources Management area. She continued to
work in student foodservice worker positions as well as managed to do a
wonderful job in the student scheduler position. She became a familiar face a
Student Orientation meetings 8 times a semester, taking part with the
management team to orient new student employees. She also began to work in
the UDS Administrative offices during the MSC Dining displacement for the
2011 remodeling. Then, in the summer of 2011, Kazmir began an internship
in Human Resource Management with UDS and completed some key projects
for the department that will have long term value for the student employment
program. It also provided Kazmir real world experience with many facets of Human Resource processes,
procedures and assessments.
Kazmir was nominated for Student Employee of the Year at UW-Stout by the staff she worked with during
her internship and position as the MSC Dining student scheduler. She was selected from among her peers
across the campus as the Student Employee of the Year at Stout. She received the award April 2012.
Kazmir’s contributions to UDS are very deserving of the recognition she received. She was a pleasure to
have on staff and to work with. We all wish her well in her future endeavors. Kazmir wants to own a bakery
someday.
Commons Loading Dock Closed
The Commons loading dock ramp area and drainage system is being replaced this summer. The dock will be
closed to deliveries from May 20 to July 20, 2012. The new system for drainage will allow for routine
cleaning of debris and sand from run off that caused issues in the old system. The concrete replaces fatigued,
cracking and uneven surfaces. The new design focuses on creating better drainage and slope to minimize ice
buildup in the winter months.
During construction, the upper level mail dock area will be used for all building deliveries and the South Hall
dumpsters will be used for Commons garbage collection. Composting will be temporarily suspended during
this time.
University Dining Service Announces 2012-13 Special Meals & Events
University Dining has set the dates and the themes for next year’s special events and meals. We are bringing
back the noon buffets for the campus community again this year.
Commons & North Point Dining Dinner Buffets
28th Annual Great American Cookout
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Pizza & Wing Party (Sports theme)
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Thanksgiving Feast
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Holiday Feast
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Mardi Gras
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Western Casino Night
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Commons & North Dining Steak Nights
Fall Steak Night
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Spring Steak Night
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Commons & North Point Dining Gourmet Burger Bar
Fall Gourmet Burger Bar
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Spring Gourmet Burger Bar
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Memorial Student Center Buffets
Octoberfest
Holiday
Graduation
Graduation
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Midnight Breakfasts
Fall Semester Midnight Breakfast
Spring Semester Midnight Breakfast
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
UDS Exposed and Stealing Ideas – The Road to Improvement
Dining Service staff have opportunities to travel to conferences, food shows, and visit peer locations in the
foodservice industry. These events are excellent opportunities to be exposed to the latest trends and products
in the industry. They also serve as avenues to creating networks with peers to share and steal best practices
and new ideas. Education benefits are not only great for personal growth, but also offer solid solutions to
problems and/or ideas to improve UDS operations. Change is constant in foodservice, especially the college
market, and being aware of the industry is best done through active involvement.
Recent opportunities for the individuals were: NACUFS, Regional Conference attended by Ann Thies and
Brian Kalscheuer. Jim Selz visited and received an extensive behind the scenes tour of the UW-Stevens
Point dining operations, in their 3rd year of self-operation. Dining committee members and members of the
UDS management team visited the University of St. Thomas and toured their brand new Anderson Student
Center, with special behind the scenes tours of dining operations. Six staff members traveled to Chicago in
May to spend two days on the floor of the largest Food and Hotel show in the nation, the annual NRA show.
Fireside Café to Offer Late Night in Fall
After some discussion and assessment of the late night sales experienced during the first semester of
reopening the MSC, it has been decided to continue the late night service hours for the Fireside Café in the
2012 fall semester. The fall semester will bring a new group of Freshman students to the campus that will
have an opportunity to establish unique traffic patterns for late night dining and MSC building use.
The fall semester extended hours for the Fireside Café food court will again offer Poblanos, since it is unique
to offerings in the Skylight Market. Innovations will also be kept open during this time, offering preparedto-order pasta and sauce selections. This is offered due to the on-going popularity of pasta on campus and
the ability to minimize staffing and waste at a cook-to-order station.
Assessment of these hours offered Monday – Thursday from 3 p.m. – 10 p.m. will again be done by the UDS
management team and MSC administration.
Serving Food Safely is Job #1
The one goal that is paramount in any foodservice operation is serving food safely. To insure we have the
leadership to achieve this goal with such a large work force and multiple operations, all the permanent staff
members who work in production, service, warehousing and management are tested to be certified at the
level of Restaurant Manager by the National Restaurant Association. This certification is recognized
nationally and accepted to meet the requirements of anyone operating a restaurant in Wisconsin.
The UDS permanent staff received the training and study books for this program early in second semester
and then participated in an all-day course/review of the materials along with the official testing. Results will
be back during the month of June. This is the third time that the department has held such classes over the
last 15 years to insure this high level of competence is maintained in our key leaders on the job. This
training and test is required every 5 years to assure employees have the knowledge of the most recent issues
and requirements related to serving food safely.
Composting is Good For the Environment and Good For the Department
UDS began composting all “back of house” food waste in January 2010. From this time through March
2012, a total of 187 tons of food waste has been diverted from the landfill. A recent analysis of the cost of
waste and compost per pound was done by the Environmental Sustainability Steering Committee. It was
found that in addition to turning waste into a usable product and reducing landfill volume, the expense for
composting is less than that for trash disposal. The study showed that composting costs the campus
approximately $10.61 per pound and that trash disposal costs $46.34 per pound.
This same committee is working on a plan to take steps across the campus to reduce the volume of all
campus waste entering the landfill. The proposal is being drafted for review and future implementation. If
accepted, post-consumer organic waste will be collected across the campus and added to the amounts now
being collected by dining service.
Summer Camps and Orientation Events Benefit the University
Summer is not as quiet for UW-Stout dining service as some might expect. Although this summer’s camps
and conference agenda is a bit lighter than the past summers due to the MSC closure, it still has activities and
groups almost weekly. There are numerous groups including new students and parents that come to the
campus in the summer to attend events, camps and conferences. This year we have 14 of these Freshman
Orientation days. Most of these visitors and attendees will be provided with meals by UDS. During the
course of the summer approximately 5000 people will attend events and many others traveling with them
will experience our campus and our services.
There are several reasons that conferences and camps are sought after for summer business:
1.
Recruitment – camps bring to campus many prospective students, who, if they like the campus
culture, facilities, services and have a positive experience, may make UW-Stout their school of choice. The
families that accompany them or the adults that attend may also suggest UW-Stout as the school of choice to
others, should their experiences be positive.
2.
Financial – camps bring in revenue by using the facilities that would otherwise be unused in the
summer. This extra revenue will help to cover overhead, which is an on-going expense even when the
majority of students are not on the campus. The revenue earned in the summer will help to keep fees down
for students in future years.
3.
Financial Aid – Summer campus provide excellent opportunities for students to work on campus, a
form of financial aid. The students also may save money, as they may already be paying rent in the summer.
In addition, they will build a relationship with the university, which has been found to enhance retention.
4.
Exposure to Menomonie & Attractions – adding so many people to the area through camps and
conferences may bring these individuals back for a future visit or may sell them on UW-Stout.
5.
Revenues for Local Businesses- The influx of groups to the Menomonie area brings in added
revenues for the restaurants, stores, and hotels that see a tremendous drop in business over the summer when
most students and many faculty are not here spending their dollars. This can help keep many businesses
viable as 12 month operations so they are there to serve the campus population during the academic year.
6.
Continuing Education – the reason the university exists is to educate. Whether the camp is athletic,
band related, adult education, or focused on engineering like the STEPS program – all events are intended to
enhance the attending individuals’ education.
7.
Summer work for permanent employees – without summer business many of our 12 month positions
would be 9 months.
Many people often ask what the financial payback of these camps is. Revenue over past few years to
University Dining Service for camps and catering has been $180,000-200,000 per year. There is also revenue
for other Student Life areas, such as University Housing, University Recreation, University Centers, etc.
Since many of our campus return year after year, we encourage you to put your best foot forward when you
encounter an attendee or visitor on campus or in the community. Become an ambassador for UW-Stout and
the Menomonie area to insure continued success and growth in this important segment of our business.
Graduation Buffet Returns
The popular Graduation Buffet has been successful since its initial offering in 1985. The buffet was
suspended during the MSC remodeling phase since facilities were not available to accommodate this event.
On May 12, 2012, we once again offered the Spring Graduation Buffet.
This has been a popular way for families to simplify the planning and travel to celebrate the graduate’s
success, with the buffet in the MSC, a short walk from the Fieldhouse. Guests can also order a customer
cake and champagne or wine. Some years there were upwards of 900 attendees at these buffets. UDS plans
to build this business up to those levels in the coming years. The newly remodeled Great Hall and Ballrooms
offer the best in facilities to complement our catering program for such events.
This year a total of 471 guests were served at the buffets with 34 orders taken for the extra items to
complement their meal. Everyone is seated by a greeter and each group has their own reserved table. We
receive many compliments from appreciative graduates and families for providing this service.
Staffing News
Jason Horzewski, a recent UW-Stout graduate and former Catering Student Manager, was selected to fill a
Cook 2 vacancy at the Student Center. Jason had been working in the capacity of a Cook 2 as an LTE prior
to his permanent appointment. Congratulations to Jason in his permanent appointment.
Heather Klanderman was recently selected to fill the Office Manager position at the Student Center. Heather
has been on the campus working in other departments for approximately 4 years. This is a promotion for
Heather. Please welcome Heather to the team.
We have made job offers for two Service Lead positions at the Commons and they have been accepted. On
August 13, 2012, Dawn Knops and Paula Prince will begin working on the UDS Team.
Interviews for the vacant, Food Production Assistant position for the Student Center will begin in June. A
target start date is early July, 2012.
University Dining Service Newsletter
A UDS Publication June/July 2012
Articles should be submitted to Jim Selz
Not an official document.
For information only
Not printed at tax payer expense