University Dining Service
Newsletter
December 2011/January 2012
Midnight Breakfast
All hall residents are invited to a free midnight breakfast on Thursday, December 15, 2011, from 10:00 p.m. –
12:00 midnight in both Price Commons and North Point Dining. This event is co-sponsored by University
Housing and University Dining Service. There will be a great breakfast menu including: Scrambled Eggs,
French Toast, Cereals, Donuts, Muffins, Fruit, Yogurt, Juice and Beverages. There will also be games and
prizes. This is a great opportunity to relax and refuel for the rigors of exam week. It is also a great chance to
socialize with fellow students before they leave for semester break. To prepare for this event, North Point PM
will not offer the short order menu after 9:30 p.m., and Commons PM will not open.
Traditional Thanksgiving Buffet Rated High Among Diners
The Traditional Thanksgiving Buffet, offered at Price Commons and North Point Dining on Tuesday,
November 15, 2011, was once again rated as a very popular meal. Commons served 1368 and North Point
served 625, for a total of 1993. The most popular items on the menu were turkey and mashed potatoes, with
Snicker salad capturing third place at Commons. Students also indicated, by an overwhelming majority, that
this meal is appreciated with 98% indicating that this meal is very worthwhile.
Surveys of 323 attendees reflected the following ratings for the meal:
Overall Rating
Menu
Entertain/Décor
Excellent
38%
31%
31%
Good
50%
55%
43%
Fair
11%
12%
18%
Poor
1%
2%
6%
December
1990 Maria Butkowski, Food Service Manager
1999 Marlene Edens, Cook
2009 Justin Krahn, Student Center Unit Manager
January
1975 Jim Selz, Assistant Director
2010 Jane DeFlorin, Service Lead
Sample Bar Weekly – Give us Feedback!!
Every Tuesday at Price Commons and North Point Dining, we offer samples of new recipes or products and
ask for our customer’s feedback. Take a minute each Tuesday to try the sample of the week and tell us what
you think. Your opinion counts!
December 6, 2011
December 13, 2011
December 20, 2011
Crunchy Fish Taco
Mostaccioli Salad
Flat Bread Sandwich
Personnel Updates
The hiring process for a Cook 2, to join the Student Center staff, has been approved to continue and more
interviews will be conducted. The job offer was made to a candidate after the first round of interviews,
however, the person had since obtained employment and declined. A new register of names should be
available in February. This will leave a vacancy in the Student Center, and we will be assessing the ways to
cover this utilizing current Student Center staff and LTE’s.
The hiring process for the new Foodservice Assistant 4 position in the Student Center has also been approved
to continue and more interviews are being conducted yet this year. The candidate selected from the first round
of interviews did decline the job offer. We do hope to have this position filled for opening the new Student
Center operations in January.
James Forer, Food Production Assistant for the Student Center, has announced that he plans to retire from his
position, with his last day of work tentatively planned to be January 28, 2012. UDS does plan to recruit for
this position as soon as official notice is provided and we have obtained recruitment approval. This position
requires a test be written so there will most likely be a delay in hiring until later next semester. We will also
be assessing how to cover for the vacancy with current staff and LTE assistance.
Student Managers
Several new Student Managers have joined the UDS team and are now in training. In addition, two past
Student Managers, Garret Rass and Tim Volbrecht, are returning to North Point for second semester.
Hired during the month of October:
Commons
Jen Tweed
Colin Ronayne
Kathereine Schmidt
North Point
Kaylee Matucheski
Student Center Cash Operations
Dakota See
Laura Hundt
Katherine Riedel
Elissa Hadro
Karlaya Hahn
Catering
Natasha Miller
Student Center –Move In Plans and Progress
The Student Center project has fallen behind the original completion schedule. Occupancy of the lower level
was targeted for November 11, 2011, but many areas did not get approval for occupancy on that date. Slowly,
areas of the lower level have been turned over to us, but contractor work continues in adjacent areas slowing
some of the work to be done preparing for re-opening the building. The foodservice areas were some of the
first turned over to the university and staff have made good progress getting these areas cleaned, learning the
equipment, planning the storage and display areas, etc. It is our goal to have these areas ready to open for the
most part by December 2, 2011 which is the substantial completion date for the upper level of the Student
Center. Testing of pizzas in the new Wood Stone Pizza oven is an exciting part of the lower level preparations
and is planned for the week of November 28, 2011. The look and location of the brick oven pizza provides an
architectural accent that enhances the lower level.
The upper level foodservice areas are scheduled to be turned over to the university the week of December 5,
2011. Staff will then begin working on this level. There will be a large amount of cleaning and the return of
two and one half semis of equipment, plus inventory and other equipment currently at the Commons. With an
all new service area, many details in procedures and storage will need to occur in these first weeks.
There will continue to be contractors working in other areas of the building with the Ballrooms and Great Hall
work continuing into late December.
The current plan calls for complete move in of all items by early January 2012. The staff will utilize the first
three weeks of January for more cleaning, stocking, planning, training and final preparations for opening the
doors to the public. We anticipate having 120 new student employees to orient and train with the week of
January 16, 2011 the key week for this activity. We will also have several “dry runs” planned for this week to
test the new station procedures.
The Skylight Market, on the lower level, will open Sunday, January 22, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. and the upper
level Fireside Café will open Monday, January 23, 2012 at 7:00 a.m.
4
December
Maria Butkowski, Food Service Manager
4
Marty Baumgartner, Storekeeper
10
Tami Seehaver, Service Lead
13
Ann Zuerlein, Service Lead
30
Cindy Warner, Baker
25
January
Krista Loyas, Cook
Holiday Feast 2011
University Dining Service invites students to a special buffet to celebrate the Holiday Season. The buffet will
be offered at the Price Commons and North Point on Wednesday, December 7, 2011, from 4:00 p.m. – 7:30
p.m. (To prepare for this event, meal service will be interrupted from 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. at North Point and 3:00
– 4:00 p.m. at Commons)
The dining areas will be decorated and trimmed to set the mood for this festive season. Diners will be offered
the opportunity to decorate their own cookie.
The menu will be served buffet style and will feature:
Carved Pit Ham
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Lasagna Roll Ups
Chicken Pilaf w/Orzo
Au Gratin Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Veggie Pasta Toss Salad
Creamy Fruit Salad
Banana Bread
Dinner Rolls
Sugar Cookies
Gingerbread Cookies
Rustic Apple Crumb Pie
Egg Nog
Mistletoe Punch
The prices for this meal will be:
Baseline
Flexline
Cash
Block
$2.40
$6.60
$7.90
One Meal
Composting Update
University Dining Service has been composting kitchen and postconsumer waste from the dish room in each
facility, since January 2010. In 2010, 90.7 tons of compostable materials were diverted from the landfill by
University Dining. For 2011, 54.4 tons through October 25, 2011, has been sent to the compost site. (Student
Center Closed during this time.)
University Dining Service hopes that this year we will see successful practices implemented to get more
postconsumer food waste into the compost stream and out of the landfill. Sustainability is everybody’s
responsibility.
Student Employees of The Month
Month
August 2011
September 2011
October 2011
Price Commons
Kate Schmidt
Erin Koffman
Aruna Aryal
North Point
Retail Ops
Catering
Tyler Lenzner
Jessie Bruce
Lindsay Fisher
Upcoming Events:
December 16 Evaluation Week Begins
December 17 Commencement
December 22 Evaluation Week Ends
December 25 Christmas Day
January 1
New Year’s Day
January 2
WinTerm Classes Begin
January 16
Martin Luther King Day
January 21
WinTerm Classes End
January 23
Spring Semester Classes Begin
Professional Development Day Plans
The annual January Professional Development day for permanent and student management staff will be held
at North Point on January 13, 2012. Some of the topics to be covered include: campus department overview,
employee recognition, chemical safety, and garnishing. Lunch and food recipe sampling will be offered by
Reinhart Foodservice. Details will be sent to staff in late December.
University Dining Service Newsletter
A UDS Publication
December 2011/January 2012
Articles should be submitted to Jim Selz
Not an official document. For information only
Not printed at tax payer expense