{"id":4832,"date":"2018-08-20T20:22:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T01:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-gordon-food-service.pantheonsite.io\/engaging-student-workers-enhancing-student-life\/"},"modified":"2023-05-24T12:22:07","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:22:07","slug":"engaging-student-workers-enhancing-student-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfs.com\/en-us\/ideas\/engaging-student-workers-enhancing-student-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Engaging Student Workers, Enhancing Student Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marty Dudek, Associate Director of Dining Service for the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, says the labor market for student workers is as tough as he\u2019s seen in his 22 years with the school. \u201cIt\u2019s always been a struggle to find staff when the economy is good, but right now it\u2019s almost impossible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dudek is competing for employees with six other area colleges and a large teaching hospital, as well as numerous local restaurants and corporations. Still, he does have an ace up his sleeve when it comes to staffing: \u201cAll first-year work-study students are required to work for Dining Service.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a labor force of more than 300 students each year, typically filling such positions as dishwasher and food runner. \u201cThere are a few students who come in with some foodservice experience, and they may work the grill, but the vast majority are unskilled,\u201d Dudek says. \u201cFor many students, it\u2019s the first job they\u2019ve ever had. So training is a challenge\u2014we have a first-time training program to get students up to speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the student workforce is large, it\u2019s also limited. First-year students must work just one four-hour shift each week. \u201cIt used to be two shifts per week. But our academic program is very rigorous, and about three years ago we decided to make it one. We don\u2019t want to take away from coursework.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student workers: shaping future leaders<\/h3>\n

As with most foodservice positions staffed by young people, the turnover rate is high\u201475 percent or more of student workers may not return from the first year to the next. Dining Service has implemented a \u201cCaptain\u201d program to help persuade students to stick around.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Captain is a student who takes on a supervisory role,\u201d Dudek explains. \u201cThey help train, direct and guide other student employees. Students are eligible for this position after one semester.\u201d Captains can become a Student Organizer Apprentice during their junior year and ascend to full Student Organizer status as a senior. Student Organizers assist with all aspects of student employment, including hiring and advancement, scheduling and operating systems recording. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe position this as a way for students to build a resum\u00e9. Their future bosses want to see managerial experience and a record of achievement, and this is a great way to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to its student workforce, Dining Service employs about 100 full- and part-time professional employees. Turnover in this segment is much lower\u2014many of these employees have been with the school for 12-18 years\u2014but it\u2019s not zero. \u201cWe\u2019re having to reach out to potential hires in new ways,\u201d Dudek says. \u201cWe go to job fairs to find people, we to go to vocational schools to appeal to students, we advertise on social media\u2014employers just have to be more creative these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

That creativity extends to the kitchen. \u201cWe\u2019ve always cut all fresh fruit by hand, but we\u2019re looking at using value-added produce next year. That would mean one less employee we need, and it would also cut down on waste and compost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Holy Cross Dining Service staff dishes up roughly 270,000 meals each month through 10 foodservice outlets, including the Kimball Main Dining Room, a food court, Crossroads pizza & grill, a chopped salad concept, two coffee shops, a $1-million-a-year catering operation, a 65-bed retreat center and Ciampi, a residence housing 35 members of the Jesuit religious order.<\/p>\n

Healthy is always on the menu<\/h3>\n

Under the supervision of Director Linda Nardella, Dining Service strives to deliver the healthiest, tastiest, most varied and sustainable dining options<\/a> possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents today overwhelmingly say they want healthy options,\u201d says Dudek, though he points out that Chicken Parmesan remains the most popular menu item, as it has been since he joined the college in 1996. Holy Cross looks to Menus of Change, a series of principles developed by The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to help guide efforts to expand healthy, sustainable, delicious dining options.<\/p>\n

\u201cMenus of Change outlines 28 steps to a better way of living and eating,\u201d Dudek says. Steps range from being transparent about sourcing and preparation to reducing sugary beverages. \u201cThe program emphasizes plant-based eating\u2014not eliminating meat entirely, but putting the focus on produce. We\u2019ve added well over 50 vegetarian and majority-vegetarian items to the menu cycle in the last year, but we\u2019re not referring to them that way. They\u2019re plant-based dishes\u2014and they taste great, so vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike have accepted them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dining Service also removed salt shakers from dining room tables this year, following the Menus of Change directive to \u201ccut the salt.\u201d Now, students must access salt and pepper grinders at a \u201cflavor station.\u201d Dudek reports that students don\u2019t want to get up again to season their food after they sit down, so salt use has been drastically curtailed.<\/p>\n

Menus of Change also encourages the purchase of fresh, seasonal and local foods, and Dining Service complies by purchasing about 20 percent of its products from local suppliers or manufacturers, much of it through Worcester\u2019s Food Hub. \u201cI was on the team that put the Food Hub together as a means to connect local farmers with local businesses,\u201d Dudek says. \u201cIt aggregates produce from 15-20 different farmers and delivers it to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students perceive fresh, seasonal and local as healthy\u2014and they also believe in the sustainability benefits of local sourcing. \u201cBoth the students and our Jesuit mission drive us to be more sustainable,\u201d Dudek notes. Other sustainability initiatives include trayless service, recycling and composting of all waste, the elimination of Styrofoam and a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2040.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealthy\u201d takes on a deeper meaning for students with food allergies and other dietary restrictions. Holy Cross has long provided special food allergy services and easily accessible nutrition information to help students make safe dining choices. Its allergy pantry, located in the main dining hall, has been certified peanut- and tree nut-free by Kitchens with Confidence. <\/p>\n

In 2017, Bon App\u00e9tit recognized these efforts by featuring Holy Cross on its list of \u201c7 Healthiest Dining Halls in the Country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maximizing choice<\/h3>\n

Students also appreciate the range of dining options<\/a> available. The main dining room offers a soup and salad bar, burger bar, grill, pizzas and pastas, classic entr\u00e9es, plant-based options, Asian stir-fry and noodle bowls, and Performance Food options\u2014including protein foods with less than three grams of fat per ounce, sauces with 75 calories or less per half cup, vegetables that are prepared simply and complex carbohydrate foods containing adequate fiber and nutrition. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would never have believed when I started 22 years ago that we\u2019d be offering some of these items, many of them cooked to order,\u201d marvels Dudek, a Culinary Institute of America graduate. His primary responsibilities today include purchasing and contracts, and keeping on top of production, \u201cSo I don\u2019t get much opportunity to cook anymore. But I pitch in when I\u2019m needed\u2014whether it\u2019s cooking or washing dishes.\u201d<\/p>\n

That willingness to do whatever it takes to make sure customers are taken care of is a hallmark of Holy Cross Dining Service\u2014and one more way the department makes the most of its labor force. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

College of the Holy Cross battles labor woes by training with the idea of building leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-k12-education"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEngaging Student Workers, Enhancing Student Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gfs.com\/en-us\/ideas\/engaging-student-workers-enhancing-student-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Engaging Student Workers, Enhancing Student Life\" \/>\n<meta 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