Many colleges and universities are surprised to discover just how much campus dining can impact a school’s culture. A lack of food variety, repetitious menus, and ineffective management can put a serious damper on student, staff, and faculty experiences with campus dining. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
We sat down with Dr. Bob Pastoor, the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to discuss how the culture at the school has changed since we partnered with them in 2018. From happier students to a substantial increase in catered events on campus, a shift in their food service provider made a huge dent campuswide. We continue to serve up a healthy and hearty dining culture that, unlike eggs, just can’t be beat.
Transcript:
They are always willing to try new things, which changes the culture of the institution because heretofore it’s been a culture of, “No, can’t do it, we’re not gonna try.” That’s been a breath of fresh air.
My name is Dr. Bob Pastoor, I am the chief of staff, vice president for student affairs at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In 2017, 2018, received a number of complaints about the food service, about the food selection, the menu selection, the management. After a number of conversations with the food service that was here, we ended up putting out an RFP, and we’re fortunate enough to have Creative Dining be the selection for that.
What struck the committee when they came for their presentation was their enthusiasm. Their ability to talk to us about where the food was coming from, that it was locally-grown, and the personnel that were here to service our students was a big piece of it as well.
They basically said, “Okay, this is what we’re gonna do to address your problems, here are the people that are gonna do it,” and they were ready to go in the fall semester when everybody came back.
So, since the beginning of CDS’s employment here with us, they have made great strides in serving our community as a whole. Not only the faculty and staff, but certainly the students. I think everybody thinks about the student impact, but CDS has had a tremendous amount of impact on our faculty and staff through their catering processes.
Our students seem to enjoy it, they work well with the personnel that they hire at the university. Our student clubs and organizations use them for catering all the time. It has changed the culture from looking at food service as just a business to operate occasionally here, but has looked at it as a partnership with the rest of the university.
Creative Dining does an annual survey of our population. The results have been extremely positive. It’s a testament to the way they operate and the way they approach this contact here.
I would not hesitate at all in recommending them, whatsoever.
