2010 November 9th

Residence Food Service Sub-Committee

Minutes of Meeting

Date: Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 – CCT3000

Attendees: UTM Bill McFadden, Andrea De Vito, Dale Mullings

Chartwells Vicky Jezierski

Students Oscar Ibanez, Andreas Djingga, Quang Vinh Doan, Wonjay Chang, Aly Madhavji, Alessandro Medri, Jeff Wong, Vivian So, Krystine Wickins

1. HOURS OF OPERATION

  • Bill reviewed the hours of operation for all food service outlets on campus

i. Starbucks hours during fall final exams will increase to accommodate the increased operating hours of the library

  • Bill reviewed the hours of operation at Colman Commons during the semester versus the proposed hours of operation for fall final exams

i. Notable hours of operation changes for the exam period were:

  • Opening time during the week will be 7am instead of 7:30am to accommodate for 8:30am exams
  • Opening time on Saturday, December 11th will be 7am instead of 9am to accommodate for 8:30am exams that day
  • Closing time for the final day of exams (Friday, December 17th) will be 7:30pm to accommodate for resident move out after final exams end at 3pm

ii. Suggestions for communicating the hours of operation at Colman Commons for the exam period (as well as other food service initiatives in the future)

  • Post hours on Rez Listserv
  • Pass hours to Rez Dons to distribute
  • Post hours on Rez Council website/Facebook
  • Post hours on glass doors of Colman Commons
  • Post hours on Colman TVs

Ø ACTION – Bill agreed to e-mail members of committee the proposed hours of operation for Colman Commons for the Fall Exam period for review and discussion at next meeting

2. Visibility of Prices on Products at Colman Commons

  • Not all items in Colman Commons have prices that are posted or easily visible:

i. Some drinks in C-Store

ii. Salad Bar (price per 100g)

iii. Fruits (individual whole fruit and whole fruit in containers)

iv. Soups (prices for each size)

Ø ACTION – Vicky agreed to follow up with Linda to ensure prices for all items were prominently displayed

3. Point-of-Sale Customer Display at Cash

  • A 2-sided display unit has been purchased for the 2-sided Cash at Colman Commons
  • Installation will happen within 2 weeks
  • New unit, which will still be located under the shelf holding the scale, will display the same information on both sides
  • Students are still encouraged to obtain a receipt immediately after their purchase if they are still unsure whether or not the prices of the products they ordered are correct

Ø ACTION – Andrea agreed to follow up with the Students once this display was installed

4. UTM/Sheridan College Students

  • UTM received notification that transfer of data lines for access to UTM Meal Plans from Second Cup to Tim Hortons is complete

Ø ACTION – Bill agreed to follow up to see if the data line connection to Harvey’s at Sheridan has also been installed and, if so, will initiate the process of configuring the required POS hardware so that UTM students can access their Flex Accounts at the Harvey’s and Tim Hortons at Sheridan

Ø ACTION – Bill agreed to readdress the issue from last year about supporting UTM/Sheridan students with Breakfast and Late Night items from Colman Commons at a future meeting


5. MEAL PLAN RATES

  • Bill responded to previous questions pertaining to the Meal Plan rates, but reiterated that any further discussion regarding Meal Plan rates would best be had outside of the Committee forum in order to keep the Committee’s discussion focussed on service improvements that can be made from the Meal Plan Office and at Colman Commons
  • Meal Plan Rates vs. Inflation

i. Bill reviewed the economic issues that resulted in higher inflation in recent years

ii. Bill iterated that the contract between the UTM and Chartwells allows Chartwells to raise prices each year by Inflation + 1%, which has never happened since Chartwells has been at UTM

iii. The average price increase at Colman Commons from 2008-2009 to 2009-2010 was 0.66% (corresponding average Meal Plan Rate increase was 2.36%), and from 2009-2010 to 2010-2011, the average price increase at Colman Commons was 2.30% (corresponding average Meal Plan Rate increase was 4.30%) – increases below the inflation rate

iv. Although there was a higher price increase (and corresponding Meal Plan Rate increase) going into this school year than last, the UTM is seeing that Meal Plan Utilization Rates are trending much better than last year

v. The UTM does not foresee a similar increase in Meal Plan Rates for next year

  • Meal Plan Rates vs. Other Universities

i. The UTM targets its Meal Plan Rates to be ranked in the middle of the pack when compared to other Ontario Universities in order to:

  • Provide value-priced Meal Plans that make sense in the marketplace
  • Still allow for the program and capacity growth for which the UTM community is asking

ii. When comparing the UTM to the University of Windsor – a very similar school demographically and in terms of Meal Plan Rates – the UTM offers 15-20% more food service operating hours

  • The UTM is offering Meal Plan services at a level that is on par or greater than bigger schools
  • New College, a Board Plan school with more student meal plans than UTM, has the highest Meal Plan rates in the province

Ø New College does not offer carry over privileges

iii. In regards to the Minimum B Meal Plan Rate increase from $1,300 in 2008-2009 to $1,600 in 2009-2010:

  • The increase brought the Minimum B Meal Plan to a level that offered exemption from both GST and PST (at $1,300, it was only PST exempt)
  • Now that the HST has replaced the GST/PST, at its previous rate, the Minimum B Meal Plan would not have any tax exemptions today
  • Meal Plan Utilization

i. Outside of the anomalies, Minimum A Meal Plan Utilization was 99.34%

ii. Approximately 5% of Minimum A Meal Plans in 2009-2010 were anomalies- This group had on average 33% remaining on their meal plan at the end of the year

iii. Bill stated that, if the UTM bases decisions around the Meal Plan on covering the anomalies, then this punishes the students who manage their Meal Plan appropriately

iv. The UTM has more conversations directly with students regarding their Meal Plans than any other school, relating in the high utilization rate

v. Ways the UTM communicates directly with Meal Plan Students:

  • Via e-mail before the Meal Plan selection deadline
  • On move-in day or other times when students come pick up their Meal Plan Sticker

Ø Their plan is identified and discussed

Ø Students sign for their sticker and to acknowledge they are aware of their plan – whether chosen or defaulted

Ø Meal Plan brochure is reviewed with special notation of the date to change their meal plan.

  • Via e-mail before the deadline to switch Meal Plans (September 30th)
  • Via e-mail to students who have not picked up their Meal Plan Sticker
  • Via e-mail before 1st and 2nd instalments
  • Via e-mail throughout the year reminding students of their Meal Plan’s rollover policy and to check their Meal Plan Balance against the on-line budget planner
  • (Specifically to anomalies) Via e-mail to show where their Meal Plan balance is in relation to the Budget Planner and to ask them to contact the Meal Plan Office to review their Meal Plan
  • Via e-mail, telephone, and/or face-to-face meetings when any Meal Plan issues arise outside of balance or policy-related issues

vi. Bill reminded the Committee that anomaly students need to contact the Meal Plan Office to discuss their Meal Plan on their own accord to accept responsibility for the Meal Plan choice that they have made and to ensure that their Meal Plan works for them

vii. The UTM will not give out any data on any specific plan or group of plans, including the anomalies

viii. The students asked why bulk items (e.g. cases of water and juice) were made availability to them at the end of the semester as they believed that the students felt compelled to purchase these items to utilize their Meal Plan

Vicky stated that these items were not brought in for the purpose of selling in bulk, but that the students chose to purchase these items in bulk

ix. Bill noted that, at last year’s Residence Food Service Committee Meetings, the consensus was that Students tended to delete e-mails coming from the Meal Plan Office without reading them, so a concerted effort must be made by the Committee going forward to find the most effective ways to get important Meal Plan-related communication to the Students
Ø ACTION – Bill agreed to investigate the possibility of posting Meal Plan budget planner information and other important announcements and marketing initiatives on the TV screens in Colman Commons and on the Residence Listserv

  • ‘Mandatory’ Meal Plans

i. The students asked if all the universities to which Bill compared the UTM’s Meal Plan Rates had mandatory meal plans

· Bill indicated that all universities in the comparison had a Meal Plan that accompanied the resident component

· Bill explained that Meal Plans are not mandatory when attending University

Ø Bill stated that tuition is a mandatory fee for any student who wishes to attend a specific University

Ø Bill also mentioned that living in Residence is not mandatory when attending University - students make a choice to live in Residence and along with that choice comes a Meal Plan component

Ø The University decided, prior to the construction of Oscar Peterson Hall, that a Meal Plan would be attached to living in Residence, specifically deciding to:

i. separate the Meal Plans in to Group A’s (first year students) and Group B’s (returning students)

ii. implement a declining balance, a la carte system

Ø The students asked if other schools had Meal Plan exemptions for Graduate Students and Students with Families, and Bill responded that there are several that do

i. Bill followed up by stating that some Graduate Students at the UTM, who are not required to purchase a Meal Plan, have done so anyway

· Meal Plan Value

i. The students suggested allowing a portion of the Group B Meal Plans for rollover instead of the current state, which does not allow for any rollover from Group B Meal Plans

  • Bill stated that any change to policies in one set of plans would result in a complete reassessment of the Meal Plan program in general

Ø Allowing rollover for Group B’s would likely result in a restructuring of the Group A Meal Plans, and possibly an increase of the Meal Plan Rates for the Group A’s, to support the change in policy

ii. Bill reviewed the minimum requirements for a meal plan as:

10 meals/wk x Avg Check x # of academic weeks

  • Food Service Budget

i. Bill explained that the Food Service Budget presented at ECC only shows a 2-year term, within which the UTM shows a positive contribution on the bottom line

  • Outside of 2 years, with several new and renovated outlets in place, the food service operation becomes breakeven

ii. Bill stated that food revenue per FTE at the UTM was about $600, which ranks 7th out of the 17 schools listed in CCUFSA

  • Pricing

i. Bill explained the CCUFSA pricing survey

  • Although the specific results are confidential, Bill informed the students that the UTM ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of average pricing and towards the lower-priced end in terms of ‘center- of-the-plate’ items

Ø ACTION – Bill agreed to make a list of 20 food items and, upon the Students’ approval of the list, forward it to other universities to get their prices on the 20 food items for comparison

6. OTHER OLD BUSINESS

  • Relish is now available at the Fresh Grille

Clarification of what products are available between 9pm and 10pm on Fridays

i. C-Store is open

ii. Soup and fresh fruit are available

iii. Main gate will no longer be closing early as a sign of ‘last call’ in order to maintain be access to servery

  • Theme Meals

i. The November Promotional Calendar was posted late on website but was posted before November 1st in Colman Commons

ii. Vicky encouraged the students to bring any ideas for theme nights or promotions to her attention or to future meetings so that they can be discussed and implemented

Ø ACTION – Vicky agreed to bring the most recent Promotional Calendar to the next meeting for review

Ø ACTION – Vicky agreed to make link to Promotional Calendar on website available for posting on the Rez Listserv, on Colman TVs, and on Rez Facebook page (e-mailed on November 13th)

  • Dish Pickup Program

i. Although dish pickup was inconsistent for the first month, dishes are now being picked up from OPH, Erindale and Roy Ivor Hall twice daily

ii. Dale felt that the dish return initiative has been working much better compared to last year

  • There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of dishes thrown out by students
  • There is still an issue of students piling dishes on the floor instead of at the dish return stations

iii. The students mentioned that house checks may result in a large amount of dishes to be returned at one time, leaving the dish return areas overflowing

  • The students announced that house checks are performed during the first or second week of every month
  • Vicky encouraged the students to notify Colman Commons if future house checks result in a large amount of returned dishes so that the dish return stations can be promptly cleared

7. NEW BUSINESS

  • The students remarked that, at times, there isn’t a cashier around when they approach the till, which may cause students to not bother waiting to pay.

Ø ACTION – Vicky agreed to review this issue with the Colman Commons Management

  • The students asked about the proposed Meal Plan Rates for the 2011-2012 school year

i. Bill explained that the proposed Meal Plan Rates for next year were part of the budgeting process that has currently not been finalized

  • The students brought some concerns over the inconsistent quality of Pizza Pizza and Tim Hortons on campus versus the same stores off-campus

i. Vicky mentioned that Chartwells follows the same operating policies and procedures as the street stores do, and Vicky offered to show the operational audits from Pizza Pizza and Tim Hortons for verification

Ø ACTION – Vicky agreed to bring the most recent operational audits to the next meeting

ii. Bill stated that the Tim Hortons at UTM has the 2nd highest percentage of staff (90%) who have fully completed the training requirements as outline by Tim Hortons corporate in Canada, which has resulted in customer processing improvements at Tim Hortons this year

iii. Vicky encouraged the students that, if they feel they have been served an inferior product, to bring the product back for exchange or full refund and/or speak to a Supervisor immediately

iv. The students suggested doing a taste test between Pizza Pizza from on-campus and Pizza Pizza from off-campus

v. Vicky mentioned that, at times, Chartwells at UTM has had to order the Pizza Pizza from off-campus to fulfill catering orders of large quantities or for off-hours, and each time, the comments from the customers have been that the Pizza Pizza from on-campus tasted better

vi. Bill asked the students about the difference between the Pizza Pizza ordered from off-campus delivery versus the Pizza Pizza on-campus

  • The students felt that the off-campus Pizza Pizza tasted better but that they were never given time guarantees for delivery and, at times, ended up waiting up to 1 ½ hours for their product

Ø ACTION – The students agreed to ask for feedback on the Pizza Pizza off-campus delivery program at their next Rez Council Meetings

Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 23rd, 5:30pm – CCT3000