2011 January 31st

Residence Student Dining Committee

Minutes of Meeting

Date: Monday, January 31st, 2011, Davis Building Alumni Lounge

Attendees: UTM Bill McFadden, Andrea De Vito

Chartwells Linda Balfour

Students Wonjay Chang, Aly Madhavji, Alessandro Medri, Jeff Wong, Vivian So, Andreas Djingga, Oscar Ibanez

  1. OLD BUSINESS
    • Pizza Pizza Off-Campus Delivery Program
      1. Bill mentioned that the Director of Business Development for Pizza Pizza would be visiting UTM for a meeting the following week, with part of the discussion to include the Off-Campus Delivery Program
      2. Bill mentioned the fact that, during Residence Move-In this year, Hospitality and Retail Services did not give out the orange slip of paper that included instructions on how students can order Pizza Pizza from off-campus, but the students did not seem to think that this related to students having a lack of understanding of the program
      3. Students brought forward the following issues with respect to the Pizza Pizza Off-Campus Delivery Program:
        • On several occasions, the Pizza Pizza delivery personnel would get lost on campus, resulting in a delay in the delivery time
        • When calling to place an order, sometimes the students would get through the entire ordering process and, when asked about payment type, the students would be re-directed to another person when indicating that they were paying with their Meal Plan, resulting in a much longer ordering process
      4. Bill explained that the calls to Pizza Pizza Delivery went to a Call Center in Hamilton and, if there was a high volume of calls, some of the calls might be re-routed to customer service staff who work from home
        • Bill also state that the Call Center staff determine at which Pizza Pizza the order would be made
        • The students suggested that the Call Center be given the numeric address for the UTM Campus so that the information can be passed along to the delivery personnel for faster delivery
        • The students asked about the Pizza Pizza Delivery time guarantee and whether it applied to Meal Plan orders or to people who live in Residence
        • ACTION – Bill agreed to bring the students’ concerns to the meeting with Pizza Pizza next week
  • Price Survey
    1. Bill asked the students if they had developed a list of items to be included in a price comparison with other universities
    2. The students presented the list and agreed to e-mail it to Bill and Andrea following the meeting
      • ACTION – Bill and Andrea agreed to send this list off to other universities for price comparison
    3. The students asked about pricing differences between like items in the vending machines and at Colman Commons (e.g. Gatorade, Juice)
      • Bill clarified that, although the vending company (Canteen) and Chartwells are different companies, every effort is made to ensure that the prices are relatively consistent between like items in the vending machines and at Colman Commons
      • Bill explained that a lot of universities have exclusive contracts with specific beverage providers, while the selection of Canteen as the University’s vending company allows the UTM to offer choice
      • Bill also mentioned that the University’s vending contract was up for renewal at the end of the school year
      • Bill highlighted the recent potential theft issues at the Roy Ivor vending machines, indicating that one vending machine appeared to have been moved several times and multiple beverages were found resting on the dispensing arm – the problem has been fixed and the machines are now bolted together, reducing the likelihood that such incidences will happen in the future
      • ACTION – The students agreed to bring any discrepancies of prices between like items in the vending machines and at Colman Commons to the next meeting for review
  • Sheridan
    1. Andrea explained that Sheridan still has not provided the UTM with the required I/P addresses to install the new Meal Plan Card readers at Harvey’s and Tim Hortons at Sheridan
      • The students asked why Basic Dollars cannot be used at Sheridan
      • Bill explained that legislation around Meal Plan dictates that Basic Dollars (tax exempt meal plan spending) can only be spent on the campus from which the Meal Plan originates at food outlets operated by the University administering the Meal Plan or by the primary Food Service Operator contracted by the University – consequently, Sheridan purchases can only be made under the Flex account
    2. Bill reviewed discussions from last year’s committee that centered around finding ways for Sheridan students to spend their Basic Dollars at UTM on items to bring to Sheridan
      • Bill described “Thermal Pods” that can hold food at temperature and that are microwave- and freezer-safe – Sheridan students can use these Pods to hold prepared foods purchased from Colman either the morning of their classes or on the night before and bring the food for consumption at Sheridan
      • Bill explained that, at last year’s committee meetings, students did not think that Sheridan students were likely to stop at Colman to pick up food before going to Sheridan
      • The students mentioned that the earliest bus to Sheridan from the UTM left at 8:25am and the last bus arrived back at the UTM around 9:15pm
      • Linda mentioned that Colman experienced a rush from returning students mostly between 7:00pm and 8:00pm
      • The students felt that, if there were more items to grab for breakfast and lunch to eat on the bus or at Sheridan, then the Sheridan students would be more likely to stop at Colman before leaving
      • Bill reiterated the importance of considering food safety when bringing food to consume at Sheridan
      • The students asked what items could be purchased the night before Sheridan classes that can be brought to Sheridan for lunch the next day
      • ACTION – The students agreed to ask other Residence students who attend classes at Sheridan what food items they would like to see made available at Colman that can be purchased and brought to Sheridan for consumption
      • ACTION – Bill agreed to discuss with Chartwells what items can be made available at Colman for students to consume at Sheridan
      • ACTION – Bill agreed to bring a Thermal Pod to the next Committee Meeting to show the students
  • Pole Display
    1. Andrea recounted the fact that the 2-sided Pole Display is now in place at Colman
  • Debit/Credit at Colman Commons
    1. Students reiterated that the request for a Debit/Credit device at Colman related more to the period towards the end of the school year when the students were out of Meal Plan Funds and still wanted to make purchases at Colman
    2. Bill explained that the estimated cost of installing a Debit/Credit device at one of the tills at Colman would be $1,000 to $1,500, not including on-going maintenance expenses, thus adding costs to the program
    3. Bill reminded the students that, when out of funds, Meal Plan Holders can still add money at the Meal Plan Office and on-line
    4. Bill felt that, if Debit/Credit was added to Colman, only 1 machine could be added due to the high number of tech devices already in place at each till
      • The students asked if a wireless Debit/Credit device was a viable possibility instead
      • Bill felt that a wireless device would have a good chance of going missing and would have to be secured to the counter
    5. Bill also thought that having Debit/Credit at Colman would decrease speed of service and wondered if it would actually get good use
    6. Bill discussed situations at other universities were Debit/Credit service is not available at any food outlet
      • These campuses, like the UTM, had ATMs on campus
      • He noted that students, staff, and faculty welcomed an off-campus meal plan similar to the Campus Value Plan to increase convenience, reduce banking fees, and to receive a discount on purchases
      • From an operational and customer service standpoint, Bill also mentioned that having these off-campus meal plans in place versus Debit/Credit led to increased speed of service and, and any transactional errors in charges at the till were easily picked up and corrected
      • Bill explained that Debit/Credit could never be eliminated at UTM because it has been in operation for so long, but he felt that it didn’t make sense having this service at Colman
    7. The students felt that having Debit/Credit at Colman might encourage more non-residence students to eat at Colman
      • The students mentioned that, typically, non-residence students would attend Colman at the end of the day given its longer hours of operation
      • Bill posed the question to the students: What does the UTM have to do to encourage more people to get a Campus Value Plan?
      • The students felt that the lack of awareness and, consequently, acceptance of the Campus Value Plan as a preferred form of payment would take some time to alleviate
  • ACTION – Bill agreed to give the issue more thought
    • Shawarma
      1. Andrea explained that the shawarma program is back up and running on Tuesdays and Thursdays for lunch and dinner
      2. Linda mentioned that the shawarma takes 2-3 hours to produce in order to ensure the internal temperature of the product reaches the food safe zone – consequently, when the shawarma sells out for the day, no more will be made that day
  • ACTION – Linda agreed that, if sales volumes are high enough , she would look at making shawarma available on other days
  1. NEW BUSINESS
    • C-Store Theft
      1. Bill recounted the issues with theft in the C-Store at Colman
        • Linda explained that ‘evidence’ that theft had potentially been committed is regularly found in the back corner of the C-Store where there is no camera coverage
      2. The students asked about the possibility of placing a ‘fake’ camera to deter thieves
        • Bill explained that fake cameras are illegal because they provide a false sense of security for customers, especially if something were to happen and reliance on the camera would be required for safety reasons or to follow-up on a crime
      3. Bill mentioned that a security mirror will be installed in the back corner of the C-Store and a panic bar alarm will be installed on the exit doors leading out of Colman between the C-Store and the Culinary Table
        • Andrea explained that there is a delay in the installation due to an issue that arose (but was never resolved) when the doors were installed during Colman’s construction
        • Andrea also assured that, once the panic bar alarm was fully functional, extra signage to notify the students of the alarm would be put in place given that so many students legitimately use that door as an external exit
  • ACTION – Andrea agreed to ensure that, once the panic alarm was fully operational, extra signage would be put in place to notify students that the alarm will sound once the door is opened
  • Food Service Advisory Committee
    1. Bill reviewed the composition and mandate of the Food Service Advisory Committee
      • Bill identified the Food Service Advisory Committee’s first project as the redevelopment of the Meeting Place
      • Bill employed a survey consultant to review the Residence Food Service Survey from March 2010, which has since been revised and is ready for launch before the end of the 2010-11 school year
      • Bill explained that the University is encouraging all 1st and 4th year students to participate in the NSSE survey, to be launched in February, to be followed by another survey for 2nd and 3rd students designed to help shape the Globe & Mail University rankings
      • Bill stated that the University will not allow any other on-line surveys to be conducted for the duration of the other two surveys and feels that the revised Food Service Survey will not be launched until March
      • Bill wondered if the students would still be interested in participating in the Food Service Survey once the other two University-wide surveys are complete
      • The students felt that there would be significant participation if the Food Service Survey was launched sometime between after Reading Week and the second week of March to fit in between mid-terms, finals, and major assignments
      • Bill explained that the prime purpose of the Food Service Survey is centered around food service brands and concepts that the UTM Community would like to see in the renovated Meeting Place
  • ACTION – Bill agreed to launch the revised Food Service Survey between Reading Week and the second week of March
  1. Other New Business
    • Soy Milk as Basic
      1. The students stated that individual Soy Milk was inconsistently charged as either Basic or Flex
  • FOLLOW-UP – Andrea looked at the product setup in the POS system, and it is setup to be sold as Basic if purchased individually as well as with a meal
    • Value Meal Schedule
      1. The students commented how they liked the $5 Value Meals, but the specials seemed to be very sporadic and infrequent
  • ACTION – Linda agreed to look into the feasibility of making $5 Value Meals available 5 days per week and, upon doing so, to develop a schedule to announce these specials in advance
    • Menutainment
      1. The students felt that the quality of the proteins (chicken and shrimp especially) was not good at Menutainment
      2. Linda mentioned that the chicken was pre-cooked and cannot be made available raw at that station due to food safety issues
      3. The students also felt that the Menutainment staff regularly over-portion the stir fry sauce, making the stir fry taste very watered-down
  • ACTION – Bill and Andrea agreed to chat with Linda about the situation and review the service and quality standards at Menutainment
    • Starbucks at Colman
      1. The students have heard only positive comments thus far from others regarding the launch of Starbucks at Colman

Next Meeting: Monday, February 28th, 2011, 7:00pm, Davis Building Alumni Lounge 3138