uwsp uds food journal

Survey Comments Feedback

2011-12-06T11:27:00.002-06:00

Thank you for participating in the recent dining survey, which is part of a research project. Here are some questions and comments and our responses:
1. Lower DeBot flooded over the summer and the renovation work cannot be completed until next summer. There is substantial work that has to be done and this cannot occur during the academic year. We apologize for the appearance.
2. There have been some requests for more than 3 swipes per meal period and we will assess this over winter break.
3. Students are at the same time asking to get the full-value of the meal swipe (150 ($7.30), 200 ($6.00), 250 ($5.10), but in the same comment will say no to declining balance. With different dining plan swipe values only the average can be used.
4. Upper DeBot has much higher costs due to the all-you-care-to-eat. No students are paying the actual cost of those meals. In retail areas, the cost for a Pointer Plate has a strict budget.
5. The split is about 50/50 - for wanting more or less ethnic foods.
6. We will look at the variety of soups in all locations.
7. Dining plan costs will go up every year because costs go up every year (food, student wages, benefits).
8. Swipe trades are valued at roughly 60% of the average swipe ($5.70). Where does the difference go: salaries and benefits, maintenance of buildings and equipment, utilities, repairs, debt service for renovations, supplies, and many other things).
9. New dining plan information is posted on the website every March. This gives students 5 months to ask questions or make changes to their contracts.

2012-13 Proposal Comments

2011-10-29T13:17:00.004-05:00

UDS will respond to questions and comments as we receive them. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to contact us with some insightful feedback. We urge you to contact DAB and RHA directly as well:

1. The Dining Advisory Board, the shared governance group composed primarily of students, is the one who started this dialogue last spring. DAB wanted to explore this dining plan option because the declining balance was deemed more equitable. This occurred so late in the academic year that the discussion was postponed until this year. Because this is a philosophical decision, residential students must make a choice: 1. if you believe it is OK for students to pay different costs per meal ($5.10-$6.00-$7.30) and that some students will subsidize a lower price for other students to have more meals, than a Block plan (current) is your best choice; or 2. if you believe that everyone should share in the costs equally and pay the same price for a meal than a Declining Balance plan is a better choice. PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO A RIGHT CHOICE - THIS IS THE PHILOSOPHICAL DECISION FOR THE CAMPUS. Please see #3 to see the financial impact this year.
2. A change in the type of dining plan would only occur if RHA, DAB, and SGA all voted to support the change. This is why it is important to contact these groups directly to share your comments. To make informed decisions you need to read and review ALL information.
3. Regarding what dining plan group would see a negative impact, as explained on the proposal pages, the 250 group would no longer be covered by the 150 & 200 higher cost per meal plans. A declining balance equalizes all groups. The average swipe value in 2010-11 was $5.40 (total dining plan revenue/total number of meals) and this year is projected at $5.70 ($5.40 with a 5% increase forecasted - the actual figure cannot be determined until the second semester). To put it in simple dollars, based on the average value of a swipe, this year a holder of a 150 plan will pay $240 more ($7.30-$5.70=$1.60*150 meals), a 200 plan holder $60 more ($6.00-$5.70=.30*200), while a 250 plan holder would save $150 ($5.10-$5.70=-.60*250) for the exact same meal swipes. So to answer who "loses", based on this semester's figures, 81% (150 & 200 plan holders) would see a benefit of a declining balance and 19% (250 plan holders) would see a negative impact.
4. The Board of Regents requires students residing on campus to have a dining contract. Some UW campuses make this mandatory for all residence halls, while Point has two halls that do not require plans. Hyer and The Suites are the two locations with optional plans. Upper class students have the option of moving to one of these to be excluded from a mandatory dining plan.
5. To clarify, no Pointer Plate will have the same price because ingredients are different for each one (a burger is not the same as chicken). They are calculated on the average swipe value. The sample of Pointers on the info pages show that for the 150 & 200 gain an overall benefit by a declining balance plan.

October update

2011-10-13T15:02:00.002-05:00

We have received some questions and requests:
1. The Dining Advisory Board will be reviewing the operating hours at DeBot again this year. Please forward your comments to us.
2. The spring Theme Dinner survey will be sent out shortly. Vote for upcoming theme dinners or give us some new ideas.
3. The Dining Advisory Board is looking for new members. Please check out the DAB page for more details.
4. Recipes can be submitted through the Secret Family Recipe page under Extras.
5. The 30 Second Grocery Grab Contest will be starting again and is based on Facebook page totals. Get a chance to win a grab in Lower by "liking" UDS on Facebook.
6. UDS and Residential Living have partnered for the Look Mom I Can Cook cooking classes at the Suites. Recipes and videos can be found under Extras.

Swipe Trades and Pointer Plates

2011-09-07T18:38:00.004-05:00

We will clarify the changes that UDS has made this year and both are actually separate topics:

1. Swipe Trades: for the past 2 years, and 4 satisfaction surveys, one repeated suggestion given by upper class students was to bring back the old Meal-Cash-Equivalency - aka Swipe Trade. Three years ago this was how the program worked: lunch MCE was worth $2.75 and dinner MCE was worth $3.25. Both had meal plan restrictions > couldn't be used when Upper was open. The C-Store offered only 3 Pointers daily and the Food Court offered only 3 as well. UDS agreed that this was a good suggestion and reintroduced the Swipe Trade program this year with no time period restrictions and for a higher set value at both lunch and dinner. This new program was put into place due to student requests on satisfaction surveys.

2. Pointer Plates: these bundles last year consisted of either an entree and drink (example - pizza); or an entree, drink and side (example burger). Bundles cost approximately $6, so a swipe needed to be worth $6. The actual value of a swipe was $5.40 in 2010/11, so every plate was over budget. This can only be determined after the end of the academic year. There is a perception that swipes are worth $7-$8 but the average based on all plans is much lower. This year we budgeted a $5.70 swipe value, so Pointers cannot exceed this amount. This led to sides being eliminated and a few higher priced Pointers being eliminated. This may not be a glamorous explanation but it is completely honest. You cannot go to an off-campus restaurant with $5.70 and get a $6 value meal.

We look forward to talking with everyone in person at one of the sessions.

Fall 2011 Welcome & Updates

2011-09-05T12:45:00.002-05:00

We welcome the Class of 2015 and all returning students for the 2011-12 academic year. UDS now has 2 years under our belt and we owe a debt of gratitude to all student and permanent staff who have made the transition to self-operations successful. There have been many challenges and no doubt we will face more, but the level of commitment and teamwork is outstanding.

This year we have made some changes in response to growing financial pressures, and at the same time have rolled out a new Swipe Trade program for greater dining plan flexibility. Due to increasing food and operating costs, we have restructured Pointer Plates to include only an entree and a beverage. Some entrees are no longer included because the bundles exceed the average value of a swipe. Upper DeBot continues to offer the greatest dining value, so resources are directed to absorb a much higher food cost because of the all-you-care-to-eat program. Where else in town can you get all the food you want for breakfast, lunch and dinner for on average, less than $6 per meal?

We have over 40 special events planned this year at DeBot including Iron Chef Point, A Dinner to Remember, Hawaiian Luau, Oktoberfest, along with many others. We hope that you can make most of them.

Finally, get engaged! Become active in student orgs, join a shared governance group, play intramurals, or do volunteer work. Best of luck this year!

Dining Plans 2011-12

2011-04-20T10:40:00.003-05:00

Some very good questions have been asked so we wanted to respond:

We have simplified the plans to bring them more in line with the structure of other UW campuses with Block Plans and we now have 3 semesters of financial data to analyze. We have taken the steps to reduce the per meal cost spread across the plans. Currently, the 125 plan equates to $8.29 per meal, while the 275 plan equates to $4.13. Given that a "swipe" is simply a meal transaction, those on plans with less meals subsidize the other plans at a very high rate. This cannot be totally eliminated but we have calculated the high plan at $5.10 per meal and the low plan at $7.25 >> compare this against the current $4.13 & $8.29. Comparable UWs start at $6.48/meal and go as high as $7.78/meal for similar plans.

Meal Plan 101 - the budget structure is as follows: 33% goes to food cost, 43% goes to wages, and 24% goes to operating overhead. This is a fairly typical budget for food service operations. We also receive NO tax dollars to support the program. What does this mean in real dollars for Spring 2011? Total revenue for all plans divided by total number of available meals = $5.52 >> leaving $1.82 for the cost of the food on the plate. This is not much to work with. Consider that a Pointer Plate averages $2.00 for food and a DeBot meal requires about $2.75. Example: a pint of milk is 58 cents and 4 ounces of chicken are 70 cents, and that includes no bun, side, and sauce.
We are providing a very good value in comparison to sister universities.

Spring 2011 Satisfaction Survey

2011-04-18T10:18:00.003-05:00

Thank you for participating this semester. There were 1236 responses, which was the second highest response rate in the last 2 years. Scores and statistics:

UDS overall score 4.18/5.00 - highest score yet
DeBot - 3.88/5.00 - highest score yet
DUC - 4.25/5.00 - highest score yet
C-Store - 4.01/5.00 - highest score yet

On campus students - 66%
Off-campus students - 22%
Staff - 12%

Vegetarian/vegans were 7% of responses
Students with food allergies were 8 % of responses

Top choices for next fall theme dinners: Comfort Foods, Potluck, and French Cuisine

High-Low areas per location:

Debot:
(-): cleanliness of silverware & china, menu variety, health & nutrition
(+): temperature of food, staff friendliness & appearance, speed of service

C-Store:
(-): menu variety, health & nutrition
(+): temperature of food, taste, friendliness & appearance of staff

DUC:
(-): menu variety, speed-of-service
(+): temperature of food, taste, friendliness of staff, food appearance

Comments by locations:

DeBot: 50% want more ethnic food - 50% want less, open the second hot line earlier, more variety of food in all areas, visiting groups create overcrowding, healthier choices, less oil in food, improve bread selections-wheat, use less onions & peppers in cooked food, add changing variety to the salad bar, rotate grill stations entrees

C-Store: clean the dining are more often, more Pointer Plates, healthier options, salad & yogurt bars were great ideas, make sure nutrition labels are correct

DUC: add sweet potato fries, lines get too long, best food on campus, bring back the salad bar, open on weekends, charge people for disposables to improve sustainability

Responses to Suggestions & Comments:
-Menus and nutrition information have been available for some time on the UDS home page. We are adding Nutrition kiosks to the DUC & DeBot for easy access.
-We currently purchase local foods that accounts for 28% of purchases: Red Barn Dairy, Earthcrust Bakery, Emy J's coffee, Atomic Joe's coffeee, Malek Family Farm, Portesi Pizza, Heath Farm, Brakebush, along with others.
-A survey will be sent out to re-name several venues in the DUC that students have been complaining about.
-For comparison to other campuses in terms of dining plan costs, we include the following block plan cost information: Oshkosh - $1400 (200 meals), Platteville - $1362 (200 meals), Point $1111 (225 meals). The costs speak for themselves.
-Credit cards have been accepted at all UDS locations for over a year. Currently we are unable to accept debit cards unless they are process as credit cards.
-Continental breakfast on the weekend will remain no charge to your meal plan for the remainder of this semester. Beginning in the fall, we are expanding continental and this will require a regular swipe.
-We have had a Feedback link on our website since June 2009.
-We have expanded the hours of operation at DeBot by 40%. The expansion of hours at the DUC has not thus far shown to be a wise financial decision. We continue to look at operation hours with the Dining Advisory Board (DAB).
-All on-campus & off-campus dining plan swipes can be used for Pointer Plates.
-We are looking at increasing the amount of whole grain options: pasta, bread, wraps, pizza crust.
-We continue to augment & expand our selection of fresh fruit & veggies.
-The composting capability on campus is limited so we are forced to send food waste to Veolia for commercial composting. WIST & UDS are working on a pilot project to recycle the Eco-Products containers.
-The Open Mike Night at DeBot was managed by students so if a student is interested in starting this performance series again please talk to us.
-We try to limit the amount of direct emailing to students. Sending a daily menu email is not a initiative that we want to start.
-Upper DeBot dining hall went through a major renovation 5 plus years ago and the construction debt is still being paid off. We agree that the design is not user friendly, but this is an expense that would have to be absorbed into the dining plan. We are currently looking at preliminary plans for upgrades.
-Please compare us to other campuses - we had 17 scheduled theme dinners and celebrations this academic year.
-The Secret Family Recipe program has been available for more than 2 semesters and it allows recipes to be submitted to UDS - the link is under Sides on our homepage.
-By design, the food court is not a buffet style operation.
-The meal exchange program that existed a few years ago allowed for the purchase of all food items. However, a swipe was worth about $3 and there were only 3 Pointer Plates in the DUC and 3 in the C-Store. This meant that you would have to use a minimum of 2 swipes to get the same thing that you now do as a Pointer Plate. Currently we offer over 60 Pointer Plates across the campus. Which is a better value?
-The CPS Cafe & Brewhaus are not part of UDS. Comments need to be directed to those areas.
-The idea of offering a "brand new" entree each week at DeBot is a good idea and we will discuss this further.

Thank you again!!

Fall Survey Highlights

2010-12-06T08:43:00.003-06:00

Thank you to those who participated in the Fall 2010 Satisfaction Survey. 86% of respondents were residential students and 14% were off-campus. Returns were very low this year at 718 compared to over 1400 in fall 2009. Unfortunately, this does not gives us enough feedback to make major changes because there was not large enough representation. There is an important proposed change in the dining plan for 2011-12 regarding use of swipe trades, so we hope that the returns are better in the spring because we will be including the proposal as part of the survey.

Here are some general comments:

DeBot improved in the following areas: appearance & presentation of food, friendliness of staff, health & nutrition, sustainability, and speed of service.
DeBot lost ground in the following areas: taste of food, variety of the menu, and cleanliness of facilities.

The DUC improved in the following areas: menu variety, freshness of food, and friendliness of staff.
The DUC lost ground in the following areas: temperature of food, presentation of food, and taste of food.

UDS saw a drop in the Overall score from Fall 2009 to Fall 2010 from 3.93 to 3.71. The above areas give us points to focus on to improve our services.

Other insights:
-67% of students eat only 2 meals per day.
-67% identify themselves as primarily meat-eaters, with 8% identifying as vegetarian or vegan.
-7% say they they have a food allergy or sensitivity.
-82% of students are comfortable asking staff for something they do not see.
-of all the sustainability terms listed, LOCAL is the most important.
-only 7% of you have participated in any of the Focus on Food series at DeBot. 62% of students do not know what the series is even though it is widely marketed.
-the top choice for theme dinners for Spring 2011 are: Potluck (we will surprise you), American Regional BBQ, and Thai.
-Your favorite Food Court venues are: Dawg Deli, Buen Provecho, and Jom Makan.
-Your least favorite venues are: Stewed & Chewed and Up-in-Flames.
-the main ways students get information on UDS are: friends, UDS website, Facebook and staff.

If you do not know what the Dining Advisory Board (DAB) is, check out our website and get involved.

Online Feedback

2010-10-11T07:19:00.002-05:00

As UDS receives anonymous online feedback we will respond here. These are the most recent comments:

-there was a request for grape juice in upper DeBot. We will be adding grape juice to one machine as soon as it is shipped to us. Keep you eye out over the next week or so.
-There have been both positive and negative comments about Meatless Mondays. First, everyone needs to read their website and understand that it is a combination of sustainability and nutritional focuses. As part of the greenest university in the state, UDS looks at a variety of programs and initiatives that are in line with the core values of the University. There are over 220 meal days in the academic year, so participating on 4 Meatless Mondays seems to be a minor inconvenience. If only a handful of students stop and think about nutrition and mass food production then the day was a success. And we are following up with a meat friendly menu for a traditional Oktoberfest dinner.
-We use Portesi Pizza in the C-Store because it is a local product and supports the community. Although Jack's Pizza is good, it is not made locally.
-We will look at offering bagels in the C-Store as a deli bread option.
-We are currently reviewing the operating hours of the Food Court and Homegrown Cafe. There have been requests that the Food Court opens earlier and stays open later. HgC's may close on the weekend. Any changes will be posted ahead of time and will take affect next semester.
-You can have input on UDS policy and practices by getting involved with the Dining Advisory Board or by contacting them directly.

Welcome back

2010-09-08T09:23:00.002-05:00

On behalf of the entire UDS team welcome back to campus. We hope that everyone had a fabulous summer and we look forward to serving you this year. We have made some significant changes and have also left some things alone.

The biggest news is the installation of a state of the art Hobart dish machine at DeBot. UDS will reduce water usage by over 500,000 gallons per year, along with decreasing chemical and utility consumption. As part of our focus on sustainability and a bow to being recognized by The Princeton Review as the "greenest" university in Wisconsin, we have transitioned to tray-free dining at DeBot. SGA and the Dining Advisory Board supported this initiative and we hope to show measurable savings in terms of food waste. The addition of a food pulper also means that we will be able to greatly expand our composting efforts.

Other changes include: a premium foods station in the Food Court; new products in the C-Store; the use of Red Barn Dairy milk in all locations, the addition of Emy J's locally roasted coffee; several new local farms added to our vendors' list; new ethnic food choices and the Culinary Learning Journeys program.

One last word - whatever your passion is please get involved and stay engaged. Best of luck this semester!

Spring 2010 Student Survey Highlights

2010-03-17T10:35:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in the UDS 2010 Spring survey. We had a total of 1031 respondents comprised of 65% on-campus students and 35% off-campus. This was about 400 less respondents than the Fall 2010 survey. Remember, these surveys help us to improve our food and service, so let your friends know how important this feedback is to us.

Some highlights:

-8% of students identify themselves as having a food allergy or food sensitivity.
-84% of you feel comfortable approaching staff or managers to answer your questions.
-The most important sustainability concerns are local foods and organics.
-Both DeBot & the DUC scored higher in all 14 categories, with DeBot at 3.67/5.0 and the DUC at 4.01/5.0.
-The top 3 DeBot theme dinner choices are: Pot Luck, Middle Eastern and Korean. Watch for these in Fall 2010.
-Only 9% of students have participated in the Focus on Food series and 59% don't know what it is. Not only is the information on our web page, but we also use Axis TV, Facebook and posters to get the word across. You also cannot miss the events when they are in the front dining room at DeBot on scheduled Wednesdays. This year we have focused on: Olive & Olive Oils, Wisconsin Artisan Cheeses, Whole Grains, Citrus Fruits, Heirloom Potatoes and we are finishing up with International Cheeses.
-Your favorite DUC locations are: Dawg Deli, Jom Makan, Spicy Meatball & Buen Provecho
-Your least favorite DUC location is Stewed & Chewed.
-Students get their information on dining Services from: Friends, UDS website, UDS staff and The Pointer. Do you know that we have an active Facebook fan site and a Blog? If not check them out.

DeBot Dining Hall - Did you Know??

2010-02-22T09:09:00.002-06:00

Did you know that DeBot offers the following at lunch & dinner:
-17 standard salad bar items
-16 standard yogurt and fruit bar items, including our home-made Granola with a Degree
-19 standard deli bar items for making sandwiches and paninis
-4-6 different home-made baked desserts, including cakes, cookies and bars
-8 flavors of ice cream including our own Pointer selections
-2 flavors of Columbo frozen yogurt
-8 different types of cereal
-25 different beverage options including Pura Vida coffee, soymilk, enhanced flavored waters , soda and milk
-a make-your-own waffle station at every meal
-our Klements hot dog and brat station
-6 entrees, including vegetarian options
-2 soups, including a vegetarian selection
-a variety of hand fruits

Fall 2009 Highlights & Spring 2010 Updates

2010-01-27T10:02:00.002-06:00

Thank you for making the fall semester a huge success. UDS witnessed meal counts go up across all food locations. We served roughly 502,000 meals with the biggest increases being in DeBot and the C-Store. Meal counts increased 82,000 over Fall 2008. We'll take a 20% increase any day. The Fall 2009 Student Survey also was very positive and showed that we are taking the right steps to create a great dining program. We now employ over 325 student employees and paid out $425,000 in student wages in Fall 2009.

You asked for it: credit cards are now accepted at most locations; there is a new design-your-own salad bar in the DUC; we have extended hours at DeBot; there are new products in the C-Store & we have made service more efficient; more local products are arriving: Pointer Ice Cream, Emy J's coffee, Portesi Pizza and Red Barn Dairy milk; DeBot will be holding 11 special events; and Food for Thought Cafe is receiving a make-over.

Thank you for all the suggestions and keep them coming.

Fall 2009 Survey

2009-11-11T08:22:00.002-06:00

Thank you for taking part in the UDS Fall 2009 survey. Several lucky students won an iPod Nano and gift cards for participating. We will shortly be posting some of the highlights of the survey on the UDS website. We welcome your feedback and hope that you will continue to contact us either directly, through the feedback link or this blog.

Focus on Food - EVOO

2009-09-25T09:24:00.003-05:00

Our very first Focus on Food will held during dinner on Wednesday, October 21st. Everyone will get an opportunity to sample a variety of olives from around the world and taste some highly rated olive oils. Why might this be important knowledge to gain? The Mediterranean diet is considered by many nutritionists to be one of the healthiest in the world and is grounded heavily in the use of olive oil. Our own DeBot Bakery will be preparing some artisan breads to go along with the tasting. We hope that everyone makes it to the table to join us.

Fall Harvest Dinner

2009-09-25T09:20:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, October 14th, we will be preparing a special dinner to celebrate the local harvest. We will be featuring Native American dishes, along with some of our own creations. Malek Family Farm will be providing the local produce and Chris Malek will be here to answer questions about farming and local foods. The menu will be posted shortly. We hope to see you there.

Tray Free Weekends

2009-09-05T10:50:00.002-05:00

If you are dining in DeBot on Saturday or Sunday you will immediately notice that UDS has removed serving trays. This was based on requests by various University groups to help with sustainability efforts on campus. This move is also supported by SGA. Elimination of trays reduces food waste by one third, lowers chemical usage and saves roughly 3 gallons of water for every 6 trays washed. We hope that you will support us in our efforts to make UDS one of the greeneest dining programs in the country.

Dawg Deli

2009-09-02T18:30:00.003-05:00

We hope to get Dawg Deli open shortly - we have not had enough student employees apply for positions to cover the shifts. Remember, this is a student staffed food service with only 25 full time staff scattered between all of the operations. A spatula and apron is waiting for you, so apply today. Don't forget, UDS has the highest student wages and great perks.

You can check out the application here!

Meal Cash Equivalency

2009-09-01T14:54:00.002-05:00

The transition to self-operations involved diverse groups from all over the University, including the RHA, SGA and administrators from multiple divisions. The University also utilized the services of the Baker Group, a well known food service consulting firm. The intitial cost benefit analysis supported the move to university managed food service and representatives from these various groups began meeting about one and a half years ago.

One of the topics that was addressed included the cost structure of future meal plans. Based on these discussions, it was decided to move to a block meal plan so students would not be forfeiting their unused meals each week. The switch to the block plan necessitated the elimination of the All Points Plan and meal cash equivalency (MCE). The removal of the MCE option was done because it was determined that MCE would pull financial resources from the residential program. Specifically, the declining participation at DeBot was cause for alarm because residential dining facilities are typically the core foundation of college dining programs because they offer the best value for the dollar. In the case here, funds were being pulled from DeBot leading to a significant decline in food quality and selection. The overwelming concensus from the transition team was that the new dining service needed to revitalize DeBot and encourage students to return.

UDS opted to balance the loss of MCE's by pouring additional resources into the food program at DeBot and by offering Pointer Plates at all locations in the food court. One of the reasons originally given for the need of MCE's was the limited hours of operation at DeBot. UDS responded by extending full lunch until 200pm during the week and by serving dinner until 730pm on Monday - Thursday. We also are opening earlier for lunch/brunch on the weekend.

We certainly plan on reviewing the meal plan options at the conclusion of the academic year and will make appropriate decisions based on all relevant factors. Your comments are important.