Mitch Green, executive director of the Faculty Student Association, Inc., has more than 20 years experience in the food-service field.

What is FSA and what services does it provide?
FSA is a not-for-profit company contracted by UB to provide a variety of auxiliary (non-academic) services to the university community. FSA has annual sales that exceed $14 million. Best known for operating all dining and catering services on both campuses, we also run the UBCard office, campus convenience stores and candy counters, athletic concessions, Campus Tee's and Sweats, vending, the Crafts Center and even the Oasis and the Outfitters, which rents recreational gear in the Ellicott Complex.

Have students' eating habits and food preferences changed over the years? Are students more concerned with nutrition and healthy eating these days? Have their tastes become more sophisticated?
Because eating habits at home have changed, students bring those habits to campus. Students want more name-brand, familiar products, like Taco Bell, for example, which we offer at Putnam's. They are willing to wait for made-to-order, freshly prepared items. The volume of our beef purchases is down, while chicken and turkey are up. Students prefer to eat smaller meals or snacks throughout the day, rather than the traditional "three squares." They like breakfast items offered at non-breakfast times. Overall, there is increased nutritional awareness, but it is a relatively small, albeit vocal, percentage who consistently eat "healthy" foods; our best-sellers are still fried foods, burgers, pizza and anything with cheese. As for sophisticated tastes, students are seeking the "restaurant experience" they grew up on. They know what the "hot" food trends are.

How do you accommodate a population-student, faculty and staff-where a significant percentage comes from outside the U.S.?
We've tried to be responsive to the entire university community by including more ethnic foods on our menus. Especially in October, which is "International Month," we contact all major international student groups for suggestions on items to incorporate. We also try to accommodate unique eating patterns. For example, we offer rice on breakfast menus because many Asian students are used to eating this as part of their morning meal. We have also developed our own wok program in Governor's to respond to our Asian students. We hope that by providing a large variety of different foods, people of any background can find menu items they are comfortable eating.

Quality of the food seems to be the enduring gripe of college students nationwide. How do you monitor customer satisfaction? How do you handle the inevitable complaints about "mystery meat?"
In 1998, an outside consulting firm did a major survey of FSA's operations and services. At that time, hundreds of students, faculty and staff were surveyed, and their responses led to many changes we're currently implementing. We also do in-unit surveys, focus groups, comment cards and bi-monthly "Meet the Manager" events to elicit customer feedback, the results of which are posted in each unit. We offer a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" policy, by which any unsatisfactory item is replaced or refunded, no questions asked. And at "FSA Day," which was on March 1 in the Student Union, the university community gets the opportunity to sample products and offer input on current and future items. As for "mystery meat," we will gladly explain to anyone who asks the ingredients and preparation of any item we serve.

What sort of changes have you instituted at UB since you joined the university?
We have made many changes over the last couple of months. The cafeterias in both Goodyear and Governors have been renovated. We have moved Taco Bell to the Putnam's food court and added the Red Hat Deli concept to this unit as well. We have added a made-to-order salad outlet and a Mrs. Rich's Bakery outlet in Bert's. We expanded the menu at Hubie's in the Ellicott Complex and also created a dining room to support the operation. We have updated our Web page to include the residence hall dining menus and have greatly expanded our schedule of special events in the dining halls. We have begun a feasibility study to develop a new dining facility for the Ellicott Complex.

What is the biggest obstacle in providing food and other services to a university the size of UB-what is essentially a small city of close to 30,000 people?
It's a constant challenge to maintain an ever-changing variety of selections so our customers don't get bored. We do this by regularly introducing new items into our cycle menus in the residential dining centers and responding to customer requests for new items in all of our operations. Moving Taco Bell to Putnam's was based on customer request and we hope to make a couple of other changes in Putnam's over the summer.

What's your favorite dish on the UB residence hall menu?
Popcorn-Actually I am a big Chinese food fan. I really enjoy the wokery concept in Governor's dining hall and the garlic chicken on the regular menu.

Do you cook?
Yes, but my time is limited to cook as much as I'd like. I cook for friends at the holidays, but that's kind of a busman's holiday. It's amazing how much time I spend in the kitchen at other people's houses. But mostly I try to eat at FSA's operations so I can constantly monitor our products and service for myself.

What question do you wish I had asked, and how would you have answered it?
"What are FSA's future plans?" Then I could have told you about the new board plans for the residence hall students, the new convenience store in Hadley Village or the upcoming renovations to Richmond and Red Jacket and elaborate more on the possible changes in the Ellicott Complex.