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Questions &Answers
Mitch Green is executive director of Campus Dining & Shops, formerly the Faculty Student Association, Inc.
FSA has a new name—Campus Dining & Shops. Why the change?
In the view of the FSA board, the name change was seen as a clear
business need. It is expected to significantly improve brand awareness
and product recognition. While it has history at UB, the name "Faculty
Student Association" did not function as a business name should. FSA
clearly didn't portray the nature of our offerings. In fact, we
regularly have received phone calls from people who thought we were
everything from the campus judicial office to a faculty-staff social
organization. The board felt that in order for us to better define the
organization to the campus, we needed a clear and appropriate name that
concisely conveyed what we provide and what our customers expected.
Moreover, it was vital for us to have a name that conveyed both the
"dining" and "retail" aspects of our business as we become more
aggressive in both areas of business.
Some of the dining facilities have been upgraded lately. Tell me
about them.
We're always striving for the perfect balance of
comfort and turnover—friendly spaces to ensure that our customers
have the most access to dining when they need it. Over the past year, we
have upgraded a number of our facilities as part of our ongoing
commitment to improving our operations. Last January, we completely
renovated Governors dining hall, including a complete overhaul of the
serving area, new furniture in the dining room and upgraded lighting in
the dining room. This past summer, we installed new furniture in both
Baldy Walkway and the second floor of Capen. Both of these areas have
been home to mismatched furniture for years because they are unsecured
areas and the tables and chairs tend to disappear. UB Facilities worked
with us last spring to develop plans to install cluster seating in both
areas that improved the areas visually, improved the comfort level for
our customers and increased the capacity of both areas while still
meeting building and fire codes. In the summer of 2003 and again during
the past winter recess, we upgraded the Capen Café on the ground floor
of Capen Hall to complement the major renovation of the Admissions area.
Most recently, we replaced all the furniture in the Putnam's dining room
in the Student Union. The furniture in Putnam's was the original
furniture installed during the expansion of the Student Union in 1992
and was really beginning to show its age. In addition to replacing the
furniture, we also commissioned a mural on the wall in the rear of the
seating area and currently are working with the Student Union management
staff to paint several other walls in the dining area to visually warm
up the lobby. The final furniture upgrade that we completed during the
winter recess was in the Center for Tomorrow, where we replaced the
board room furniture and the chairs in the banquet facility. Again, this
furniture was more than 15 years old.
Is there an effort under way to bring healthier items to the
vending machines?
We have had a request in the past year from
members of the Faculty Senate and the Student Association to provide
some healthier snacks in the vending machines. Until about 18 months
ago, finding healthier snacks for vending machines had been difficult.
Beyond a few types of granola bars, the snack manufacturers had been
relatively slow to produce healthier snacks. However, in the past 18
months—with urging from many public-school operators and a nudge
from the federal government—we have seen manufacturers bring to
market a considerable number of healthier snacks, including baked potato
chips and other spicy snacks, low- or no-fat candies, reduced-carb and
lower-calorie snacks. The manufacturers also have become smarter
marketers by touting an item like Twizzlers licorice sticks as a no-fat
snack. Of course, they don't mention the calorie count from the sugar in
the product. Along with the snack vendors increasing their offerings,
Pepsi has come out with a number of new low-calorie beverages, as well
as no-calorie flavored and sparkling-water products.
How have you been dealing with the "low-carb" craze?
For
some reason, we haven't seen a lot of demand for "low-carb" items. I
think, in part, that we have a wide enough selection of foods for
students living in the residence halls to choose from. On any given
evening, students have a choice of three entrees, two vegetables and
starches, pizza and pasta, vegetarian and vegan items, a wok bar or a
"build your own" bar, a salad bar, several desserts and ice cream. For
students during the day and for faculty and staff, we offer everything
from pasta to chicken, to sushi and salads, to subs and sandwiches and
burgers and fries. I think we have a fair number of options for people
who wish to maintain any type of diet or eating lifestyle.
Tell me about the energy-conservation project you're working on
with NYSERDA.
It started with NYSERDA (New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority) and now has actually become an EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency) study. The project began last year as
our contract with Coke was expiring. In our request for proposal (RFP)
from both Pepsi and Coke, we requested they provide the most
"energy-efficient" beverage vending machines available. After an
extensive evaluation process, we accepted Pepsi's proposal, which
included making new "Energy Star"-rated vending machines provided by
Pepsi's vendor, Dixie Narco, available to the campus. We actually have
the first "Energy Star"-certified machines on a campus that were
produced by Dixie Narco, so the EPA, which oversees the Energy Star
program, was interested in testing the units in actual operation. Just
last week, a testing consultant was on campus installing metering
devices on about 20 beverage machines on the Spine. Metering will last
about 30 days and we expect a report from the consultant sometime this
summer.
What's on the horizon? What new projects are in the works?
There are two major projects in the works. The first project is the
rehab of the Goodyear dining hall. This summer, UB will replace windows
in the dining room and the HVAC system that handles both the kitchen and
the dining room in Goodyear. The scope of the project includes lowering
the ceiling in the dining room, so we are taking the opportunity to make
some additional upgrades to the room. We plan to install new flooring,
upgrade the furniture, repaint the dining room and make other aesthetic
changes. We'll also install a new ceiling and lighting package in the
serving area, as well as paint the serving area and kitchen. The other
major project is the examination of the residence hall dining programs
in Richmond and Red Jacket quads in the Ellicott Complex. We now have
two almost identical kitchens, serving areas and dining rooms in the
quads, both of which are more than 30 years old and in need of
significant upgrades. So we're looking at the possibility of combining
the two facilities to eliminate duplication while improving the dining
experience for the residence hall students in Ellicott. A consultant has
been engaged to begin a study to determine the feasibility of
consolidating these two operations.
Where's your favorite spot to eat on campus?
Anywhere
with a Campus Dining & Shops logo.
What question do you wish I had asked, and how would you have
answered it?
That's easy: How did Pepsi come to be the new
beverage provider for FSA and what did it take to make the transition to
a new provider? Our contract with Coke was scheduled to expire this past
September, so in October 2003 we engaged a consultant, The Cornyn Fasano
Group, to help us develop a RFP to send to both major soft drink
companies and to assist us in analyzing the responses. John Cornyn, one
of the principals of the group, also spent time on campus meeting with a
variety of different constituencies, including students and
administrators, to see if there was a preference for certain brands or
types of beverages. The RFP was issued in December 2003. A decision was
made to have Pepsi become our exclusive beverage provider after
interviews with both companies that included both students and
administrators from the FSA board; a review of the products and programs
that both companies offered and planned to bring to market in the near
future; and a review of the financial programs. In addition to an
exceptional product line that has resulted in an increase in volume, the
Pepsi financial program will allow us to hold soft drink and water
prices at their current level for at least another year and possibly
longer. The interesting part of the story is the equipment transition.
Starting in July with the assistance of our vending contractor, Aramark,
Pepsi installed approximately 140 vending machines, 40 coolers and 50
fountain-beverage units across campus in just about 30 days. This was
quite an undertaking and one that was accomplished without interrupting
any of our services. It took the cooperation of three different
manufacturers, as many as four different Pepsi installation crews
working on campus at once, Aramark crews from Buffalo and Rochester, and
my FSA team to make sure we could service the campus by the time classes
started in late August. One day on North campus alone, I counted seven
vehicles from Pepsi delivering and installing equipment, four vehicles
from Coke removing equipment and three from Aramark setting up vending
machines. Needless to say, it was as a very busy but very successful
month for all of us.