Let's Talk UNLV

0:00:00
Alright, welcome to another segment of Let's Talk UNRV on KUNV. You are co-host Keith and Renee. Renee, we've been out for some time. We've been out. Talk to me about how you've been spending your time this past week.

0:00:22
Oh, so let's go way back to December because we've been out since December. That was last year right? That's right. So I went to LA, hung out with my mom for a little bit, a couple three days, came on back. New Year's was pretty quiet. I'm teaching a class this semester so I had to get my syllabus ready and get ready for reopening of the campus. So I've been pretty much been the last week kind of getting everything in preparation for that. What about you? How was time with the family?

0:00:50
It was much needed, you know, just to get away from the computer and Zoom and just to get my eyes some rest and to just, you know, just break away from work and just deal with this family life, which was great. And my sister and I have been sort of co-quarantined in our houses. So, you know, she's spent a lot of time with us and we binge watched a few shows. I think Killing Eve was one of them. So, just good just to have that normal life for a little bit of time. But you know, I am looking forward to getting back in the swing of things in 2021 to close out the disastrous, depressing 2020 year. And so I'm very optimistic moving forward. So, and then, you know, one thing that I'm excited about is our first segment for this session. We know we're going to Learn more about Airmark and food services. And I'm not a self-proclaimed foodie, but I do eat a lot in dining commons. So I'm looking forward to hearing some of the great things that's underway and how we're improving the students' experience through the dining, through all of our dining options. So with that said, today we have Wade Noon, who's the resident district director. And then we also have Collis Everson, who's the residential food service director. Wade and Collis, welcome to the show.

0:02:06
Thank you.

0:02:06
Hey, good morning. Thank you, guys. We look forward to it.

0:02:09
Welcome.

0:02:09
So let's get right into it. Let's do this kind of popcorn quiz. So let's see. How many students, faculty, and staff do you feed daily when we're in our normal routine of operation?

0:02:25
In a normal routine, it's a large number. We're 5,000 to 6,000 across all campus operations with 30,000 students. We had a large portion of them. But in the dining common specific, it's about 2,000 a day. So we're serving lots of people.

0:02:42
Okay, so what is the number one cereal that you have to constantly refill?

0:02:48
I'll let Hollis take that one.

0:02:49
That's a big one

0:02:51
If I had to guess the number one cereal on this campus would be a cinnamon toast crunch cinnamon toast crunch

0:02:57
toast crunch

0:02:59
I'm a captain cuts Captain Crunch girl, but okay all right All right, how many batches of fries do you have to put in the hopper?

0:03:07
I love it.

0:03:08
So when you say the hopper, are you saying the fryer basket or are you saying...

0:03:15
Yes sir, the fryer basket.

0:03:19
Maybe how many per hour?

0:03:21
How many batches?

0:03:22
It depends on if those athletes are in the building. If you have them in the building, it's a lot.

0:03:28
It's 10 or 20 in the basket in an hour for sure.

0:03:33
See, I need one of those at home. Is it safe to have one of those in your kitchen at home or at least like in a man cave or something? That would be so convenient.

0:03:45
OK.

0:03:46
And my last one is, what is the number one reminder that you have to give to students, faculty, and staff who eat in the dining commons? What do you constantly remind them?

0:03:57
Would that be post-COVID or during COVID?

0:04:00
Either one. I'm open.

0:04:03
So right now will be please wear your mask and post-covert would be please take your trash.

0:04:14
That rhymes. I like that. Call us and get into it. Right. And where you say something that I think many listeners may not be fully aware of your full footprint here on campus. Could you maybe educate us or prize us to what all you, what all locations you have outside of the Dining Commons through Aramark services?

0:04:35
Yeah, absolutely. We have 19 national brands with some of the heavy hitters like Starbucks and Subway, Panda Express, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. So we offer a wide variety of services. We also, in addition to that, many people don't know that we offer catering services as well. So everything from a boxed lunch to a plated meal for for 2,000. So definitely lots to offer from a dining services provider. We also have a large fleet of locally owned food service food trucks that we have worked with campus security to be able to have them, fire lights and safety, and having them in a approved space for bending to our students on campus. So that's a direct connection to the local community. So we really enjoy having them as part of our team.

0:05:23
So talk to us about your approach to serving students. I mean, you know, we're not just a traditional eatery. We're not like a restaurant, but nevertheless students have you know, needs and they want excellent service. So talk to us about Aramark's approach to working on a university campus and providing food service.

0:05:47
Yeah, I would say it's really unique, right? So students have high expectations. I know a lot of people when they move to Las Vegas and they think of the Strip and the wonderful buffets that they have on the Strip. Unfortunately, we're not at that caliber, right? Because it would be a really high price. But we do our best to accommodate within the space that we have and within the price point that we have to be able to keep it realistic for students to be able to afford. I think the best thing, the way to answer that, is really just to listen, right? To be able to listen to what students' needs are and then react to that so that they see that we're actually listening to what they would like to see and then we are able to implement some of the ideas that they have.

0:06:26
Could you talk a little bit about that process? So how you solicit input from the students and other patrons to make adjustments or modifications to your offerings?

0:06:37
So we have a dining and invitery board that we meet with the students, staff, just to listen to their concerns and what they might want to see in the dining hall or any other location here on campus, you know, within reason because you can also have people just asking for steak, but only have champagne money. I mean, only have Coke 45 money, I should say. And, you know, it's one thing to want these things, but it's another thing to want to pay for them. So it's, you know, all about meeting the right expectation of the student, but also them understanding, you know, that we also have a budget just like anyone else.

0:07:18
I will add that we have Voice of the Consumer, too, which is an app that allows the student to jump on, pick their location, tell us their feedback, so it can be kept anonymous, but it comes directly to our senior leadership team so that we can address that immediately.

0:07:33
And so I know personally how you have responded to some of these concerns. I've seen some of these changes happen within 24 hours. Maybe kind of just give us examples, some of the comments and feedback that you might receive students and how quickly Aramark addresses those concerns that have been shared.

0:07:53
Yeah, some of it is as simple as, hey, I'd like to really see York peppermint patties in the pod inside of the student union. That's a pretty easy fix, right? Some of the more elaborate things that we've done is with our partnership with RHA is we've implemented these cultural meals, right? And so that's been really interesting because we've learned along the way what we can and what we can't do. We've listened and learned as far as what they wanna have and then tried to make it as authentic as possible. So, yeah, something as easy as having a new item to as elaborate as having a new cultural meal and dinner within the dining hall that we have themed too, so it's kind of cool.

0:08:33
Yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned the cultural meals because that came out of students expressing the desire to have different type of entrees that really spoke to their culture and those different flavors and just those different things they want to see on the line. Share with us some of the different cultural dinners that you've had. You know, what were the cultures represented and what were some of the different food choices that you offered that really speak to that culture?

0:09:04
So we had the Black History Month dinner, which first kicked off the whole culture dinner idea and then we went into COVID. So we really didn't get into much of it before post-COVID. But as we came back, we did have the Asian meal thing there and we had-

0:09:32
The Latin cuisine.

0:09:33
The Latin cuisine.

0:09:33
It was really cool.

0:09:34
Yeah.

0:09:35
And some of the food, man. Some of the food was really, really good. We had a lot of good feedback. We did some special recipes upon request from students. We did some tastings for the initial one that we had our sous chef Josh come in and do some tasting for the Black History Month. And then we had the Taste of Asian and the Latinx. Those were both really well received. So definitely some really fun things that we've done and some good food that we've provided.

0:10:04
I know the almond cookies was a big hit for most of our staff here on campus.

0:10:09
I think including Renee as well.

0:10:11
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Those almond cookies had me on the treadmill a little longer than usual, but it was certainly worth it. And my personal favorite was the soul food night. It was the first time we'd done that. And I tell you, that chicken and the greens were slapping. I'm telling you. So I can't wait till we have another soul food night for our cultural dinner.

0:10:39
That'll be coming up February the 11th.

0:10:41
All right. All right.

0:10:43
I'll put it on my calendar. And then I wanted to revisit. You talked about that dining advisory board or committee, could you maybe share who's that comprised of or who serves on that and if there are any student representation there and if there is or is not, how could students get involved if they did want to be a part of that?

0:11:05
No, no, absolutely. So, we've really honed in on our partnership with RHA as kind of a way to get the word out there. I've learned from the years of doing it that if it's a guy like me going up to some students and asking them for their feedback, they're not real apt to give us their feedback, right? So if we appoint a student leader to kind of get the word out on their social media platforms, it definitely has worked much better to get them to respond and to engage and interact with us. So we've worked a lot with Marcus who was the, you know, member of RHA and really got the word out and we've done some more marketing across all of the residence halls to get some feedback from them. But it's really just a meeting that's held once a month. We do have some members from athletics that join us, some faculty and staff that join us as well. So a good mix of students as well as faculty and staff. Obviously we would love to have additional students and the more students the better. The more we understand what the needs are, what the desires are, we're able to provide the services in a much better fashion. So we hold them monthly. Again, we work with the team to collaborate and figure out what day works the best. But it's really just a feedback session. I usually start it off with telling them what we're doing new and what we've done from the last meeting so that they can see that the results are real.

0:12:25
So you mentioned RHA, the Residence Hall Association. What type of lessons do you think they've learned as a result of having this partnership and interaction with you and seeing how you address their concerns and you want to hear their voice? What type of lessons do you think they're going to take away from having this kind of interaction? I mean, normally we have interaction with other type of, you know, leadership and mentoring opportunities, but this is a different type of learning opportunity. So I'm just curious to know what you think these students are getting from their interactions with you.

0:12:58
I would chime in and definitely say that I hope that they take that we're actually listening to their concerns and that we're doing something about it, not just listening and saying, okay, yeah, we hear you, but not fix the problem. Like you brought up, we normally try to fix these problems within 24 hours, if not earlier. So I would definitely say that I would hope that they would know that we're listening to them and that we're acting on what their concern is.

0:13:26
Absolutely.

0:13:27
And I'll just add that I think one of the biggest lessons that the team we worked with was understanding what really goes into putting on an event like that, right? the music, to the decor, to the selection of recipes, to how it's served amidst of a pandemic, right? So that's been some of the real things that they've really walked away with. Wow, there's a lot more that goes into it than, hey, we wanna put on a taste of Asian cuisine, but what do we really serve to ensure that it's authentic, right? So I would say that's the biggest thing, is understanding for what we do on a daily basis and what goes into putting on an event like that.

0:14:04
And then, Wade, I know that you and Carlos had mentioned, you know, pre-pandemic and now we're in this, we've about eight or nine, ten months into this pandemic. Could you maybe talk a little bit regarding how the pandemic has required or necessitated you rethink or modify how you're delivering dining, the dining services to the UNLV community?

0:14:27
Yeah, absolutely. So really just ensuring that we're able to provide meals in a safe manner, right? And when I say that, it's as detailed as every shipment that we receive from our vendors, that that vendor's temperature is being checked and a series of questions are being asked to ensure that they're in good health and able to deliver the food in a safe manner. And then all the way down to making sure that the tables are cleaned and that the student understands that the table is clean by placing a sign on the table that says, hey, this table has been sanitized and cleaned. In addition to all of the government guidelines and regulations, right, so we do that not only for our vendors but for our staff every day, including ourselves. One of the big things that I was really proud of the team coming together and working with with residential life as well to implement a meal delivery. So if a student gets into quarantine or isolation as a result of being ill from COVID or any type of other illness, we've put together a website where they can go online and just click and order their food. And then we have a team of trained people to make sure that that's delivered in a very safe manner on time, within temperature. So yeah, we did it pretty quickly and we learned a lot

0:15:40
really fast. That's great to hear. Yeah, so talk about some of the changes that you had to make with staff because you know at one point we were you know reduced number of students on you know in the residence halls and then we closed down the student union where your other eateries are there for the food court, so you have your Panda Express, your Starbucks, Soho, and we had to shut down those operations, and then we had to reopen the residence halls, but then not as many residents living in the residence halls. And so I'm sure that had some impact on staff and their motivation. So talk to us there about how did you all weather that storm.

0:16:24
Yeah, absolutely. So we have a little over 300 staff members and obviously by reducing the number of venues that we have open we had to reduce them, but the good news is we stay in contact with those individuals that are on leave and you know they're waiting, eagerly awaiting their return. So that is the nice thing about having a large team and a group of team members that have been on campus for a long time and are feeling part of the community, right? So I'd say that's the biggest thing. Klaus, I don't know if you wanted to add anything,

0:16:53
but yeah, feel free.

0:16:55
I would just say, you know, during the pandemic, you probably looked at them to be more lackadaisical, but our staff, which I can speak to, really took this pandemic serious and, you know, enjoy what they're doing. And it seems to me that it brought a more family feel that everyone is taking care of each other and not just, you know, you're on your own or you're by yourself. It's more of a family now and not separated. Definitely gratitude, right?

0:17:31
People are very grateful to be able to work and be back at work. So I think that's a big.

0:17:37
And then could you also speak to, I know you talked about your footprint pre-pandemic. Could you talk about what all locations are open and catering and the food trucks in this current pandemic so that all the listeners know what their dining options are currently?

0:17:56
Yeah, absolutely. So we've really tried to hone in on not only what makes sense from a business perspective, but really from a waste perspective. So we really had to dial in and figure out what makes sense to be able to offer as far as a service such as Starbucks, right? So Starbucks makes sense. Everybody's got to have their first cup of coffee in the morning. Otherwise, I don't know, Carlos, I don't really want to be around you without coffee. But, you know, making sure that we have the right mix. Some people say, hey, why don't you have a Steak and Shake open? But not, you know, Steak and Shake is a product that's made from scratch and definitely if it's not served, it would be of a high waste. So currently for the spring semester, we've got Starbucks, Soho, Panda Express, the dining hall, Subway coming up next week, as well as the pod over in the dining commons. So we tried a lot of different things as we came into the fall in the midst of the pandemic. There wasn't enough traffic on some of those locations like the coffee bean and tea leaf over in the library, the subway, sidewalk subway, and science and engineering building, the new Starbucks up in that area. So, you know, anytime we've heard any feedback, we work really closely with that building management team and really try to figure out what's the best fit to have open. As far as food trucks go, we've been very fortunate. The food truck owners have really just said, hey, we're really looking forward to come back to campus. Can we come? I had the El Queso Goro call me last week and say, hey, I'd like to come on campus. He said, hey, you're welcome to. I don't know how much traffic we're gonna have, but you're welcome to come. So it's nice because it provides an outdoor venue for faculty and students and staff to be able to enjoy.

0:19:34
And then given the decrease in events in response to the pandemic to try to reduce the transmission, how has catering services been impacted? It has been impacted drastically, right? So we can no longer, you know, I think the biggest one I heard was we didn't have the big shrimp event,

0:19:50
so which is our annual holiday meal that we have over in the student union. But, so we have to be very careful with how we provide it. We can no longer have any self-serve items. It has to be served. We actually did a catering breakfast this morning over for the MPA program. So, again, it was omelets made to order with a chef working the table and ensuring that they were provided services in a safe manner. So, it has changed the way we deliver it in a much different fashion.

0:20:25
And so with the other side of campus where we have many of our science buildings and whatnot, what type of food options will be available 2021? We know that the school semester will resume next week. And so what will be available on that side of campus, if anything?

0:20:45
Yeah, as we go back into a normal sea of any kind and have some more buildings open on that north end of campus, I'm eagerly awaiting opening that Starbucks. You know, it was a highly needed venue, and so that would be the first one that I'd like to get back open just because it's all fresh and new and exciting. I think we only got to open for about four weeks, so that would be the first thing we would want to get open. So we're anxiously awaiting to be able to open that one back up again.

0:21:17
As Renee mentioned, we're going to be commencing the fall, I mean, spring 21 semester. So are there any things to look forward to as we reopen? Yeah, absolutely.

0:21:28
So we have a good partnership with the hospitality school as well as the engineering school. They actually worked on a Boba Roba. So it's a Boba tea vending machine. So that actually is going into the Union as we speak. So a couple of the students that have graduated from our hospitality school will be working it and have designed it and we're super excited to bring it to the Student Union as a new offering. So

0:21:56
it should be live in the next couple of weeks. Yeah I saw a demo of it. I was very

0:22:00
impressed. Yeah it's super exciting. I thought it was pretty neat. We can get a robotic Machine to be able to provide you a boba tea in a minute and 59 seconds I was pretty impressed and they're working on speeding it up. So the new version will be in a minute Wow

0:22:16
Another thing over in the diner hall will be having the Italian thing dinner theme dinner It's going to be the 21st of this month as well as the big game going on for the Super Bowl Next month as we eagerly await what two teams will be playing the Rams Nice

0:22:38
You know, we got to keep hope alive

0:22:40
No matter how delusional we might be as a fan.

0:22:45
I hope that some tiramisu, nice for the Italian theme dinner, I hope that some tiramisu will be added for the dessert possibility.

0:22:54
No harming me putting in my request now, right? I'll see what we can do. So long as it aligns with students, right? The Resident's Hall Association controls things. So long as the Resident's Hall Association accepts that request.

0:23:17
Yes, if they made a request for something that's edible that starts with an S, then we can put shrimp in there.

0:23:27
So we're going to get you out of here on this last question. What food concepts do you see Aramark moving towards in the future? Because I know that you're always looking at how to satisfy our students and look at what things that they want. So what food concepts do you think you might be looking at in the future?

0:23:47
You know, we did an analysis and really tried to get some feedback from students. And there was a couple of things that we learned from the student feedback was really that they would like a chicken brand as well as a healthy brand. So both of those kind of contradict each other, but I do know that a fast, casual chicken brand is definitely needed. So I won't throw out any names of national brands that I've heard, but I know that that's been what we've heard from the students.

0:24:17
I think Apollo Local is the only option.

0:24:19
Chicken healthy, I mean.

0:24:22
All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing. I've learned so much about Aramark and all that you do. Keith, what were your takeaways?

0:24:31
I had quite a few takeaways. I did not realize how expansive the brands that are managed through Aramark. Also, just hearing about how they're careful and intentional with having representation from students and other stakeholders through like the Voice of Consumer and the Dining Advisory Board to just really take a balanced approach against recommendations and input against budget and also taking the consideration waste reduction strategy. So that was very informative. And this also hearing about all the safety protocols and procedures that are in place, since we've been in this pandemic from just the delivery check process to sanitizing the facility that we dine in and the training that the staff undertake to ensure that they're safe. And then also just putting in place an online delivery system for those who may be impacted from COVID. So those were some of the key

0:25:30
takeaways that I learned from this session. Yeah, and I just, this is a full service I mean, with catering, the dining commons, the other eateries across campus. And what I'm most impressed about this group is they have not skipped a beat. When we go from 1,700 residents to 850 residents to 175 residents, this group, they are constantly trying to figure out how to serve students. And I've worked on three or four campuses, and I've never seen this kind of commitment, and I don't say that lightly. This is the group that when we had a fire, right, they extended the hours so students could stay in the dining commons while, you know, the fire department and other maintenance staff restored order. I've seen them at meetings at 9 o'clock at night working with residence hall associations, talking about how their money is being spent, talking about the new concepts that are coming down the pipeline, as well as how they're going to make changes as a result of the feedback. And so to me, that's what makes Aramark so different. And so glad to be in partnership with them.

0:26:39
Yes, all those things are spot on. And even from my direct experience working with Aramark through our summer residential programs that we do for our high school programs, Wade and team have always been extremely responsive, been willing to make adjustments on the fly quickly, and it's been very appreciative. And the dining experience plays a large role in our students making decisions on going to college at the high school level, if you didn't imagine that. Just knowing that they're going to be weeding themselves off their mom's home cooking, going to this other food. So Wade and the team do an exceptional job with sort of that transition. So Wade, Collis, we certainly thank you for your dedication, support, for all that you do to support UNLV's success.

0:27:27
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of KUNV Let's Talk UNLV. For my co-host, Keith, Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of KUNV Let's Talk UNLV. For my co-host, Keith, Wednesday at 12 on KUNV 91.5 Jazz and More. That's a wrap.

Transcribed with Cockatoo