KSC Dining was busy over the summer cooking up some changes for returning students while also looking to fill more roles across their locations.
Bonnie Blanchard, the longtime director of dining operations at the college, retired over the summer, with Resident District Manager Patrick Friley assuming many of her responsibilities in overseeing dining.
Friley said students can expect Boost mobile ordering to come to the Tu Taco and Madison Street Subs locations housed in the Lloyd’s Marketplace. In the previous academic year, Boost was down for the fall semester at all locations, only opening back up in Starbucks in the spring.
However, students should not expect 603 Burger to add Boost in the near future, Friley said.
“We did have an expert with the ordering system come out and assess the grill area [in 603 Burger]. Unfortunately, the problem with the grill area is #1, the environment is very hot and it was burning out our equipment,” Friley said.
He added the team may look into solutions to the issue next academic year, and for the time being, they have added ‘grab-and-go’ options to alleviate wait times for students.
Another change in dining was the end of a partnership with ACE Sushi and the beginning of a partnership with Sushi Do.
Friley said the new partnership stemmed from ACE Sushi falling short on part of their obligations in providing hot food to students as well as cold.
“[Sushi Do] are doing things like edamame and dumplings as well and then they’re also doing poké bowls [and] teriyaki rice noodle bowls,” Friley said.
Additionally, the company will begin supplying made-to-order ramen and boba once they are given more power in the kitchen, Friley explained.
In terms of hires, Friley said the team is adding an executive chef who is starting October 1.
According to Compass Group’s website, they are presently hiring for 12 positions, including chefs, food service workers and managerial roles among others.
One hiring initiative Friley participated in was the on-campus jobs fair on August 27. He said he talked to over 20 students at the fair about employment opportunities, with at least two applying after the fact.
One prominent position that remains vacant is a dedicated dietician for the school, but it is not being searched for currently.
“That’s usually something that happens at the university’s request and at this time, the university hasn’t made that request,” Friley said about the position.
Currently, KSC pools resources from dieticians who work at New England College, as well as Plymouth State University.
Associate Vice President for Student Engagement Jen Ferrell, who oversees the contract KSC has with Chartwells, confirmed it was not something the school is planning to request in the near future.
“A lot of times if there are things where we can count on their resources to assist us, we do that,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said the current focus is filling the roles currently being searched for.
“It’s a challenging labor market right now and so hiring is also challenging,” she noted.
Ferrell added she has a close working relationship with the dining team, particularly Friley, and she meets with him once a week to discuss challenges and shared goals. Additionally, Ferrell meets with the total staff once a month.
“They loop me in any time that they’re having challenges or need assistance working through campus processes,” she said.
Ferrell also encouraged students to reach out with their input if they feel there are areas of dining that need improvement.
“I think that’s where our best ideas come from, is the students who actually use the spaces and eat the meals,” she said.
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
