After receiving input from University of Idaho students, Vandal Dining made changes to what it will offer this semester.
Vandal Dining, a part of the international company Sodexo, runs Bob’s Place as well as a variety of other food vendors on campus.
Campus Dietician Marissa Rudley said the changes were implemented as a result of an annual internship and a one-time student group.
She said every year, dietician students complete an internship that includes about 90 hours of food service management. She said students take on different shifts at Bob’s, the Idaho Commons food court and Einstein Bros. Bagels. She said the interns get experience working with chefs or working as a barista.
“They do a rotation through each of these jobs to give them front-line experience in a service model like for hospital or school,” Rudley said.
Rudley said she went through the program herself when she was a student at UI.
The internship is part of the Movement Science 429 class, which addresses health and nutrition with a counterpart class in the spring about promotion and highlighting products.
“I think it’s a great program,” Rudley said. “Students gained valuable and marketable experience.”
She said Vandal Dining provides scholarships along with the internships.
Last year, they also had a student group that looked at nutrition and surveyed students and did focus groups, meeting with about 80 students.
Rudley said a similar upcoming special project will look at vending machines on campus to include more healthy options.
General Manager of Vandal Dining Mike Thomsen said the biggest change Vandal Dining made was in communicating what it was already offering.
“A lot of our recommendations stemmed from labeling, so students with food allergies could see what they could eat at a glance,” Rudley said. “We also encouraged labeling to let people know there were veggie burgers and turkey burgers available on request.”
Thomsen said the veggie and turkey burgers came from recommendations by the student interns.
Rudley said they suggested that Vandal Dining better communicate the purpose of Simple Servings, the allergy friendly station at Bob’s.
“That is something students see, but that they don’t necessarily know what it is for,” Rudley said.
Thomsen said other changes included bringing back omelets-to-order. The omelets were gone last semester and are back by popular demand this fall.
The Denny’s in the LLC was replaced with Joe’s Cheesy Grill over the summer.
Thomsen said removing the branding allowed Vandal Dining more flexibility in vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
He said grilled cheese concepts have become popular recently, especially in the eastern United States.
At the 360 Grill in Bob’s, a popular item is Mongolian wok-style food, but he said that it has been served irregularly. His goal is to have it served on a nightly basis.
He said they are also working at Bob’s to prepare more food in front of customers.
“The general perception, and this an exaggeration, is, ‘If I didn’t see it made, it’s not fresh,’” Thomsen said.
In the future, Thomsen said Vandal Dining’s main challenge is attracting trained culinarians, or cooks. The current job market makes that difficult.
Nishant Mohan
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