Cafeteria Looks to Improve

While Pioneer Catering Service claims that student satisfaction with meals is up in Eastern Mennonite University's cafeteria, a recent survey shows different results.

Pioneer received an overall score of 6.85 out of 10 possible points from its biannual survey taken from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2. Of the 236 people who responded to the e-mail survey, 188 were students, 34 were administrative staff, nine were faculty and five were unknown. There are 455 on campus students who have a meal plan. Pioneer's highest rating was 7.83 in the spring of 2005. The cafeteria experienced a 19.17 percent decrease in overall satisfaction since the spring of 2005. The survey was broken down into 23 categories ranging from breakfast to dinner entrees and transfer meals, speed of the service line to friendliness of the staff and managers among other topics.

The top three categories experiencing the most negative change in satisfaction were dinner entrees, scoring an average of 6.55 in the spring of 2005, to 4.79 in the fall of 2006.This caused the cafeteria to suffering a -26.87 percent loss.

The pizza and grill station earned an average score of 7.25 in the spring of 2005 to an average score of 6.10 in the fall of 2006 taking a -18.88 percent loss. The hot bar came in third with an average score of 7.22 in the spring of 2005 while earning a average satisfaction rating of 5.96 bring that's category's loss to -17.45 percent.

On the survey, increasing the hours of operations, offering the taco bar at night and limiting leftovers from lunch were listed as some of the ways dinner entrees could be improved. In the pizza and grill line, sauce was the common area of complaint, and improvement suggestions included less sauce, or no sauce options. The hot bar received suggestions of limiting the amount of pasta, and the use of Sloppy Joe meat for tacos.

The speed of the serving line received a 7.60 in the recent survey, putting it in the upper half of the categories. The only complaint people had was the issue of restocking of dishes and food taking a little longer than what is expected. Beverage selection, desserts.

ice cream and transfer meals received the top three ratings in the survey. The overall drink selection and the cappuccino machine received comments that let the cafeteria know they are doing well. Participants praised the wide variety of ice cream available and the cleanliness of the ice cream station. Transfer meals offer an alternative choice for a meal and are appreciated by students.

Bruce Emmerson, EMU food service director, is currently in his first year and had every right to believe that student support has risen. "Most of the feedback cards we receive are 80 percent positive, ten percent neutral, and ten percent negative."

When asked on how important the satisfaction of the students is to Pioneer's service, Emerson said "The students are our most important clients, this is stated in the beginning of our contract but there is also an underlying statement that says we are to take care of the administration and alumni when they are on campus also." Students make up the majority of traffic through the cafeteria except for Tuesdays, where faculty and staff can eat for $2. Faculty and staff are also offered a break in the price per meal in comparison to a student. Students pay $4 for breakfast, $5.50 for lunch and $6.50 for dinner, while faculty and staff pay $3.50, $3.50 and $4.50 respectively.

Pioneer does look out for the student body. Many people do not notice, but the cafeteria caters to special dietary needs and makes every effort to fulfill special requests. "We have some students who are lactose tolerant and need a certain type of milk. We keep a supply in the back and the students know exactly where it is located and are welcome to come back and get some when they want." says Emerson.

Students who have other allergies to certain foods are welcome to talk to Bruce about how food needs to be prepared for them and he will work with them to find meals that they are able to eat. The cafeteria staff often gets requests for a bigger variety in the menu. Unknown to many students, the cafeteria works off of a four-week cycle rotating popular items and requests. To break up the month, they have theme nights and monotony breakers.

After conducting the survey, Pioneer plans to implement some changes based on comments received. There will be more meat choices and less starch coming to the menu. The cafeteria will be having the taco or pizza bar at dinner so students and community have more choices. To add to the beverage selection, the cafeteria will be serving sugar free lemonade and 100 percent orange juice. Spinach will be brought back to the low fat salad bar to offer another option. Pioneer says it makes a concerted effort to keep stations well stocked to help the lines running smoothly.

Even though the numbers in the survey seem to be low, Emmerson and his management staff received an average score of 7.71. Emmerson was noted for reacting in a timely fashion to problems presented, really listening to concerns and responding well to the suggestions for improvement. The Pioneer staff was commended on their attitude and how well they are connecting with students. Though the numbers were down for this survey, the Pioneer staff is working hard to keep students and staff satisfied, says Emmerson.