Greetings from Dennis Pierce, Director of Dining Services

Welcome to the Spring 2009 Semester

Welcome to the Fall 2009 Semester

One of the many pleasures that make me proud of being a member of the Department of Dining Services is how, every day, we are able to meet the dining expectations of the University of Connecticut’s diverse community. During each semester, day in and day out, with no bearing on inclement weather, road conditions or economic world affairs, we are preparing and serving in excess of one hundred and eighty thousand meals per week. We have come a long way since September 28, 1881, when the university provided meals for approximately twelve men, who were in residence at Whitney Hall, three faculty members and one or two staff. Today, Dining Services operates eight resident dining areas, nine retail operations, an on-site bakery, two levels of catering and two convenience stores.

Each day we try to re-imagine our operations. We work on new recipes, change menus, renovate, reconstruct and reinvent what we hope will keep us ahead of what our customers are demanding. I am proud of the many employees that help us re-imagine each day what we could be. They are the source of our vision. They are the “imagineers” that make it all possible. In all of this we strive to provide the best value available. We want our customers to feel that they are receiving a positive dining experience.

As we move forward this year, dining has made several operational changes due to economic reasons. These changes were communicated to our students this past spring semester via their email, our website and articles in the school’s newspaper, The Daily Campus. The changes this fall are decreased service hours at McMahon Dining by eliminating weekend hours. Students will still have the opportunity to go a short distance from their residence and dine at South Dining or Putnam Refectory. Of course, all of our other resident options are available since we have an open dining program here on campus. Another significant change at McMahon for the fall is the added offering of late night service. Due to a staffing reallocation within Dining Services we no longer will be offering late night meals at Buckley, but will now be able to provide extended dinner hours at McMahon. Specific information can be found on our website at www.dining.uconn.edu. Several areas of focus this year are to re-look at our greening efforts made within our Dining Services. Our plan is to monitor the use of consumable resources and establish ways of decreasing our impact on UConn’s carbon footprint. Another initiative is to better track the source of our ingredients. As our consumers become more educated it is our desire to provide them with as much information as possible so that they can realize the effort that is placed on our farm to fork initiative. Dining Services feels it is important to know the first name of your farmer. Our Department is the largest consumer of Connecticut grown produce in the state and we are proud to be able to support our local economy. This year we are eager to now take our Local Routes project to the next level and begin to incorporate it into all of our dining system.

In conclusion, we always welcome your feedback and ideas. Feel free to contact me via our website and let us know how we are doing. So, enjoy your semester, use your imagination, and strive to make your experience this semester, at the University of Connecticut, the best yet. We hope that by dining with us we are providing you with the dining options that will enable you to meet this end.

Eat well, enjoy life and pursue your dreams.

C. Dennis Pierce
Director of Dining Services

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