Post on 14-Dec-2015
Campus Dining: a Hotbed for Sustainability Research
and Course Work
Enid Cardinal, Senior Sustainability AdvisorScott Vadney, General Manager Grace Watson Dining Hall
Workshop Overview
• Introduction and overview of RIT
• Dining operations, past projects and a big
vision
• Using student research projects and project
based learning
– Sustainability Officer’s role
– Current study: Packaging and Sustainability.
– What’s next?
• Engaging dining services
• Q & A
RIT at a Glance
• 17,950 students
• 3,753 faculty/staff
• 1300 Acres (180 acres of federally protected wetlands)
• 5,742,730 ft2
• 9 Colleges
Sustainability Highlights
• Golisano Institute for Sustainability• NYS Pollution Prevention Institute• Climate Commitment• Rochester City Scholars Program• LEED buildings• FSC Certified Print Shop• Dr. Destler’s electric vehicle challenge• Banning bottled water
Dining Operations
• 19 Facilities on campus generating $30 million in revenue
• Self-operated, non-union department reporting to Finance VP
• One 800-seat board facility• 560K meals, sales > $5 million• 35 FTE, 264 student employees
working average 10,000 hours/month
Source Reduction
• Trayless Dining
• Reusable to-go containers– Eliminated 94,000
disposables annually
• Composting• Recycling
Dining Services
Student volunteer
s
Soup Kitchens5 Tons of food
donated to local soup kitchens!
Feed Hungry People
How Dining Supports the Educational Mission
• Blessed Facility
• Engage Students, who then engage other students
• Made it a goal on FT staff review
INTEGRATING CURRICULUM AND RESEARCH FOR SUSTAINABILITY:
THE GRACIES’ PROJECT
Moving Gracie’s closer to a Zero Waste goal
Triple bottom linePeople – social performance
Planet – environmental stewardship
Economy - Prosperity
People
Planet Economy
Nurturing the learner’s personal triple bottom line
Passion – what resonates with them
Values – what do they want to contribute
Aspirations – how do they want to contribute
Aspirations
Values Passion
Pedagogical model
• Accompany the students on their learning journey
• Create a safe environment for exchange and transparency
• Make the information come to life• Make time for reflection• Encourage discovery singularly and
in a group
Your Typical Dining Director
• Global view of department• Willing to engage other departments• Cost conscious• May have some preliminary idea on
how to begin
Your Typical Dining Unit Manager
• Understaffed• Budget Constrained• Time Crunched• Pulled in multiple directions.
Your Homework
• Begin with the end in mind• Offer to meet between 2-4• Buy a meal. Have lunch there• Talk to your students