At the University of Rochester in New York, students can use the Grubhub app to place meal orders from dining halls and pick up groceries from the campus food market.
To give students more flexibility, the market’s hours have been expanded and is now open from 7 am to midnight, says Cam Schauf, the director of Campus Dining Services and Auxiliary Operations.
These added services should take some strain off dining halls and help the university accommodate the reduced number of students who are on campus this fall, Schauf says.
Inside the dining halls, self-service meals have been eliminated, seating is limited and cleaning and sanitizing is rigorous.
More from UB: Meeting gluten-free needs in the dining hall
Managers and supervisors serve as hosts, helping students social distance while waiting in line and directing the traffic flow. Masks are required except when eating.
Though menus may be simplified and some recipes modified, dining services is still meeting the dietary need of students with allergies or religious preferences, Shauf says.
All food service employees took COVID-safety training during the summer.
A key to getting to buy-in from students is being open to listening their ideas for adjusting meal service. Schauf says he responds to students’ emails seven days a week.
“They understand the restrictions we’re all under,” he says. “We’ve listened to them and made changes. They appreciate that we’re trying to meet their needs for variety.”
Read the other stories in our Campus Life During COVID series:
