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, PAST PROJECTS AND A BIG VISION

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

BHAG

Zero Waste Facility

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

ADVANCING THE VISION THROUGH PROJECT BASED LEARNING

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

17,000 STUDENTS ENROLLED– I NEEDED 20.

To reduce waste, you need to know what you are throwing out

The Role of the Sustainability Officer

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

The Assignment

What’s Next?

Can it be upcycled?

ENGAGING DINING SERVICES

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.

Can You Help Me?

Your Homework

• Begin with the end in mind• Offer to meet between 2-4• Buy a meal. Have lunch there• Talk to your students

Questions?

Scott VadneyGeneral Manager, Grace Watson Dining HallRochester Institute of Technology585-475-2049savfsg@rit.edu

Enid L. Cardinal, LEED APSenior Sustainability Advisor to the PresidentRochester Institute of Technology585-475-7942Enid.Cardinal@rit.edu