Redesigning Harris: Dining Services announces plans to renovate Harris’ organizational structure

This summer, Dining Services will be launching a $250,000 initiative to make key structural and organizational improvements to Harris Refectory. Funding for this project comes largely from recent substantial savings on food purchases, the result of a new initiative to curb waste and respond more effectively to student dining needs.

Last Thursday, the Dining Services Committee, comprised of three students, Director of Dining Services Ingrid Bushwack, VP for Administration Ulysses Hammond and General Manager of Dining Services Michael Kmec, presented their first proposed changes to SGA. Said Taylor Gould ’13, “Our goals are to address the flow issues and reduce the institutional feel of Harris. We want to do this without replacing equipment. Costs need to be kept low.”

Bushwack echoed these sentiments. “Our goal is that everything is used, especially for lunch and dinner. We want to have action everywhere at all meals.”

This past July, Dining Services installed FoodPro, supply and demand software that provides an interface for logging the amount of food made versus the amount left uneaten at each meal’s end. Over the course of several menu cycles, the program allows Dining Services to effectively track how much food is consumed relative to how much was prepared. This data is then used to plan for subsequent meals, eliminating waste. This initiative, coupled with recent internal restructurings and the removal of food trays, has net a $250,000 savings, says Hammond, and the College has chosen the Harris buffet as the place to reinvest these savings.

The crux of these proposed changes is a total redesign of the food service layout, illustrated in the included diagram. The changes will make a few things particularly accessible: the entrance and exit doors will be switched, so people entering Harris will not be obstructed by lines waiting for hot food and can, as Gould explained, “scoot off to the back.” Additionally, the salad bars currently create flow problems by leaving little space to navigate between the vegetarian and pasta sections. Repositioning the structures at forty-five degree angles opens that area up.

The committee also plans to soften the room’s aesthetic with colorful signs above food areas, repainted columns and new light fixtures and ceiling designs. Harris currently uses fluorescent lights, which last 2,000 hours. These will be replaced with LED spotlights and light sconces that last for 50,000 hours at maximum output.

A final key point of improvement will be the area outside the elevators. Says Hammond: “As you walk in, this whole column is flooded with paper.” Kmec added, “We need someone to have ownership over that area so that flyers months expired are guaranteed to be removed.”

Meanwhile, the committee is looking for student suggestions to personalize the space. Many SGA members encouraged hanging student art in the entrance and seating areas, as well as historical photos of the College that make the space feel like theirs. “Just by looking at the plans, it’s impossible to distinguish this space from any other college dining hall,” said one student. “It’s important to us that when we enter Harris, we know we’re at Connecticut College.”

Freeman senator Isaac Woodruff ’11 suggested we incorporate the College’s history into the new design. Other suggestions included adding old photographs of Harris and other campus dining halls from the College’s archives.

Hammond stressed the importance of patience going forward. “We’re doing this in phases. This is our first phase. These changes are funding dependent, and we hope to do something additional each year in that area.”

Students are encouraged to contact Taylor Gould ’13, Ola Rys ’13 and Teddy Fischer ’12 with suggestions. •