Preliminary Report on WSU Vancouver

1
Preliminary Report on WSU Vancouver Cafeteria
Survey
Stephen Lakatos April 21, 2006
2
Steps in Survey Preparation

• Literature search conducted to find suitable
  existing survey (none was found)
• Initial list of items generated by committee
  comprising one faculty member and four students
• Items added/deleted refined through input from
  students and four faculty members in the
  Department of Psychology
• Final survey comprising 23 items distributed via
  campus mail to employees listed on WSU
  Vancouvers web directory

3
Targeted Performance Domains

• Price/Economy
• Health/Nutrition
• Taste/Presentation
• Variety
• Cleanliness
• Staff Professionalism
• Space/Operating Hours
• Future Directions

4
Survey Distribution/Data Analysis

• 269 surveys distributed via campus mail
• 117 surveys returned by April 17th (43.5 return
  rate)
• 13 surveys not counted for one of the following
• reasons
• respondent indicated that he or she did not use
• the cafeteria and left the survey blank
• respondent left more than two items blank
• respondent marked two different responses
• for an item and did so for more than two items

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Employee Usage of Cafeteria
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Employee Usage of Cafeteria
Cafeteria usage does not correlate significantly
with any of the subsequent assessment items.
7
Price/Economy
8
Price/Economy
9
Health/ Nutrition
10
Health/ Nutrition
11
Taste/ Presentation
12
Taste/ Presentation
13
Variety
14
Variety
15
Cleanliness
16
Staff Professionalism
17
Staff Professionalism
18
Space/ Operating Hours
19
Future Directions
I would prefer to have the current cafeteria
expanded, rather than develop additional eating
resources in other campus buildings
20
Written Comments (17 respondents)
There should be more dining service in other
buildings for variety of food and setting.
Current cafeteria probably does the best it can
in limited conditions. This is an aspect of
campus life that has been neglected. Thanks for
developing this survey. Its time some changes
are implemented considering the cafeteria has
been here for 10 years. Check out the Legacy
Hosp cafeteria! I would like dining services to
be open for fac/staff and not closed just
because there are not students on campus. I
think fac/staff make up most of the revenue and
should have food/drink service available when
campus is open. For those with short memories,
The cafeteria used to have longer hours, lower
prices, and a better variety of food and it lost
more money. The current tradeoffs have stemmed
these losses. The harsh fact is that longer
hours and better food at lower prices is not
financially viable because the campus market is
too small, especially in the evening and on
weekends. If you want that service, you or
someone (ie, campus budget) will have to pay for
it.
21
Written Comments (17 respondents)
Unsure if I will eat meat there again. Last time
it was very sour bad meat! The cafeteria is an
eye-sore in no way serves as an invitation to
the community. I am embarrassed when we have
job candidates when we visit the cafeteria.
Thank you for carrying out this survey. More
options should be provided in other campus areas
for changing student profile coming in the fall
term. I eat a balanced car/protein diet
find that the cafeteria does not serve food that
is appropriate for a lower-carb diet. Thank you
for this survey. Many dishes or meals made seem
saturated in fat and often cause my stomach
trouble. I generally only eat items that have
not been cooked on the grill or menu-of-the-day
itemsnot sure why those bother me. Mostly
salads and wraps (and boiled eggs) Of course
coffee!
22
Written Comments (17 respondents)
This cafeteria is self-sustaining and in my mind
does a great job to incorporate a wide variety
of choices within a manageable price range! I am
always amazed at the diverse selection of
food/soups offered to fit individual wants/needs.
I have always felt as though I could approach
the staff or manager with any questions or
concerns. Kaths business card is always
available for those who have questions and she
responds in a timely fashion. Overall, I am
highly satisfied w/ our café. Food is
terrible, but the coffee (esp. specially drinks)
is worse. In addition catering svcs. can
sometimes be unreliable. Often find food on
tables, chairs and garbage over flowing. I dont
see enough hand washing after coughs/sneezing or
handling often see food on floor in kitchen
area, seems there should be more cleaning during
business hours. By weeks end things are
looking sad. I think were the only campus in
the pacific NW where a decent latte cannot be
had. Please figure out why! (coffee type?
barista training?) Maybe hire Grey???? as a
consultant.
23
Written Comments (17 respondents)
Portion control is uneven. In the past when I
had the lunch special, I almost always ended up
feeling ripped off. Not everyone likes or can
eat onions. In my opinion they are way too many
in everything, including the tuna sandwich. The
sun dried tomatoes really arent that tasty. The
chicken always seems to have the same seasoning
and the seasoning doesnt always go with the
ethnic dishes, like Chinese or Mexican. Wilted
and/or soggy sandwiches. I do know a larger oven
is neededperhaps an updated kitchen too.
Explore new vendors for deserts/baked goods. The
Costco muffins and pasties are tasty. Does
everyone who serves or handles food have a Food
Worker Card? Thank you for distributing this
survey. To put it bluntly, our cafeteria is an
embarrassment. The artery-clogging specials,
the soggy, wilted sandwiches and lousy lattes
reveal a total lack of imagination for what a
modern university cafeteria can and should be.
It doesnt help that the public face of the
cafeteria is an army of ill-trained and
under-supervised students who do everything from
cooking to cashier duty. If our campus were
closer to an urban area, I have no doubt that
the cafeteria would go out of business. There
are great university and hospital cafeterias
with reasonable prices scattered throughout the
Portland- Vancouver area. Why cant we have the
same here?
24
Written Comments (17 respondents)
In general Im satisfied Id prefer a greater
range of choices both for the daily specials and
for the pre-packaged sandwich options actually,
the sandwiches very often have too much mayo
/or sauce. Staff is great, dining area clean.
Sometimes the bottleneck at the register gets
frustrating. I like the sandwiches (cold). I
never eat the hot food just a personal
preference. Actually, Im happy with the soups.
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Tentative Conclusions

• The current cafeteria is used only occasionally
• by the majority of WSU Vancouver employees.
• Roughly one-half of employees are dissatisfied
• with cafeteria services, excepting measures of
• staff professionalism.
• Roughly one-half of employees are in favor of
• developing additional eating resources in other
• campus buildings, rather than expanding the
• current cafeteria.
• Additional formal input from employees, as well
• as students, should be solicited regarding
  future
• directions for on-campus eating resources.