Spring Break
Dining services still planning without executive
By: Calli Turner
Issue date: 7/3/08 Section: News
Lallah Howard, associate vice president for business affairs, said despite the vacancy of the executive director,dining services is still planning some change.
Howard is serving as interim executive director of dining services after the resignation of Nadeem Siddiqui June 15.
Howard said she is serving as interim executive director because dining services reports to her.
"It just made more sense," she said.
Since taking over as interim executive director,Howard said she has become more involved in the day to day.
"We're embarking in strategic planning and I'm involved in that," she said.
Dining services strategic planning entails shortterm goals to be completed before the fall session begins,mid-term goals - such as revenue - and longterm goals such as facility renovation.
Howard said any facility planning and construction is normally a fi ve to 10 year process.
"It's one of the things we need to tackle in the next couple of months," she said.
Howard said dining services has four big areas that they are planning to change.
The first being sustainability initiatives.
"Everything from trying to source locally prepared foods to compost-ability options," she said.
A&M has created the position of sustainability officer and Kelly Wellman has been appointed.
"She's working on ways to be more environmentally friendly," Howard said.
The second area is facilities rehabilitation, which includes updates and maintenance, and the third is customer service, including customer service training during the summer.
"Customers are an extremely important part of our environment and we want to make sure they feel welcome,"Howard said.
The final area is food safety and food quality. Howardsaid with Texas A&M President Elsa Murano's strong background in food safety, it is suiting to consider this area.
"It's very important to us that our dining services look up to her standards," she said.
Howard is serving as interim executive director of dining services after the resignation of Nadeem Siddiqui June 15.
Howard said she is serving as interim executive director because dining services reports to her.
"It just made more sense," she said.
Since taking over as interim executive director,Howard said she has become more involved in the day to day.
"We're embarking in strategic planning and I'm involved in that," she said.
Dining services strategic planning entails shortterm goals to be completed before the fall session begins,mid-term goals - such as revenue - and longterm goals such as facility renovation.
Howard said any facility planning and construction is normally a fi ve to 10 year process.
"It's one of the things we need to tackle in the next couple of months," she said.
Howard said dining services has four big areas that they are planning to change.
The first being sustainability initiatives.
"Everything from trying to source locally prepared foods to compost-ability options," she said.
A&M has created the position of sustainability officer and Kelly Wellman has been appointed.
"She's working on ways to be more environmentally friendly," Howard said.
The second area is facilities rehabilitation, which includes updates and maintenance, and the third is customer service, including customer service training during the summer.
"Customers are an extremely important part of our environment and we want to make sure they feel welcome,"Howard said.
The final area is food safety and food quality. Howardsaid with Texas A&M President Elsa Murano's strong background in food safety, it is suiting to consider this area.
"It's very important to us that our dining services look up to her standards," she said.
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