WE ARE - Rochester Institute of Technology · STUDENT AUXILIARY SERVICES | NEWSLETTER WINTER 2017 3 Top: Erica Hickey, RITchie, Denishea Ortiz, and Mallory Giambra revealing Tiger

WE ARE

2017 WINTER NEWSLETTER

2 STUDENT AUXILIARY SERVICES | NEWSLETTER WINTER 2017

Greetings SAS Family.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. As we head into the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to say how excited I am about the year ahead. I am truly blessed and grateful for the chance to continue working with all of you. I appreciate the enthusiasm, creativity and diligence you all exhibit in serving our customers every day. I am thankful for your dedication and willingness to help one another.

I would also like to take a moment to say welcome to our new hires. This past year we added over 24 new personnel to the SAS family. As the year progresses, I look forward to getting to know all of you and I am excited about the vast amount of talent, knowledge and experience that you will bring to SAS.

Now that we are starting a new year, I have taken a moment to reflect on the previous year’s activities. I must say, I am encouraged by the great strides we have all made in our personal and professional lives, as well as the growth and comradery we have all shared across our great Nation. I have personally witnessed many of you achieve personal and professional goals, and share a sense of pride and unity in our country, such as the 2016 Summer Olympics. With that said, I have also been concerned with a few things that could potentially divide us on a personal and professional level, such as this past November’s election. I must admit that during the election process, I became per-sonally concerned about some of the undesirable undertones, comments, and the potential for negativity that the election process may have had in

our personal and intra-departmental working relationships. I believe if we are truly to become LEGENDARY, we must all rise above any painful rhetoric and negativity, and show each other the proper amount of care, concern, and respect that we are all due, regardless of our political affiliations. As such, to help ensure that we are all expressing our points of view in a constructive manner within the next few months our Legal Department will carry out a series of Town Halls within the F&A Division, wherein they will discuss how we should respond to any potential acts of misconduct or negative rhetoric from faculty, staff or students. Additionally, I am considering having our Customer Service Team schedule a Town Hall with the SAS family, Legal, and Human Resources in order to ensure that we all understand how we may express our opinions while at work. In the meantime, if any of you care to talk or bounce any ideas or concerns off of me, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Once again, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with all of you this year, and I am sincere when I tell you about the numerous compliments I have received from all corners of the University in regards to your hospitality, service, and willingness to go the extra mile for our customers. Please continue to keep up the great work. I wish you all a BLESSED and LEGENDARY New Year!

Howard

LEGENDARY…A SAS STATE OF MIND

REMARKABLE WORDS

CONTENTSPERRY’S ICE CREAM

CATALYST & USB

HOUSING

TIGER TV

CONFERENCES

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

EVENTS

SPOTLIGHT


MAKING TRACKS WITH RIT & PERRY’S ICE CREAMDean Engdahl, Associate Director of Dining East, has worked with Dining Services for 31 years. Perry’s Ice Cream has been a vendor since he started. His relationship with Perry’s has contributed to the great partnership we have today. Perry’s provides the campus with three gallon tubs of Perry’s ice cream, novelties, and branded ice cream such as Nestlé, Blue Bunny and Ben & Jerry products. In addition, Perry’s has been a great resource for display freezers, dipping cabinets, donations and sampling programs. In 2014, Perry’s showcased signa-ture flavors for Syracuse University and the University of Buffalo at their yearly food show. Dean approached Bryan Perry, the owner of Perry’s, to discuss the possibility of a RIT flavor. Two years later, with

the assistance of Terry Lynch, RIT Perry’s sales representative, Dining Services was given the green light to move forward with our very own RIT Flavor!Dining Service, SAS Marketing, and Perry’s Marketing and Sales team developed concepts and ideas that reflected RIT culture. RIT Alum, Marcus Lovelace (College of Science,’04), then created a sampling of flavors, of which a final mix of sweet vanilla ice cream with thick fudge swirls and orange pretzel balls was chosen. The new flavor, RIT Tiger Tracks, will debut in early 2017. It will be served at Gracie’s, Sol’s Underground, a new ice cream cart at the Gene Polisseni Arena and at Lugia’s, a local ice cream Eatery in Spencerport.

RIT TIGER TRA KS

STUDENT AUXILIARY SERVICES | NEWSLETTER WINTER 2017 3

Top: Erica Hickey, RITchie, Denishea Ortiz, and Mallory Giambra revealing Tiger Tracks to the campus. Above: Dean Engdahl and Don LaFlam scooping samples for Student Government


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TWO NEW DINING OPERATIONS NOW OPENWith the closing of the Freshens franchise, RIT Dining Services opened a new food concept in Institute Hall and replaced Smoothie operations across campus. Catalyst, a new food concept, replaced the Freshens food options with its own eclectic mix of rice bowls and street tacos suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Recognizing the new operation would be located in the biomedical engineering building, the Marketing Team proposed bonds and compounds as the background imagery and incorporated the periodic table into the logo, in deference to the location.Ultimate Smoothie Blendz (USB) serves refreshing smoothies at Catalyst, Crossroads, Beanz, and The College Grind. USB combines fresh, local fruits and vegetables with cold-pressed juices from Red Jacket Orchards, located in Geneva, New York.Both operations went through a lengthy process from concept to development to the final product launch. Lon Chase, Associate Director of Dining Services West, led a stellar team of Dining Services employees comprised of Dean Engdahl, Michelle Fisher, Janemarie Iverson, Aimee Mitchell, Paul Maushart, and Melissa Frey. For months, the team gathered ideas and tested recipes to create the perfect smoothies for USB, as well as the perfect menu for Catalyst.Michelle Fisher and Janemarie Iverson played a pivotal role in the entire process. From creating over 100 smoothie recipes, numerous tacos and rice bowl recipes, and assisting in the development of the design elements, these ladies truly helped make the launch of these two venues a success.Both establishments are up and running at Institute Hall and throughout campus. If you have not tried them yet, be sure to do so soon!


RETURNING STUDENTS SELECT OWN HOUSING ASSIGNMENTSHousing Operations has turned a goal into reality. For the past five years, incoming freshmen have had the ability to select their own space in the residence halls. It has been a goal of Housing Operations to allow current students to do the same during the Housing Selection process. It took the staff some time to reach their goal; however, after many internal discussions, feedback from StarRez consultants and other universities, the staff reworked their business practices in order to reach the desired goal and enhance the student experience.The new selection model gives students control to select their desired RIT housing. Students who wish to select RIT Housing are given an appointment time and during this time they have the opportunity to view available RIT housing and select the space that they desire. After selection, students can immediately see who their roommates will be and where they are assigned. In addition, the student can opt to place themselves on a wait list for a specific type of housing that may not be immediately available or if there is no available housing left open during the process. The new housing selection process, also known as Room Selection, began in November 2016 for the 2017-2018 academic year. The success of this change has empowered our students, and more so has given the Housing Operations staff the ability to assist our students with any questions, concerns, and special situations that they may have in a much more expedited manner.

TIGER TV – NO REMOTE NEEDEDStudents living in RIT Housing are watching TV in a new way this year. The wires have been cut with Time Warner Cable and replaced with Tiger TV. Tiger TV is an Internet based TV service provided through Philo.Philo allows students to watch live TV via television, computer, phone, or tablet anywhere on campus, as long as a RIT network connection is established. With Philo, students will also have the ability to record shows on a personal TigerTV DVR that is stored within the cloud and will have access to HBO, HBO GO, and Cinemax, all new with this service! Residents who reside in Riverknoll will have DirecTV in their apartments, however they will also be able to use Philo when they access the RIT Internet. Housing Operations, along with Purchasing, ITS, and Student Auxiliary Services, worked diligently to find a service that would allow students to consume television the way they consume other media - on the go, and when and wherever they want. In addition, another important benefit is the new service is being offered without an increase to the housing rates!

MOVING FORWARD

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Below: StarRez conference attendees Right: YellowDog conference attendees

LEGENDARY EXPERTISE EXHIBITED AT STARREZ USER CONFERENCERona Skinner, Executive Director of Business Strategies and Technology Management, attended the annual StarRez user conference and the StarRez Advisory Board (SABO) meeting in Chicago in July. In addition to attending a full day business strategy meeting with the StarRez chief operating officers, Rona, chair of SABO, also led the SABO planning meeting, ran a networking tour activity, and planned and presented to first time attendees at the welcome orien-tation. She also worked with the CEO of StarRez to incorporate RIT branding during his demonstration of the new Portal X product to the 500 plus conference attendees. She was also invited to a small meet and greet with the conference keynote speaker, CEO of Campus-Guard, which is the PCI Security consulting company working with RIT on PCI compliance.

In addition to her responsibilities as SABO chair, Rona also co-presented with a collaborator from Bing-hamton University to demonstrate how campuses can successfully utilize the housing portal assignment process for students seeking gender inclusive housing options. She was a panelist alongside colleagues from Grand Canyon State University and University of Mississippi to discuss the topic of Using StarRez to Support Campus Partnerships. Rona has truly demonstrated legendary leadership within the StarRez organization and continues to show why RIT is a benchmark school.

YELLOW DOG CONFERENCEYellow Dog Software is our inventory management system for Shop One2 and Dining Services. A team of RIT users ventured to Virginia Beach in September to gain incredible hands on experience. David Faas, David Panish, Sandy Jones, George Johnson, Susan Lowe, and Frank

Davila made up the largest user group at the conference. The group participated in numerous workshops and training sessions with Yellow Dog team members. The new version of the software was available to test, which allowed Sandy Jones the opportunity to learn how to add shippers into the system. Immediately after the conference, the team was able to return to campus and begin implementing the new processes they learned at the conference. David Faas states, “I learned how to check in orders with the handheld and then receive the invoice with the information on the handheld. I have been able to save up to an hour of time!”


“Branding You” workshop for YWCP’s 9th Grade Summer Bridge Program that took place on the RIT campus

MAKING DIFFERENCE IN OUR

COMMUNITYCommitted to providing outstanding legendary service, SAS is often thinking about collaboration, collective impact and how we can make a difference in our community. This past summer, Denishea Ortiz, Mallory Giambra, and Shauna Cross from the Marketing Team, had the opportunity to partner with two local nonprofits— Causewave Community Partners and Young Women’s College Prep Charter School (YWCP)—to make a difference and impact youth in the city of Rochester. Causewave collaborates with local businesses to combat change and produce results in various initiatives that positively impact the community. Every year, Causewave hosts the Summer of Opportunity

Program (SOOP), which is an employment and training program designed for City of Rochester high school students that provide paid work experience, job readiness training, and career exploration. The Marketing team partnered with SOOP and created a Graphic Design 101 workshop for students who selected Marketing as their area of interest. Students learned elements of design, visual communication and problem solving. In addition stu-dents gained hands-on experience in the lab to explore and discover the latest in graphic design software. Additionally, the Marketing team worked with YWCP, Rochester’s first all-girls charter school that focuses on college enrollment, graduation, and educating the whole

girl. The team led a Branding You workshop for the girls of the 9th Grade Summer Bridge Program, which took place on RIT’s campus. The program provides girls an opportunity to experience life on a college campus while bridging the gap between summer recess and the return to school in the fall. Through a Branding You presentation, games and discussion, the team educated the girls on self-esteem, how to carry and present her brand, and the importance of first impressions. The partnership with RIT, Causwave, YWCP and SOOP is a great example of diverse organizations coming together to successfully address critical challenges in our community and attain meaningful change through legendary services.

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CARIBBEAN NIGHT AT GRACIE’SGracie’s hosted Caribbean Night on October 6th, its first themed meal of the academic year. The evening consisted of a full Caribbean themed menu with favorites such as Jerk Chicken, Caribbean Beef Ragout, Grouper Tenders, Island Happy Shrimp, and Key Lime Pie. The main menu was created by Aimee Mitchell, Assistant Manager, and Amy Boula, Production Cook, while the dessert menu was created by Jill Vanduyne, Pastry Sous Chef. The dining room was decked out with Caribbean flare, decorated by Christine Chrisley, Supervisor. The first 700 student who entered Gracie’s received a mini beach ball, which the staff spent approximately two weeks blowing up in preparation for the event. The Alfred St. John’s Trinidad and Tobago Steel Band topped off the evening with a live steel drum perfor-mance. The band brought the ambiance of the islands right to Gracie’s as customers enjoyed their meals. Gracie’s next special meal will be the Chinese New Year on February 2nd and Harry Potter on April 19th.

EVENTS&

HAPPENINGS

From top to bottom: The Alfred St. John’s Trinidad and Tobago Steel Band, Caribbean dessert station

OUT AND ABOUT29TH ANNUAL RIT UNITED WAY GOLF TOURNAMENTRenamed in memory of Joan Stone, the annual tournament serves as the official “TEE-OFF” for RIT’s 2016 United Way Campaign.


ICE RINK TURNS INTO FAMILY FUN ZONEThe Frank Ritter Ice Arena was transformed from an ice skating surface to a Family Fun Zone for the RIT Brick City Homecoming (BCH) Weekend. The ice was covered with indoor soccer turf, a multitude of arcade video games, air hockey, skee-ball, toddler helicopter rides, an inflatable obstacle course and a bounce house. The main attraction was the stuff-your-own Tiger!Historically, BCH has lacked activities for alumni with children. The Family Fun Zone was brought in to change that, and with the help of University Arenas, the transformation happened. To help with the transition, Blue Cross Arena provided and helped install the turf, while RIT’s Shipping and Receiving staff provided the trucks for transport. A fork lift with a carpet pole took the turf rolls from the trucks to the ice, while the staff rolled the 15’ wide individual pieces out across the ice. The University Arenas Ice Operations staff also helped by providing extra ice the evening before, so that in the event the ice became dirty from the carpet or the event, the top 1/8” of the ice could be scraped off by the Zamboni to bring the ice back to its proper condition and thickness. The transformation of the Ice Arena enhanced families participa-tion for the weekend. Ritter Ice Arena was a place that welcomed children of alumni, staff, faculty and students. Family Fun Zone was well received, as the space saw non-stop visitors!

FALL FARMERS MARKETFresh local produce was readily available in Global Village in September and October. RIT Dining Services, RIT Sustainability and Headwater Food Hub partnered to host an on-campus Farmers Market. Additional participants included RIT Beekeepers Club, the RIT Student Environmental Action League

(SEAL), RIT Better Me, The Good Food Collective, Upstate Farms, and The Iroquois White Corn Project.

The Farmers Market was resurrected after a long hiatus. Previously, on campus markets relied on several local farmers. Due to scheduling conflicts with other local markets and supply and demand, it became increasingly difficult to manage. As a result, the model was changed and Dining Services partnered with Headwater Food Hub to provide

the main food items. Dining Services purchased the items from Headwater, then resold it at cost to the community. Any

remaining items were used at Global Village dining venues. The Farmers Market was a great success and the excitement it brought to the community has everyone looking forward to the next market.

coming soon

global village plazalocal fresh food

farmersmarket



THE MANY TOUCH POINTS OF UNIVERSITY ARENASUniversity Arenas (UA) is far from just hockey. Outside of hockey and ice, UA is an event planning & management venue, a ticket operations and program venue, and much more. The Gordon Field House (GFH) alone consistently hosts over 250,000 people each year for events, plus hosts an additional 150,000 recreational uses each year. There are also over 16,000 reservation hours and 6,000 bookings each year within the GFH and Aquatics Center. The extremely versatile space of the GFH allows for hosting events, such as indoor track meets, trade shows, concerts, and black-tie din-ners. The GFH is also home to the RIT Indoor Track and Field teams (hosting several league and conference championship meets), and acts as a match and practice facility for RIT Men’s & Women’s Tennis, and RIT Men’s & Women’s Lacrosse throughout the winter months. While the Frank Ritter Ice Arena is full of hockey and ice, it plays host to youth hockey tournaments, high school hockey, RIT men’s and women’s Club Hockey, RIT intramural hockey and broom-ball, RIT wellness classes, and so much more non-RIT hockey uses. University Arenas also provides all the programming for the Learn-To-Skate classes, the open public skate sessions, and is responsible for the Skate Rental Booth where skate rentals and skate sharpening is offered.

Expressions of King’s Legacy with Ailey II dance troupe perform at the Gordon Field House

GFH Track and Field meet

Gene Polisseni Club Lounge food sampling

Concert fans at the Gene Polisseni Center


EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTSNEW HIRESMATTHEW BARBERSupervisor, Crossroads

DOUGLAS BERRYHILLProduction Cook, Gracie’s

HEIDI BOLANDEvent Coordinator, Brick City Catering

MICHAEL BURTFacilities Mechanic, Housing Facilities

RACHEL CHOLEWAEvent Coordinator, Brick City Catering

CLIFFORD CISCOProduction Cook, Commons

CHRISTOPHER EVANSProduction Cook, RITz SportsZone

GEOFF FASYManager, Gracie’s

BRENDA GILASSOAssistant Director, Housing

GABRIELLE HARRINGTONSupervisor, Brick City Catering

PAUL HERKEFacilities Mechanic, Housing Facilities

ANDREW KELLERBox Office Manager, University Arenas

DANIEL MCCANNEYCashier, Crossroads

JONATHAN ROSAProduction Cook, Crossroads

JOVAN SOSACashier, Cantina and Grille

LENGTH OF SERVICEAMY BOULA | 5Production Cook, Gracie’s

RICHARD CISCO | 5Receiving Clerk, Cantina and Grille

DEBORAH HOLDEN | 5Supervisor, Crossroads

GEORGE JOHNSON | 5Supervisor, Global Market

JESSICA MALLON | 5Assitant Director, Housing Operations

WENDY MARKS | 5Director of F&A Galleries, Student Auxiliary Services

DENNIS SMITH | 5Facility Mechanic, Housing Facilities

ANTONIO COLLINS | 10Production Cook, Crossroads

WILLIAM DECOURSEY | 10Facility Mechanic, Housing Facilities

BARBARA HUCKABEE | 10Salad Group Leader, Gracie’s

MELISSA KARA FREY | 10Production Manager, Crossroads

KEYANA RIVERS | 10Salad Worker, Commons

JESSE STEARNS | 10Dining Services Supervisor, Crossroads

JEROME TARONI | 10Assistant Director, Housing Facilities

FRANK DAVILA | 15Coordinator of Inventory Operations, Housing Facilities

REBECCA HICKS | 15Assignment Coordinator, Housing Operations

KURT INGERICK | 15Executive Director, Student Auxiliary ServicesJOANNE LINDSEY | 15Assignment Coordinator, Housing OperationsROBERT NAZZARO | 15Production Cook, Brick City Café

RENÉ RODRIGUEZ | 15Manager Central, Dining Services

ROBERT RUGGLES | 15Maintenance Mechanic, Housing Facilities

CHRISTINE SCHIRMER | 15Cashier, CommonsGAIL SHAUGHNESSY | 15Housing Service Coordinator, Housing Operations

AUSBERTO VARGAS | 15Maintenance Mechanic , Housing Facilities

GREGORY WIGGINS | 15Assistant Director, Housing Facilities

BETHANY SUTHERLAND | 20Supervisor, Cantina and GrilleSUZANNE WINTER | 25Manager Residential Stores, Corner Store and Sol’s Underground

CHARLES BALKUM | 30Stock Clerk, Corner Store

DEAN ENGDAHL | 30Associate Director Dining Services, Dining Services

SUSAN LOWE | 30Coordinator Policies & Compliance, Student Auxiliary Services

CARLA DILELLA | 35Executive Director, Housing Operations

STEVEN O’FLYNN | 35CBORD Production Coordinator, Dining Services

When Brick City Catering’s Chef du Cuisine, Autumn Geer, is not busy ensuring quality meals and treats to over 2,500 events on campus per year, she is participating in other high profile events off campus. Autumn was selected to take part in “Raise the Steaks: Australian Lamb & Grassfed Beef Immersion event in New York City this past

September.

The event featured eight other top chefs from around the country, including chefs from Twitter, Google, and Norwegian Cruise Line. The chefs learned about meals from “the land down under” while enjoying a culinary butcher demon-stration, and the latest upcoming food trends for 2017. The event was topped off with a Culinary Chal-lenge where all participants were given a basket of items to cook, which included Kohlrabi, harissa, apple butter, black rice, plantains and two cuts of meat. With these ingredients, Autumn led her team to create three different dishes, and a buffet menu which served 25 people. Autumn said it “was a great

experience watching and working alongside the other chefs.” Autumn has also been selected for the fifth year in a row as the head chef for the 2017 New York Ice Wine & Culinary Festival held at Casa Larga Vineyards in Canan-daigua. During the festival, she will develop a menu with five different ice wine-infused dishes for festival attendees to enjoy. Each dish is an “Autumn Geer Original”, and she says it is an honor to be trusted by Casa Larga to bring high quality dishes to such a large festival. To purchase tickets for this year’s event, visit the Casa Larga website: www.casalarga.com/shop/new-york-ice-wine-culinary-festival/

what makes us

Left to Right: Kory Samuels, Suzanne Winter, Dean Engdahl, Howard Ward,

Aimee Mitchell, Charles Balkum

Documents

WE ARE - Rochester Institute of Technology · STUDENT AUXILIARY SERVICES | NEWSLETTER WINTER 2017 3 Top: Erica Hickey, RITchie, Denishea Ortiz, and Mallory Giambra revealing Tiger