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<\/p>\nOn this we all can agree: food and comfort take on outsized significance during a pandemic. For students isolated in a residence hall where all their engagement \u2013 from academics to entertainment \u2014 happens through a screen, this is even more true.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuarantine and isolation students do not have a lot going on,\u201d said Jody Thompson, interim director of Auxiliary Services. \u201cThey are taking classes online and sitting in an apartment or room by themselves and they aren\u2019t happy about it. Maybe they\u2019re also not feeling well. The dining piece truly becomes what they look forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meal order webforms submitted at 3 a.m. attest to this.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 caused Chartwells, UNC Charlotte\u2019s food services partner, to adjust dining operations in ways that have gone far beyond droplet protection, sanitation practice and distancing protocols. There are fewer students and staff on campus but those who remain often require very different service.<\/p>\n
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Quarantine meal prep in the catering commissary<\/p>\n
The commissary kitchen has shifted from event catering to preparing food for students in quarantine and isolation. Retail operations provide meals for students in residence halls who have been told to stay put for testing because wastewater sampling shows virus present.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are designing programs for a need that didn\u2019t exist before now, having to edit and refine them as we go along,\u201d said Sarah Lynch, Chartwells Higher Ed resident district manager. Lynch sees her role as being one to fully understand the University\u2019s expectations and then coordinate with the dining team to deliver service to match the objective.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what we do,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe are still in hospitality and that has to be woven through all our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fall preparation began in March as representatives from Business Services, Dining Services, Housing and Residence Life, Office of Emergency Management, Student Health Center and others worked through the logistics of managing potential outbreaks and caring for those affected. From the dining side, what kind of meals would be needed? How should they be prepared, packaged, delivered? For how long?<\/p>\n
Thompson details some of the challenges. \u201cChartwells corporate leaders said from day one that they would not permit their employees to go inside the residence halls due to potential exposure. How were we going to get meals to students\u2019 doorsteps?\u201d Housing and Residence Life support staff provided the solution. Dining Services delivered the meals to the halls and HRL staff took it from there. Would the small room fridges accommodate three days worth of meal containers? HRL alleviated that concern too, and moved larger refrigerators into some of the halls.<\/p>\n
In addition to broad collaboration with campus departments, creative thinking was required from Chartwells\u2019 executive team, including Lynch, executive chef John Hutchison, and operations director, Jorge Elizagaray. Separate action plans were created for students in quarantine (due to close exposure), isolation (after a positive test result) and those living in residence halls identified for COVID testing through wastewater samples.<\/p>\n
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Racks of quarantine meals chilled and ready for the morning delivery <\/p>\n
Meals for those in quarantine need to be fresh, complete meals, packed in microwavable containers and delivered chilled on a predictable schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this whole thing started,\u201d recalls Hutchison, \u201cwe couldn\u2019t find microwaveable containers. Every restaurant and hotel in the world was suddenly buying them, along with cutlery kits. We had to source everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cQuarantine meals are delivered in the morning, Monday through Thursday and include lunch, dinner and breakfast for the next day,\u201d Elizagaray explained. \u201cOn Friday, the students get three of each meal to last the weekend through Monday breakfast.\u201d The menu offers a choice between two complete meals; students submit a webform to indicate their preference. Those with dietary restrictions receive meals customized accordingly. \u201cWe try to make comfort foods, so students feel like this is a home meal,\u201d Elizagaray said.<\/p>\n
Dining\u2019s COVID-19 response also looks out for students who are admitted into isolation during a weekend. Their meals are \u2018chef\u2019s choice\u2019 from one of the dining halls and delivered to them.<\/p>\n
Registered dietitian, Natalie Holzhauer, often tours the dining halls with students who have food allergies and\/or dietary restrictions, explaining ingredient icons and pointing out food to be enjoyed or avoided. When these students are under quarantine, they have Holzhauer to consult to ensure their meals will be OK.<\/p>\n
One Friday last fall, a student with multiple allergies was moved into quarantine. \u201cWe gave him some microwaveable meals that we knew would be safe,\u201d Holzhauer said. And then she learned it was also the young man\u2019s birthday. \u201cI had an intern with me and we went to the Market [on Craver] and picked up a whole bunch of bagged items that he could have for snacks, just to make sure he could get through the weekend.\u201d That little extra effort was for the intern, a great lesson in scrutinizing ingredients, and the student was quite appreciative of their thoughtfulness.<\/p>\n
Adding a Market Essentials option to the meal request webform allowed students in quarantine and isolation to purchase items like Tylenol and toiletries to be included with meal delivery. When they asked for Doritos and Gatorade too, the program expanded with Market Essentials Plus, providing students a way to use meal plan declining balance through the campus C-store.<\/p>\n
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When residence halls are flagged by wastewater testing, dining operations are pressed into service for fast, hot meals, packaged and distributed from long tables outdoors. The toughest surge event so far, recounts Lynch, was when \u201cThree residence halls went down. One hall got Chick-fil-A, one got Bojangles, one got Panda Express.\u201d Chartwells had only a few hours notice to feed 800 students their favorite brands.<\/p>\n
Dining Services served about 3,000 meals a day through Crown Commons and SoVi dining halls and scaled-back retail operations. New demands and staff reductions did not stop popular Chef Pop-ups that showcase fancier entr\u00e9es and other culinary events like VeganFest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought this was going to be a three-week thing,\u201d said Lynch regarding Chartwells\u2019 COVID-19 response. \u201cSo we put together plans for six weeks and now it\u2019s been several months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so grateful for my team. They have been so flexible and willing to accommodate, as patiently as can be. We just want to pull this off with as much grace as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
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