Here’s the Plan (for Pitt): Connection Through Food

By MELISSA SCHILD

This month we welcome Matthew Sterne, vice chancellor for business, hospitality and auxiliary services, to discuss the innovative vision for Pitt’s dining services and how it supports the Plan for Pitt.

Q: How does food tie to Pitt’s purpose?

Food nourishes the body, mind and soul. It is a foundational element that allows our students to learn and flourish, and it fuels the knowledge and expertise that is shared by our faculty and staff. Whether it’s around the lunch table or at the conference table, food brings people and ideas together. It empowers innovation.

But we realize that not all members of the Pitt community have access to secure food sources. According to a 2021 report by The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice, 18 percent of Pitt students responding to the survey experienced food insecurity. Together with our dining partner, Chartwells Higher Education, we donate more than 1,500 meal swipes and approximately $50,000 in financial support per year to the Pitt Pantry to help Pitt students thrive, excel and graduate.  

In addition, our Pitt Eats Local program — which expands student dining options by enabling them to use their Dining Dollars at local establishments — has infused more than $1.7 million into the local community and Oakland business district since the beginning of 2021. We continue to look for ways to have a positive impact on our community through our dining services.

Q: How is Pitt innovating the food offerings?

From our dining locations to our coffee shops to the University Club restaurants, we use inventive ideas and creative approaches to deliver world-class customer experiences each and every day, with every customer interaction.

Our customers, who include students, faculty and staff, are becoming more sophisticated and are looking for more authentic food options, and we are evolving to exceed those expectations. Our coffee shops use high quality ingredients and specialty roasts from local coffee purveyors such as LaPrima, Square One Coffee, de Fer and the Coffee Tree Roasters. Pitt Eats — the brand name for the partnership between Pitt Dining and Chartwells — is also proud to support local farms, small and women-owned businesses and diverse vendors that include Jubilee Hilltop Ranch, a sustainable, community-focused family farm located in Osterburg, Pa. They supply the halal-certified beef that we offer at True Burger, PA Taco, Create, Pom & Honey, Forbes Street Market and in our dining halls.

In addition to the focus on food quality for our student dining program, renowned Chef Michael Foust was hired to further evolve and innovate the culinary concepts at our University Club. Chef Foust is passionate about food and truly believes in the power and impact food has on people’s lives. Since joining the University Club, he has forged partnerships with local farmers — not only to ensure he can offer the freshest seasonal dishes to guests, but to ensure those farmers can thrive and continue producing their crops, livestock and dairy products. Chef Foust is cognizant of how his purchasing decisions impact more than just the dining experience, and he uses his role at the University Club to support the entire local food ecosystem.

Staff and faculty are welcome to eat at all our dining locations including The Eatery and The Perch. The new Pitt Ca$h program (replacing Lunch Money) is available exclusively for Pitt faculty and staff and can be added through a simple payroll deduction. Using your Pitt ID, you can purchase meals, coffee and more at over 30 campus locations using Pitt Ca$h.

Q: Where will campus dining go from here?

The Eatery — our largest dining facility — will undergo a complete transformation, evolving into an industry-leading dining facility, boasting 10 independent concepts and state-of-the-art integrations designed to offer Pitt students, staff and faculty an exceptional dining experience and a unique way to gather. The renovation will be completed in a phased construction approach starting in May 2023 once the spring term ends to ensure that The Eatery continues to be open for service. We look forward to sharing more about the culinary programming in the coming months.

The new Campus Recreation and Wellness Center will also include a new dining facility featuring a juice bar as the centerpiece that will serve fresh-pressed juices prepared daily, grab-and-go salads, yogurt parfaits and more. Additional options will include a poke/Asian bowl concept featuring lean proteins, heart healthy fish, avocado, seeds and packed full of veggies. The third concept will showcase local chefs with rotating menus. 

Q: How are you engaging the Pitt community to ensure dining services meet students, faculty and staff needs?

Each year, our partner Chartwells invites all students to provide their feedback on their dining experiences via the Voice to Vision survey. This allows the Chartwells team to take immediate action on the issues that students feel are important and aids in the long-term planning strategy for campus dining.

Dining Services and Chartwells also receive face-to-face feedback through monthly meetings with Pitt’s Resident Student Association. We also meet with the Muslim Student Association and the Pakistani Student Association to discuss dining suggestions and concerns for those students who observe Islamic dietary laws.

In addition, members of the Pitt community can offer feedback by completing the form on the Pitt Eats website or tapping the Happy/Not Happy keypads that are in The Eatery and The Perch.

Our team uses data to drive our decisions — including the feedback we receive from our dining guests. We listen carefully to these responses from the Pitt community and take the necessary actions to improve our processes, systems and service delivery so that we always deliver world-class customer service!

Do you have questions about the Plan for Pitt or suggestions for implementation? Reach out to Plan4Pitt@pitt.edu.

Melissa Schild is associate vice chancellor for strategic planning and performance and leads the University’s strategic planning efforts.