HUDS Offerings Expand to Web

Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) is encouraging students to talk with their mouths full.

As part of recent efforts to improve communication with students, HUDS executive director Ted A. Mayer created a blog to serve as a “forum for dialogue” about issues ranging from malfunctioning toasters in Dunster House to the relevance of sustainability at Harvard.

In the midst of the March “menu madness,” the blog took off with its first entry on March 8, according to HUDS spokeswoman Crista Martin. Mayer writes all the entries and responds to every comment.

The blog joins the kiosks, feedback cards, annual surveys, and official HUDS Web site as a vehicle for HUDS staff to communicate with students. With the blog, Martin said, HUDS wishes to experiment with other mediums to cater to the varied communication preferences of students.

“The more channels of communication you can open, the better you are,” Martin said.

The most recent blog post announced the creation of a HUDS Facebook group and a Facebook application created by an undergraduate that rates HUDS food items.

“All of this, of course, is an effort to share information with you and get feedback in the mediums where you are most comfortable,” Mayer wrote on the blog.

The blog is “the best and quickest way” for HUDS to reach students, especially in a “digital age,” said Joseph A. Iovino, customer service manager at Adams dining hall.

Martin said that while feedback cards or e-mails typically focus on a specific meals or types of food, the blog gravitates towards global issues, or the “bigger picture things,” she said.

Mayer wants to use the forum to share information that is not easily available for students otherwise, Martin said.

Student comments on posts range from praise (“Thanks so much for the amazing chicken at the Earth day dinner”) to specific menu requests (“any chance they would make white chunk macadamia cookies?”) to responses to particular post.

“I don’t know if it’s a dedicated few, or if there are a lot of people reading it,” Martin said.

HUDS has been receiving many “nice compliments” about the blog, she said. Martin invites students to continue offering suggestions.

Dining “is based on student feedback, and it’s in a constant state of change,” Martin said. “If we don’t hear from you, then we can’t make appropriate changes.”

—Staff Writer Esther I. Yi can be reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.