News & Events

Marketing Institute 2012 - Donald Fike

I want to take this time to thank the Mid-Atlantic Region for my selection to the 2012 Marketing Institute held at the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, Dec 4-8, 2012.  It was challenging at first because it was something out of my comfort zone.  As the week went on things came into focus and I began to understand the difference between marketing and advertizing.  It was also nice to re-connect with several people from past institutes and look forward to having the opportunity to attend another institute soon.

Thanks ... Don.

Donald Fike

Business Manager II

West Virginia University

NACUFS Boston 2012 - Mid Atlantic Images

Here is the collection of images taken at the conference while I was not other wise engaged or speaking.  Please feel free to add in comments or to add n your own pictures.

We will be moving to a new flickr site hosted by the Mid-Atlantic region in the next month or so.  Stay tuned from to hear from Deb Hydock, your new Info Officer on the specifics.

FSMI 2012 Jason Mullinix - Cindy Alderson posted for Jason Mullinix

     I would like to thank members of the Mid-Atlantic region for selecting me to participate and represent West Virginia University, at the Food Service Management Institute in Buffalo, NY. This was by far one of the most exciting, hard working, and satisfying experiences in my culinary career. Meeting other industry professionals from across the country was an experience in itself. Learning how other universities are continuously trying to improve the student experience is remarkable.

     The Rich’s Renaissance Atrium where our classes took place was phenomenal. Michael Joseph CEC and Michael Galante were two gentlemen who entertained everyone from the moment we walked in the door! The Rich’s staff was very accommodating and I appreciate the hospitality and hard work they do for the Buffalo community.

     Facilitator Kirk Rich and mentors Julaine Kiehn, Carrie Anderson, Arlene Hosea were exceptional presenting all of the helpful information in the short time we had together. I applaud their efforts on making this institute one of the best NACUFS has to offer.

     This was my first NACUFS Institute and I look forward to continuing my education by attending another one very soon!

Jason Mullinix

West Virginia University

Catering Supervisor/Dining Services

From Brad Messenger on LI

     This was the first year I actually took the time to attend an institute with NACUFS and very happy I did.   After attending the Leadership Institute in Solon, Ohio, I had regretfully wished I had taken advantage of this opportunity 10 years ago.  The week I spent there was not only a time for new learning but a time for introspection and looking harder at myself.

     Having been in management for many years, I felt I had a handle on all avenues of supervision. I was a little surprised. It was very helpful to sit down with a group of peers and take a deep look at how I am doing my tasks at work,  how I interact with others, and   why I do the things I do.  Why do I act a particular way and with whom? Focusing on the leadership styles was very refreshing, as well as a little scary at times.  I guess when one must come to terms with oneself, and truthfully understand why they do certain things, it can be a little challenging. For me it was also refreshing. Being able to learn more about relationships with others, emotional intelligence, effectiveness, and the changes I need to make to be a better leader, was frankly, invigorating.  Hearing face to face what others think about you and how they perceive you, really makes you sit back and take it all in.  Even when the words from others were different from what you really expected someone to say about you, the experience was rewarding. It caused change to happen to me.

      The institute taught me that I really need to spend more time on understanding the different behavior styles of the folks I work with and those in my personal life. The things that myself and others do from time to time, are mostly, just who we are.  And it is my job to try and understand that.  In doing so, I can learn to deal with others more effectively, individually, and become a more responsible leader.

       I do have to say that some of what I learned about myself surprised me a little and that’s alright.  Ultimately I walked away with more knowledge and learning than one could expect to learn in months.  The time spent with the others was a good experience and at my next institute, I plan on being more outgoing and interacting more closely.

      I want to thank NACUFS and Tom for allowing me to attend and hopefully I will see some of my classmates at an institute next year.

Regards,

Brad Messenger

West Virginia University

Assistant Director/Dining Services

FMI - 2012 from Don Fike

I would like to take the time to thank the Mid-Atlantic region for my selection to the Facility Management Institute held June 23-27, 2012 hosted by Hobart and Traulsen in Troy, Ohio.

This was an excellent opportunity for us to learn the effective managing of equipment, keeping in mind the environmental impact that each piece of equipment has. We were also taught how to be aware of future facility and equipment needs, as well as the development of facilities and equipment management. This information will help me in my professional development, enabling me to bring more working knowledge to my University and department.

This was my fifth institute and the week spent in Troy, OH also allowed me to re-connect with participants from previous institutes.

Again I would like to thank the region for my selection.

Donald Fike

Business Manager II

Boreman Bistro

Residential Dining

West Virginia University

Bennett Celebrates 50 Years at the University of Maryland

This year, the University of Maryland (UMD) celebrates employee Jean Bennett’s 50th year of service to the school’s dining program. Currently the assistant director of dining services, she began her lengthy career in the university’s dish room in 1961. Over her tenure, Bennett has made her way through the ranks and now oversees the UMD’s largest dining facility, dealing with accompanying annual revenues of over $12 million dollars.

On October 23, Jean Bennett was honored at an on-campus reception attended by several hundred former students, employees, and past and present campus dignitaries. Among those to speak were the recently retired UMD President Dan Mote, who praised her for her tireless dedication to the school, and student guests who cited the many times she slept in her office during snow storms to ensure that the students in the dining hall were served, even in the worst of weather. 

Current senior associate director of UMD dining services, Joe Mullineaux, recounts his first meeting with Jean Bennett, as a student:

“When I came to this big campus as a freshman in 1975, the first person to talk to me, even before my roommate, was Jean Bennett. I was waiting in line to get into the dining hall and I think she sensed I was scared and came up to me. At first that scared me even more, but I was soon embraced by her warm hospitality and over the next few weeks she made a giant impersonal campus seem smaller and inviting.”

Mullineaux admits to telling this particular story often when discussing Bennett’s legacy around campus, and is certain that the same story could be told by hundreds of other former and current students.

Bennett has been previously honored with UMD’s President’s Outstanding Service Award and the Campus Diversity Award, and plans to continue her service at the University of Maryland for many years to come. 

Bennett and former UMD President Dan Mote

Mid-Atlantic President's Blog

Hello everybody, and welcome to the launch of the Mid-Atlantic Regional President's blog. I am very excited to have this opportunity to begin our dialog by taking advantage of this paticular communication method. I hope everyone will find it a little easier to keep in touch and to keep up with things that are taking place in our region. I also encourage everyone to create their own blog page so we can all be informed as to what's happening with our schools and any other information that you would like to share. I'm sure the exchange of ideas and concepts that our different schools are doing will be beneficial to everyone.

Now that I am up and running I will be sending out updated information as it becomes available. Currently I am waiting for a few responses to a couple of issues and will pass on the information when confirmed, be on the lookout.

I know everyone is frantically getting ready for school and wishing we had just another week or two so I won't take any more of your time, but wanted to make sure I said THANKS for everything and have a great school opening.

- Louis

Sherry Dunbar of Elizabethtown College Receives Service Award

Sherry Dunbar of Elizabethtown College was presented with a well-deserved NACUFS Service Award. The award was presented by Mid-Atlantic Regional President Louis Logan, who made arrangements to surprise Sherry during lunch with the dining services staff. Logan stated, "It was a pleasure that my first official act as president was to reward a person who has done so much for our region."

Sherry has agreed to continue her service to the association by continuing to work on special projects in the future.

NACUFS National Conference - Dallas TX

Howdy, one and all!   We had a fantastic time at the Gaylord hotel in Dallas at the 53rd Annual NACUFS Conference.

Please click this link to view images and feel free to make any comments on the pictures. 

NACUFS Human Resources Institute 2011

     I attended the Human Resources Institute at Schwan’s Food Services in Marshall, Minnesota from June 13-18, 2011. The purpose of this institute was to help participants learn the most up-to-date rules and regulations in dealing with all aspects of today’s human resource challenges.

     The trip to Marshall was an interesting one, highlighted by the flight from Minneapolis to Marshall on a Schwan’s 19 seat corporate plane. The approximate 30 minute flight was a lot of fun and getting a birds’ eye view of the Minnesota country side was a once in a lifetime opportunity. All of our educational sessions were held at the Schwan’s High Performance Development Center. We also got to tour the Ice Cream and Convenience Foods Plants. Now I know how the all of those delicious Schwan’s products get manufactured and packaged!

     Bethany Glidden and Marcy Arnoldi-Heemeyer from the Schwan’s High Performance Development Center were the main speakers throughout this institute. These ladies did a wonderful job keeping the institute rolling along and also had some help from other interesting speakers from within the Schwan Food Service family.

     Our facilitator, Saul Manning and co-facilitator, Peter Curry did a great job organizing this institute. Also in attendance were the NACUFS Education Coordinator, Colleen Bethea as well as our coach mentors, Nancy Heidtman from Miami University, Robert Holden from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks and Rich Neumann from Ohio University. I would like to thank all of these folks for their input and assistance with the institute, especially Rich Neumann who was my group mentor and actually tried to teach all of us how to Polka!

     There were 21 attendees at this institute from all 6 NACUFS regions. I knew a few of the participants from attending other institutes. It was a pleasure renewing old acquaintances as well as getting to know everyone else. This was an interesting group of participants and we all came away with improved human resource skills as well as an expanded network of new NACUFS colleagues.

     I would like to thank the Mid Atlantic Region for selecting me to attend this institute. This was the fourth institute that I have attended and I plan on attending the others in the future.

Dan Esposito,
West Virginia University