DiningStyles Survey gathers information about on-campus dining habits and preferences

Every fall, the DiningStyles Survey is run by U of M’s Dining Services (formerly Food Services) for both Bannatyne and Fort Garry campuses. This is Dining Services’ most comprehensive survey, and gathers information about respondents’ dining habits and preferences and with their satisfaction levels with Dining Services.

If they so choose, respondents are entered to win the grand prize of a $150 MasterCard gift card or one of three $50 MasterCard gift cards (solely for the Fort Garry campus).

Manager of Dining Services, Dean Duff, says that because the survey is the most in-depth survey they do, the ideal is a good cross-section of people responding. “The greater number of people we have that fill out our survey, the better the data,” he says. “Our hope is always that all of the different population groups on campus are well represented — commuter students, residence students, grad students, faculty and staff.”

Unlike the “Your Voice Counts” survey, which runs all year long and is intended to quickly gather information regarding a customer’s one-time experience at one location, the Dining Styles survey captures more thorough information about the respondent’s dining habits, preferences, and satisfaction levels.

Included in the DiningStyles Survey are questions that address: days of the week the respondent is on campus and over what time periods; types of locations the respondent frequents the most and average spend; overall perceived performance of Dining Services; perceived value and convenience; satisfaction with hours of operation, food variety, food quality, speed of service and availability of healthy options; and perceived address of concerns such as sustainability and environmental impact. When giving a low or high rating, respondents will be prompted to write a few words describing or explaining their rating and specific changes they would like to see.

The DiningStyles Survey also asks about preferred methods of obtaining information from Dining Services and types of locations respondents would like to see added to campus.

Says Duff, the survey is designed to help Dining Services location managers to create action plans according to the feedback submitted. Dining Services managers receive a complete survey report, including a document with all of the written responses from respondents (anonymously submitted) and areas of success and weakness are both highlighted in the survey report.

This information is not only valuable for short-term changes but assists in long term-planning. For example, notes Duff, the availability of healthy and fresh options have been highlighted in past surveys as an area customers feel could be improved and therefore the new University Centre food court was designed with these areas of focus in mind.

The DiningStyles Survey runs until November 7 and includes two separate surveys, one for the Fort Garry sampus and one for the Bannatyne campus.

To access the surveys, go to:

college-survey.com/manitoba
college-survey.com/manitobabrodie

You can also follow uofmdining on Twitter, on like U of M Dining on Facebook or see their website, The Campus Dish.

UM Today staff