President's Welcome

Join us for a regional welcome and keynote speaker, Michael Rogers. Michael Rogers is a best-selling author, technology pioneer and futurist, who also serves as futurist-in-residence for The New York Times. His consultancy, Practical Futurist, has worked with companies ranging from FedEx, Boeing and NBC Universal to Microsoft and Pfizer, focusing on how organizations can think about the future in useful ways. He speaks to audiences worldwide and is a regular guest on radio and television.

Join us for this short session to learn how Transact is partnering with Swipe Out Hunger to address student food insecurity.

Today, one in three college students faces food insecurity nationally. Food insecurity threatens a student’s ability to focus on class, stay in school, and feel part of the campus community. Unfortunately, the stigma around being low-income and shut out from a communal space like the dining hall has kept the conversation out of mind for many college and dining administrators. That’s why organizations, like Transact and Swipe Out Hunger, are partnering to share more information and provide resources to assist.

For every NACAS attendee who attends this session during the scheduled (live) time, Transact will donate a meal to Swipe Out Hunger.

Session 1
Vanderbilt University Campus Dining’s Path to Zero Waste by 2030
Presenter: David ter Kuile, Vanderbilt University
This presentation will discuss Vanderbilt University Campus Dining’s efforts to achieve Zero Waste by 2030, one of the pillars of Vanderbilt University’s FutureVU Sustainability goals.

Session 2
Retail Dining in the New Normal: What You Should Expect from Licensed Brand Partnerships Going Forward
Presenters: Jim Gregory, OnCampus Brands and Mary Richardson, Qdoba Mexican Eats
Join us to hear unvarnished, real-world examples of COVID-inspired ingenuity that successfully met students’ retail dining needs without breaking the bank.

Session 3
Innovative Campus Card Solutions During COVID-19
Presenters: Rosie Ashley and Esmeralda Valdez, University of Houston
In this session, Esmeralda Valdez, Executive Director of University Services, and Rosie Ashley, Interim Director of Cougar Card Services, will discuss their communication strategy and operational adjustments that had to be made to adapt to changing campus environment.

Session 4
Emergency Planning or What Next in an After Action Report
Presenter: Daniel Armitage, University of North Texas
This program will be a round table discussion on what we did, what we learned, and the after actions that we have taken to face the future. The program will discuss personnel issues, policy issues, budget, emergency planning, facility, and structural issues.

Session 1
Unmanned MicroMarts Create Opportunities for Small Campus Markets
Presenters: Brett Jackson and Jonathan Hall, University of Georgia
This session will explain how UGA has leveraged its vending partnership to create a new platform of unmanned retail convenience and grab-and-go locations that provide extended hours of service without the costs of labor that often limits the ability to offer this type of service in small spaces.

Session 2
Travel Demand Management (TDM) Strategies for Success at Clemson University
Presenter: Dan Hofmann, Clemson University
Clemson University like most major universities is pedestrianizing its campus and has tackled the ongoing challenge to reduce the need for car travel in order to decrease parking demand. Programs such as carpooling are the first step, but it does not stop there.

Session 3
Stories and Strategies for Cashier-less Operations
Presenter: Rich Steele, UNC Charlotte
The implementation of contactless services is a quantum leap in the right direction to enhance the quality of campus life. These topics and more will be presented, and attendees will be encouraged to debate the pros and cons of cashier-less operations.

Session 4
Eagles Care – Creating Partnerships for a Divisional Approach to Student Care
Presenter: Verva Jean Shumate, Georgia Southern
This presentation will showcase how partnerships have transformed the level of care provided to students through assessment during this presentation. Additionally, we will highlight how to take the lessons learned in partnerships in providing holistic care and support to transform services provided moving forward.

Session 1
What did we learn from COVID? Resiliency & Adaptation
Presenters: Ana Alvarez, University of Miami and Michael Ross, University of Miami – Chartwells
This session will explore not only what we learned from the global pandemic and its impact on higher education foodservice, but what lessons in resiliency and adaptability led the University of Miami to seek innovation and technology in support of a new business model; a nimble approach that involved sacrifices and commitment.

Session 2
Marketing & Communication Strategies for Dining in a Whole New World
Presenters: Deborah Huebler, University of Houston and Alexcis Mendoza, University of Houston – Chartwells
Learn how the University of Houston and its dining partner Chartwells utilized tools we already had available at our fingertips; and how we are using technology to facilitate up-to-the-minute communications to our stakeholders.

Session 3
KPIs, Dashboards, Data, Oh My! Where do I start?
Presenters: Esmeralda Valdez and Emily Messa, University of Houston
In this session, we will focus on the various data methods and metrics used within auxiliary operations and how best to approach data collection and analysis. We will share some examples of how we have implemented data-driven decisions and services within our card program.

Session 4
Building a Campus Culture of CARE: Partnering with Auxiliary Services to serve homeless and foster care college students.
Presenters: Marcy Stidum and Tiffany Hartz, Kennesaw State University
Attendees will learn how to analyze present operations and creatively reframe current methods and service design in order to intentionally serve special, in-need populations on their campus.

Session 1
Naturally Beautiful Dining at UNCW
Presenters: Sharon Boyd and Megan Allred, University of North Carolina – Wilmington 
See how we built community by the inclusion in selecting the building name, and finally, we’ll share how the creative platforms and custom menus represent the very best of UNCW Dining.

Session 2
Marketing Auxiliary Services in a Pandemic World
Presenter: Michael Murphey, Georgia Southern University
Looking retrospectively, we dive into what had to change when the pandemic hit, what worked during the pandemic, and what didn’t work during the most unprecedented era we’ve had to face in higher education. 

Session 3
Centralizing the Bookstore, Print, and Mail Operations
Presenter: Kara Bunde-Dunn, Slingshot
Come to this session to learn more about how this can successfully be done, how to staff it, and the financial benefit of this kind of model.

Session 4
The Power of Equity in Student Housing
Presenters: James Sink and Kristina Singiser, HMC Architects 
This session will explore the power of equity in student housing from the perspective of gender, creating healthy places to live, and student engagement.

Join incoming president, Felecia Townsend, to close out South CX!