HDS to Survey 300 on Dining Tastes

Consultants hired by Harvard Dining Services (HDS) will be conducting a second round of undergraduate surveys this month, gathering student input that comprises the last stage in a general review of HDS services.

HDS Director Ted A. Mayer said about 300 people will have been interviewed by the time the survey is over, and roughly 40 percent--around 120--will be undergraduate "clients."

The students were selected by House masters, House committees and Undergraduate Council president Noah Z. Seton '00.

According to Alexandra E. McNitt, assistant director of marketing and communications for HDS, the project "involves reaching out to the Harvard community as a whole...to see what people think and where there are opportunities to improve and offer greater service."

Both McNitt and Mayer said students generally approve of the service they receive and that HDS is viewed as responsive to student concerns.

Students that the HDS consultants selected to be interviewed said yesterday that they agreed with this assessment.

"All of my experience in dealing with the HDS has been positive in that they are usually quite willing to take and implement suggestions from students," wrote Lev Polinsky '99 in an e-mail message.

Others said the fact that HDS was examining the services it offered was a positive sign.

"I think that the very fact that Dining Services is undertaking this survey through their own volition is a good sign that they truly do care about the needs of students," wrote Justin A. Barkley '02 in an e-mail message.

Mayer declined to provide the cost of the "massive" undertaking, but said it would be a "a drop in the bucket" compared to the benefits resulting from the survey.

The report will be released around the end of March, Mayer said, but he cautioned that change will only come after HDS "digests" the consultants' recommendations.