Set the Example Archives | Campus Services

�Ӱ�ԭ�� Recycling Project Wins CAUBO Award for Environmental Sustainability

davidtownsend — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 19:26:33 +0000

�Ӱ�ԭ�� University’s recycling program in the University Centre Food Court has won a 2018 Quality and Productivity Award from the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO).

�Ӱ�ԭ�� was recognized for excellence in environmental sustainability for its project on “improving recycling behaviours” in a university food court.

CAUBO is a non-profit organization that represents chief administrative and financial officers at universities and colleges throughout Canada. Its awards are intended to foster innovation and reward excellence in managing risk, as well as human, financial, IT and physical resources.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� was one of five national prize winners. Others include the University of Alberta’s chatbot that helps students get instant answers to IT questions, as well as Ryerson University’s Departmental Safety Officer Program.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� created innovative recycling stations and realigned consumer packaging with less wasteful material. Throughout the transition, �Ӱ�ԭ�� trained staff on best use of the new stations, resulting in a waste diversion rate of 90 per cent, up from 12 per cent, in less than a year.

The team behind the project used behavioural insights to identify the need for a recycling program that was both easy to understand, accessible and comprehensive.

Sandra Nelson, the past director of Strategic Procurement in Campus Services, played a role in developing the new stations and implementing them across campus.

In interviews with students, the Campus Services team found students were very keen on recycling but felt that bin colours and placements were confusing or inconsistent, and the slots were too small.

“We describe the new stations as a coalescing of things we’ve seen,” says Nelson. “In various roles in our team, we’ve travelled to different conferences or visited other institutions, residences and dining services. So we brought the pieces back and added our own touches based on the research we had been doing.

“The ability for you to drain and rinse your recyclables matches the same behaviour you would have at home.”

In addition to that innovative step, the team implemented other measures to ensure the stations were effective. The team found that a lot of students walk by recycling stations without looking up at the signage.

“We put the colour coding out onto the floor, so if you’re walking by you can see it,” says Nelson.

Since implementing the new stations, �Ӱ�ԭ�� has reduced waste removal costs by $5,000 a month, diverted more than 100,000 kilograms of recycling and prevented the creation of more than 400,000 kilograms of methane gas.

Campus Services received a �Ӱ�ԭ�� University Service Excellence for Innovation Award (2017) and the Gold Award for Sustainability from NACUFS (2018) for the recycling initiative. The project is also featured in the current issue of University Manager magazine.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� says this program can be implemented at any dining location on any campus in Canada.

“Institutions are really communities of individuals, so it’s important that we all work together to try to do better,” Nelson says.

�Ӱ�ԭ�� is working towards a goal of zero waste, campus wide, by 2022.

University Centre Food Court Recycling Station Wins Awards

kianaseitz — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 14:54:27 +0000

Campus Services recently won a CAUBO award for their efforts in transforming the University Centre Food Court into a zero waste facility.

Before the implementation of this program, only 12% of waste materials in the Food Court were being correctly recycled.

In 2018-19, 92% of all non-franchise packaging in the Food Court is now recyclable or compostable
12 student staff have been hired to help customers learn how to reduce their environmental impact
Prior to implementation of new recycling stations – 12% correctly recycled, 88% incorrectly recycled
- 1 month after implementation – 71% correctly recycled, 29% incorrectly recycled
- 4 months after implementation – 90% correctly recycled, 10% incorrectly recycled
Between March and December 2017, we improved the diversion rate in the Food Court from a dismal 12% to an astounding 90%, giving the Food Court its first Zero Waste Certification (“zero waste” means 10% or less of all waste goes to a landfill”)

The creation of the stations was a collaborative effort. Amanda Coome, the former Communications Design Coordinator with the Campus Services Marketing Team, designed the station’s signage that directs customers to the appropriate place to put their waste. The Print Shop made the colourful, eye-grabbing prints come to life.

The zero waste project began with a pilot station in the Food Court. When the pilot proved to be successful, additional stations were added at the rear of the Court, as well as in Oasis and the Loeb Cafe.

The program has diverted approximately 132 000 lbs of recycling away from the landfill and has prevented the generation of over 490 073 lbs of methane gas.

Campus Services Staff Spend a Day Helping the Ottawa Snowsuit Fund

kianaseitz — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 14:57:36 +0000

For the past few years, Campus Services has been helping staff the Ottawa Snowsuit Fund with volunteers. In 2018, more than a dozen �Ӱ�ԭ�� employees from 6 different departments donated their time to help give out snowsuits for children in need.

The is an Ottawa-based charity that raises funds for the purchase and distribution of snowsuits to needy children, 15 years and under, in our community. They’ve been operating for over 35 years, and distribute over 16,000 new snowsuits annually. The Distribution Centre needs the help of over 500 volunteers each season to help families find the perfect snowsuit.

The volunteers were split into morning and afternoon shifts, and helped distribute snowsuits (ensuring that they fit properly), unpack received items, and organize the warehouse. Over 100 snowsuits were given out during our time there. In addition to snowsuits, clients are also able to get toques and gloves, many of which have been donated from within the community – some even handmade!

If you would like to help the Snowsuit Fund, they’re always looking for donations (both money and clothing), volunteers, and people to help do fundraising. for how you can help!

Campus Services Brings Terry O’Reilly to �Ӱ�ԭ��

kianaseitz — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 14:55:31 +0000

Terry O’Reilly has been in advertising for a long time, but is perhaps best known for his award-winning CBC Radio show, Under The Influence, which covers the wide world of marketing and its effects on society. He was brought to �Ӱ�ԭ�� to give a free presentation to students, staff and faculty by Campus Services.

Naturally, his presentation focused on the power of storytelling, and was peppered with anecdotes from his years in the advertising business. One of Terry’s greatest assets is his ability to enthrall an audience with stories of his successes – and failures – in the advertising world.

Terry’s presentation was just over an hour, after which he accepted a number of questions from the audience.

Presentation Overview

The company with the best story wins.

This presentation is about the power of Storytelling. The smartest, most effective marketers in the world use storytelling to persuade. We are all hard-wired to love stories, and every product and service has a compelling story to tell. This talk helps your audience understand how to build stories and gives them the tools to start using storytelling in their own businesses. This presentation includes:

How storytelling can add immediate value to your product/service.
How to harvest stories from your company/organization and your customers.
How storytelling can communicate intangible qualities like trust, confidence and security.
How stories can launch new products and maintain mature brands.
How storytelling creates intense customer loyalty.
Why the best storytellers are the best listeners.
Why storytelling is one of the most cost-effective strategies in marketing.

This presentation also includes powerful examples of Canadian and international marketing campaigns that used storytelling in surprising and enormously effective ways.

Dining Services wins Inter-University Iron Chef Competition!

kianaseitz — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 14:54:57 +0000

What started as a culinary contest among McGill’s 10 residence halls in 2011 has since grown into an international competition with serious bragging rights on the line.

In 2014, McGill created a new version of their Student Iron Chef competition, and opened the event it to schools across North America. They called it the Inter-University Iron Chef Competition. The 2019 competition was the sixth iteration of the event, and was hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the winner for 4 of the past 5 years. 2019 was the second year �Ӱ�ԭ�� participated, and the first time a Canadian University took the trophy home.

The event included competitors from the University of Massachusetts, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, and McGill University. Throughout the weekend, students had the chance to socialize and share their passion for cooking with each other.

�Ӱ�ԭ��’s Food Science students Emma Khazzam, Hye Ryung (Grace) Park, and Zitian Zhang had to cook two dishes from scratch in just two hours. Their main dish was served tableside with a blue heirloom carrot chicken brodo that turned red on contact with the lemon juice in the bowl (using the pH dependent color change of anthocyanins). The dishes were evaluated based on flavor, plate representation, culinary technique and how each team personalized the meal. This competition is unique in that none of the competitors are culinary students.

In the end, the �Ӱ�ԭ�� students won both best appetizer and main dish, giving them a clean sweep of the competition!

We are extremely proud and thankful for all the hard work the students and other �Ӱ�ԭ�� members put in for this achievement. Special thanks to Chefs Daniel Poulin and Lucas Baxter from �Ӱ�ԭ�� Dining who helped the students prepare for the competition, as well as Jane Skapinker and Christine Stewart who helped with the logistics and marketing. The 2020 competition will be happening at �Ӱ�ԭ��, CU there!

If you’re a �Ӱ�ԭ�� student and would like to participate in next year’s competition, message on social media.