Ellington

Despite the anticipated loss of on-campus student jobs due to the expected closure of the HUB next year, plans are forming within Housing and Food Services (HFS) that will lead to more student employment.

Upon the closure of Husky Den this upcoming summer for HUB renovations, HFS plans to divert its estimated 32,000 weekly customers to new venues around campus.

Plans are still being finalized, but ideas discussed among HFS administrators include moving the Subway and Pagliacci to By George; placing a small Etc. in Suzzalo Library; launching a mobile taco truck; opening a Starbucks in Kane Hall; and constructing semipermanent kitchens for Fire Cracker, an Italian pasteria, or Pickles and Fries on Red Square.

“We understand how important it is to offer a Subway, Pagliacci and an express market during the closure, and are trying to find locations for those concepts,” said Debbie Proctor, administrator of Bay Laurel Catering and Campus Retail Dining.

There are about 50 students employed in Husky Den, all of whom will be able to find employment after the Den’s closure, thanks in part to the new food venues that will open in its place. It will also provide employment opportunities for new job applicants, Proctor said.

“[On average], 53 percent of our student employees return each year, so there will be 47 percent open positions we will recruit for next fall,” Proctor said.

On top of the forthcoming employment opportunities through new food venues, changes in one HFS program have increased student-employment opportunities already.

Previously, HFS’s Grab-and-Go program, which provides meals and snacks to on-campus convenience stores and cafes, was contracted to outside companies. The program was recently taken over by Bay Laurel Catering, an in-house catering company, prompting the Grab-and-Go program to employ students.

Earlier this quarter, about 50 students were hired by Bay Laurel for the new project, accounting for an estimated 8-percent increase in HFS student employment.

“We decided that we wanted to support our own operation,” Proctor said. “We wanted to bring back the dollars to campus.”

The responsibilities of the newly employed students include preparing, packaging and delivering the food products to all the units across campus.

There are also financial benefits to these new catering positions. Students are paid about $10 an hour, a significant increase from $8.55, which was the starting wage for positions in Husky Den.

“We pay [the students] more than minimum wage to make sure they keep their jobs,” said Max Gerspacher, sous chef for Bay Laurel Catering. “There is a learning curve to catering, and we want to reduce the turnover [of our employees].”

HFS hopes to have more definitive details for these new endeavors by January 2010.

Reach reporter Joanna Nolasco at news@dailyuw.com.