In this month's Mind Your Business section, Gail Finan, director of Dining & Retail Services at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., asks, “With these tough economic times, how are you explaining to students about cutbacks you may have to implement? How are you working with them to lessen the impact of these cuts?”

We thank Gail for submitting a question on an issue very much on the minds of college and university foodservice directors. Her question emphasizes what we have written on this page many times before — working with students is extremely important when running your operation.

All three of our respondents — Patti Lee Klos, director of Dining & Business Services at Tufts University in Medford/Somerville, Mass.; Rich Turnbull, associate director, University Housing and Dining Services at Oregon State University in Corvallis; and Zia Ahmed, director, Dining Services and Administration, The University of Akron in Ohio — agree that communication is important. They also point out the ways they work with students and student organizations, not only to get their feedback on what has already been implemented, but also to gather their input when important decisions are being made.

These foodservice folks, like you, realize that your dining operations are the students' operations too, and gathering their input and feedback is the best way to keep them satisfied with — or at least more able to understand — the decisions that must be made.

Just as in any decision, getting different points of view on an issue is a good idea. Students see things from a different perspective and may be able to suggest ways to save funds in an area that you might have thought the students found vital. Conversely, you may have thought to cut something that you did not realize was extremely important to them. It is better to know this before a decision is made — the better to avoid a student backlash.

While it is important to communicate with your students, it is also important to stay in touch with your colleagues. We like to think that one of the best ways to do that is through the pages of On-Campus Hospitality.

When Gail wanted to find out how others were dealing with this particular issue, she wanted to network with her colleagues. That is what our publication is all about.

The college and university foodservice family is a unique one — the “been there, done that — now let me share” crowd. Others outside the family may tell your stories — why not, the stories are pretty exciting — but when it comes to the fine print, truly nitty-gritty — you get better results within the family.

We welcome and encourage you to keep it in the family by submitting your questions to us. We also invite you to submit your thoughts on issues facing your operations and how you “Mind Your Business.” Just contact us at Gregg@ebmpubs4.com. We'd like to know — and so would your colleagues.