Contributing Writer

During the week that students had off from classes because of the snow, Facilities Management staff as well as dining service staff members had to live on campus and work long extended hours. A Residential Life e-mail sent February 10, 2010 during the blizzard week said “True Grit’s employees are as anxious as you are to have things ‘go back to normal,’ and are doing their best under the circumstances.” The Retriever Weekly had a chance to talk with Tom Deluca, Chartwells’ Resident District Manager who polled several of the employees who were staying overnight on campus and responded on their behalf.

The Retriever Weekly: How many people stayed over night?

Chartwells Staff: We had anywhere from 10 to 20 folks in the dorms during the snow storms.

TRW: Where did you sleep? How were the rooms?

CS: Some were in Chesapeake and some were in Harbor. The rooms were very nice. Residential life provided linens and we were all thankful for the hot showers every day.

TRW: Were you compensated for your extra hours of work and having to stay on campus?

CS: Many of our associates received multiple hours of overtime pay during the week and the management team is discussing several different options to reward those folks that stayed on campus and were dedicated to the UMBC community.

TRW: What was your overall opinion of this experience?

CS: I think everyone was very happy when things returned to normal on Monday. We battled many different issues throughout the week but the worst was the snow. The associates that did stay on campus worked from morning to night and did a phenomenal job. Keeping floors dry and safe in the kitchen and dining rooms was a challenge, we weren’t really sure when our suppliers would be able to get to us, but they did and for the most part we had a good supply of food. Milk and ice cream were the two items that we did run low on. I believe it was one of those situations that 10 years from now everyone will still be telling stories about the storm of 2010, but nobody really wants to do it again anytime soon!

Many students who were stuck on campus during this storm owe their full bellies to these True Grit’s staff members.

Comments can be sent to emjacks1@umbc.edu.

The restaurant boasts breakfast items including Chicken Biscuits, Hash Browns and Chicken, Egg & Cheese served until 10:30 a.m. There are meal deals available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which happily do not go over into flex dollars. From Monday to Thursday the food venue will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

According to Tom DeLuca, Resident District Manager for Chartwells, approximately 1,000 customers had already been served at Chick-fil-A by 4 p.m. In addition, all the prices at the UMBC Chick-fil-A are the same as other off-campus locations. It is exciting to see quality food options on campus that are also affordable.  Overall, Chartwells had a successful start to the semester, also opening Mondo Subs and Famous Familglia Pizzeria.

Visit http://www.dineoncampus.com/umbc/?cmd=whatsNew for more details and a map.

Originally promised to students by mid-October, DeLuca said the Chick-fil-A construction and opening has been delayed due to “setbacks from a base building standpoint.” DeLuca said that HVAC systems in the former Study Space are unacceptable, and crews have discovered significant deterioration in the flooring of the old UC.

“There were just conditions that weren’t apparent to the eye,” DeLuca said.

Before opening Chick-fil-A, Chartwells must ensure that the space is up to building code.

“The building actually used to have food services,” said Don Wilson, Project Manager for Chartwells at UMBC. “But codes change. There are lots of exhaust hoods that just aren’t to code.”

The current estimate is that Chick-fil-A will open Jan. 26, just in time for the Spring semester.