5 things: Notre Dame to reopen dining halls for indoor seating

Each Friday Food Management compiles a list that highlights five things you probably missed in the onsite foodservice news that week and why you should care about them.

Here’s your list for the week of September 28:

Following an extended closure of indoor dining hall seating due to COVID-19, the University of Notre Dame plans to resume dine-in seating in its North and South Dining Halls beginning Oct. 5 as the weather turns colder. South Dining Hall will have a seating capacity of around 500, while North Dining Hall’s capacity will be around 400, all with seating spaced at least six feet apart and plexiglass shields separating diners.

Read more: Campus dining to reopen dining halls for indoor seating

The NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and concessionaire Aramark have released renderings of contactless changes to the food and beverage stands in PPG Paints Arena, the team's home ice. The changes include self-checkout counters that use Mashgin artificial intelligence scanners as well as new concepts like Drink MKT, an express and self-service beverage concession station and The King Penguin new sports bar.

Read more: Pittsburgh Penguins, Aramark plan contactless renovations to concessions at PPG Paints Arena

Related:5 coronavirus things: Compass North America to report 19% revenue loss for FY2020

University Corp., which manages dining venues and resident hall meal plans, as well as real estate for faculty and staff housing and the campus bookstore, at California State University-Northridge, has laid off 90% of its staff due to losses resulting from the university going to virtual learning. Out of 469 University Corp. employees, 414 food service workers were laid off, the majority of them student workers. All campus dining locations at Cal State Northridge with the exception of Geronimo’s and the Matador Mercado at student housing are currently closed as student housing is mostly empty.

Read more: The University Corporation takes financial hit; staffing reduced by 90%

Kent State University has moved its 2021 spring break from March 29-April 4 to April 12-18 and will hold all classes remotely afterwards, through final exams May 6-12. The idea is to keep students and staff safe after a week of travel, the university said. A similar strategy is being used this fall, with all classes going remote following the Thanksgiving break through semester final exams.

Related:5 coronavirus things: COVID surge didn’t follow Florida schools reopening

Read more: Kent State University pushes spring break to April, will go remote for rest of spring semester

Prolonged closures at its theme parks in California and limited attendance at parks elsewhere that have remained open has forced Disney to lay off 28,000 employees across its venues. Some two-thirds of the 28,000 laid off workers were part-time employees, according to the statement by Josh D’Amaro, head of parks at Disney. The company declined to break down the layoffs by individual park locations. While Disney’s theme parks in Florida, Europe and Asia have been able to reopen with limited capacity, California Adventure and Disneyland have remained closed.

Read more: Disney to lay off 28,000 employees as coronavirus slams its theme park business

Bonus: Morrison Living opens food truck at senior living facilities

Contact Mike Buzalka at [email protected]