Meet the winners of this year's NACUFS collegiate dining, nutrition and sustainability awards

The National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) recently unveiled the gold, silver and bronze winners of its 2024 Loyal E. Horton Dining, Nutrition and Sustainability Awards.

This year, the awards included expanded categories as well as an enhanced judging and submission process. The gold winners will find out who won the grand prizes on July 20, during the NACUFS 2024 National Conference.

“The exceptional efforts of this year's award winners underscore the inspiring dedication within collegiate dining to advance excellence across these many dining, nutrition and sustainability categories,” said Robert Nelson, NACUFS president and CEO in a statement.

The first few categories of awards are the Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards, which honor members’ “innovative ideas and program implementation.”

One standout award in that section is the Innovative Dining Program of the Year award, which honored the University of Massachusetts and the University of North Texas with a gold and Montclair State University, Simon Fraser University and the University of Arizona with the silver award. The bronze winners this year are Loyola University—New Orleans, Samford University and the University of North Dakota.

And the gold for Employee Development Program of the Year went to the United States Naval Academy and the University of California-Davis. The silver awardees are Boston University, The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of North Dakota. The bronze winner is Texas Tech University.

Here’s a look at the gold winners of those awards and a glance at the rest of the award winners.

Innovative Dining Program of the Year

The University of Massachusetts, which was one of the recipients of the gold award in this category, is striving to redefine campus dining. That at least is according to their submission this year, which highlights the different aspects of the dining program, including sustainability, guest experience and marketing.

The dining program at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) has a wide reach, with 35 retail locations, four all-you-care-to-eat dining halls, one large retail food hall, two food trucks, two food trailers, a restaurant and concessions. The dining team seeks to cater to every preference with these various formats.

“t's our mission to open the eyes of the student by acting as a passport to different cultures without ever leaving campus. Through the power of UMass Dining, we foster a sense of belonging for our customers,” stated their submission.

The submission highlights the dining program’s focus on value through perks such as Free Guest Meals on Fridays, Combo Meal Deals on Saturdays and large sized retail items for the price of a small on Fridays.

When it comes to experience, the dining program aims to showcase diversity through its food and programming, acting as a passport to different cultures.

In terms of menu development, the dining program showcases a commitment to authentic global cuisine and an inclusive experience. In addition, 85% of their menus are plant-based and plant-forward. And the dining team solicits feedback from diners themselves.  

In addition, the team seeks to do more than just serve food, they also aim to create an experience and tell stories through food.

“I’m really not here to teach people how to make the best ramen,” said Alexander Ong, director of culinary excellence at the university, in a statement. “How do you project yourself through your cooking—your history, your family, your country of origin? How do you tell that story?”

The other gold award winner is the University of North Texas (UNT).

According to their submission, the dining program at the university seeks to be a sustainable, made-from-scratch operation. The submission highlights the scratch-made aspect of the dining program as a differentiator from others in the space.  

And the submission highlights the size of its dining program—it includes five all-you-care-to-eat dining halls, more than 20 retail restaurants, catering and a central bakery.

One of the goals behind these outlets is to provide dishes from all over the world, as well as accommodating for religious and cultural diets. The dining program also has a 100% vegan dining hall and another hall that is free of the big nine allergens and gluten.

Employee Development Program of the Year

The United States Navel Academy earned a gold in this category for its business manager cohort, a program developed in 2019 that aims to enhance the skills of management and supervisors. The program is open, upon application, to any employee that is interested in advancing into a leadership position. After completing the program, participants are then placed into positions that best suit their talents and managerial skills.

The program is meant to foster a collaborative environment. Throughout the program, participants will attend monthly classroom-style sessions and then a short internship within different departments of the Naval Academy Business Services Division (NABSD).

According to the United States Naval Academy’s submission, this program also seeks to address the issue of retention. The program accomplishes this by investing in developing great leadership as well as by providing an area of growth for employees. 

In addition, the submission states that the program has had the most impact on employee satisfaction by providing new opportunities for those who may feel unfulfilled in their current positions.

And the other gold winner is the University of California-Davis for its Latitude Culinary Training program. This program was started at the university’s Latitude Restaurant, after the pandemic, when management realized that many internal applicants lacked the skills needed to advance to the cook position. To solve that problem, the dining team developed a 9-week intensive Culinary Training Program. The program is led by the executive chef, three sous chefs, a safety manager and various representatives from Human Resources.

The program begins with safety, an overview of the cook position and HCCP training. Then, they cover knife skills. After that, they spend three weeks in a deep dive into major proteins. Throughout the next two weeks they are then taught how to open and run service out of the platforms.

Throughout the program, small groups of two to three students then rotate through the platforms and work with cooks in fully open and operational environments. They also work with the HR team for mock interviews. Then, to complete the program, each student prepares and executes a plated entrée of 10 portions and takes a 75-question written exam. After completing the program students receive a certificate, a knife bag and three knives.

Dining Awards

While dining programs will have to wait until July to see who takes home the grand prize in each category, the bronze silver and gold awardees for each category have been announced. Here’s a look at the rest of the winners:

In the Retail Sales: Single Concept of the Year, the gold award went to SUNY at Buffalo, Campus Dining and Shops and SUNY Geneseo, Campus Auxiliary Services. The Silver went to Cal Poly-Pomona and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. The bronze awardees are Carleton University, Stevens Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona and the University of Maryland.

There is only one awardee in the Retail Sales: Multiple Concepts of the Year category, which is the bronze for the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

And for Retail Sales: Marketplace of the Year there were two silver awardees—Florida Institute of Technology and the University of North Texas.

Next is the Catering Special Event of the Year award. In that category, the gold went to Marywood University and Texas Tech University. The silver went to Babson College, Michigan State University and Texas Christian University. The bronze awardees are Catawba College and Marist College. And several operations were named as honorable mentions: Carleton University, Montclair State University and the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

And for Residential Special Event of the Year, the gold went to the University of Montana and the University of North Texas. The silver winners are Gettysburg College, Hendrix College, Monmouth University, Tufts University, the University of Houston and the University of Pennsylvania. And the bronze winners are Carleton University, Pennsylvania State University, SUNY at Cortland and the University of California-Davis.

For Catering Program of the Year, the gold went to the University of North Texas. And the silver went to John Hopkins University.

In the Renovation of the Year category, the University of California-San Diego was named the gold winner. The silver winners are Southwestern University-Georgetown, the University of Arizona, Virginia Tech and Washington University in St. Louis. The bronze winner is Rochester Institute of Technology.

The New Facility of the Year award went to Liberty University which earned a gold.

In the Residential Dining Facility of the Year category, the gold award went to Liberty University. And the silver winners are Montclair State University, Rider University, Stevens Institute of Technology, The University of Alabama, the University of Arizona, the University of Florida and the University of Lynchburg. The bronze winner is Carleton University.

The last award in the dining category is Outreach and Education Program of the Year. The gold went to Duke University, Pennsylvania State University and Texas Christian University. The silver winners are Northeastern University, the University of California-Merced and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The bronze winners are Marist College and Montclair State University.  

Nutrition Awards

For the Wellness and Nutrition Program of the Year award, the gold winners are Boston College, SUNY-Stony Brook, Texas Christian University and the University of Maryland. In the silver category, the winners were Rider University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Richmond. The University of Utah earned a bronze and Northeastern University as well as the University of North Carolina received honorable mentions.  

For Special Diet Program of the Year, George Mason University and Washington University in St. Louis earned golds. The silver winners are the University of California—Davis and the University of North Carolina.

The last nutrition award is Special Diet Recipe of the Year. In that category, the University of Connecticut earned a gold. The silver awardees are SUNY Geneseo for its black bean recipe and for its lentil tostada, and the University of California-San Diego. The bronze winner is Elon University.

Sustainability Awards

For the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion/ Social Justice award, the gold winner is Simon Fraser University. The silver winner is the University of Michigan. And the bronze went to the University of Chicago.

In the Waste Reduction category, the University of Michigan won a gold, and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill earned a silver. Boston College and SUNY Cortland Auxiliary Services both earned bronze awards.

For the Sustainable Procurement award, the University of Michigan earned another gold, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill took home a silver and the University of Montana received a bronze.

The last award is for Carbon Neutrality: The University of Mississippi earned a gold, the University of California, Berkeley received a silver and Elon University took home the bronze.