December 5, 2025

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

University Dining Seeks Your Feedback

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Each semester University Dining offers all UMW students, faculty and staff an opportunity to provide feedback about your campus dining experiences through a short, online survey.  The survey only takes about 5 minutes to complete, and your comments and suggestions are given careful review and consideration by the University Dining team in developing plans for future enhancements of the dining program.

Your comments are anonymous, unless you wish to participate in the national prize drawing. You would need to share your email address in order to enter the drawing to win a $500 VISA gift card, AirPods Pro, and $50 in campus dining funds. Your contact information will only be used to identify you if you win one of the prizes.  It will not be used to market any products or services to you.

SURVEY LINK: https://tinyurl.com/58pt3ybj

If you have questions, please contact University Dining Marketing Manager Rose Benedict at 540-654-2169 or rbenedic@umw.edu.

Reopening of UMW Dining

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University Dining Services will offer meal service at the Top of the Cedric Rucker University Center (CRUC) for all guests beginning Monday, August 11.

Serving times August 11 through August 17 will be as follows:

  • Breakfast:  8 a.m. to 9 a.m
  • Lunch:       11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Dinner:     5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Serving times August 18 through August 22 will be as follows:

  • Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
  • Lunch:      11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
  • Dinner:    5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For Saturday, August 23, serving times for breakfast and lunch remain as listed above. However, regular serving hours resume at 5 p.m. on the 23rd, so dinner service will conclude at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m.

For Sunday, August 24, the Top of the CRUC, Panera Bread, and New York Pizza & Deli will all be operating according to their regular serving times.  The other retail campus eateries (Hissho Sushi, Mein Bowl, Simply To Go Market and For Five Coffee Roasters) will resume their regular operating hours on Monday, August 25.

The regular operating hours for all University Dining locations can be viewed on the dining website, UMW.SodexoMyWay.com.

For additional information contact Rose Benedict, rbenedic@umw.edu or 540-654-2169.

“Welcome Back” Free Lunch for Faculty & Staff, use before 9/30

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As a “Welcome Back” gift, the Dining team is inviting all members of the University’s Fredericksburg campus faculty and staff to enjoy one free lunch at the Top of the Cedric Rucker University Center (CRUC) anytime between August 25th and September 30th. Just bring your EagleOne ID card with you and let the cashier know you would like to claim your free lunch!

As an added bonus, every member of the faculty and staff may also get an “Eagle Team Dining Loyalty Card” from any of the cashiers at the Top of the CRUC, beginning August 25th.  The names of each of the campus retail dining shops (For Five Coffee Roasters, New York Pizza & Deli, Simply To Go Market, Hissho Sushi, Mein Bowl and Panera) are printed on the cards. When you make a purchase of $7 or more at one of the retail shops, you can get your card punched for that location.  Once you have gotten a punch from each retail shop you’ll be entitled to a free “Loyalty Meal” at the For Five Coffee Roasters shop. A list of those special meals will be available on the Dining website by August 15th.

The Dining team is hoping you’ll stop by each retail dining eatery to check out their new options for the fall semester. You won’t want to miss the new Monster Cookie Milkshakes and Naan pizzas at the For Five Coffee Roasters shop!

For additional information, contact Rose Benedict, rbenedic@umw.edu.

Half Price Lunch for Faculty and Staff, Sept. 10

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University Dining is showing their appreciation to UMW’s faculty and staff with a half-price lunch on Tuesday, September 10th at the Top of the CRUC.  All you need to do is show your UMW faculty or staff ID at the door, and your meal will cost just $3.70!

Lunch service starts at 11am and ends at 2pm.  If you have questions, contact Rose Benedict, University Marketing Manager, at rbenedic@umw.edu.

University Dining Announcement

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University Dining is hosting an Employee Appreciation Week February 14-18 for their team members.  Each day they’ll be surprising their team with a variety of treats and swag.  University students, faculty and staff are invited to contribute their own notes of appreciation or video messages for the team.  They may also sign one of the large “thank you” banners that are currently on display on the 2nd and 4th floors of the University Center.

Important Operational Note:  The Top of the UC, Panera Bread, and the Eagle’s Nest Market will be closed for one hour, 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm, on Tuesday, February 15th for a University Dining employee appreciation event. All other dining locations, Vocelli Pizza, Katora Cafe, Mein Bowl, and Hisso Sushi, will maintain their regular operational hours.

For additional information, contact Rose Benedict, 540-654-2169 or rbenedic@umw.edu.

Volunteer Servers Needed for Holiday Dining Events

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Thanksgiving Dinner FlyerUniversity Dining will be hosting several special holiday dining events this fall, starting with the annual Thanksgiving Dinner on November 17th, and followed by the Winter Holiday Dinner on December 2nd and the Cram Jam Late Night Breakfast on December 6th, the first night of final exams. Since these special events draw many more guests than usual, it has become tradition here at UMW for students and members of the faculty and staff to volunteer to help serve the food at these events. This year, due to the tremendous labor shortage caused by the current pandemic, University Dining needs volunteer help more than ever.

Volunteers work in teams to prepare plates of food for the students as they come through the serving lines. It’s a great opportunity to have some light-hearted fun with the students, and to also enjoy some great food! All volunteers get their holiday meal free, and they will also receive a coupon for a free retail meal!

Anyone wishing to volunteer can sign up through a Google Volunteer Form. For additional information contact Rose Benedict, rbenedic@umw.com, or call the University Dining Marketing office at 540-654-5982.

Stop Hunger Campaigns Launch

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Junior Caitlin O'Leary helps at last year's food drive.

Junior Caitlin O’Leary helps at last year’s food drive.

Stop Hunger University Dining/Sodexo, the University Staff Council, UMW Athletes, and local businesses and churches are partnering together to host our annual Stop Hunger Food Drive, from October 13 through November 1, and they are looking for your support. All of the food and monetary donations will go to benefit the UMW Eagle Resource Closet and the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank.

Anyone wishing to support the drive with food, monetary, or meal plan/Flex donations will find details on the University Dining web site.

Swipe Out Hunger Meal Plan  University Dining/Sodexo has donated 3,600 meals to create a new Swipe Out Hunger meal plan for the benefit of UMW students experiencing food insecurity. This new plan will be administered by the University Host, Chris Porter, with assistance from Leslie Martin, who coordinates the Eagle Resource Closet, Patty Land in the EagleOne Card office, and with Rose Benedict, the University Dining/Sodexo Swipe Out Hunger champion. Chris has established a Google nomination form that students can use to apply for meals through the Swipe Out Hunger meal plan. When approved, these students will have meals loaded onto their EagleOne cards, and they will be able to swipe in at the Top of the UC in the same way all other students who are on meal plans swipe in. There will be nothing in the process that identifies these students as being recipients of meal assistance. All information is kept confidential.

Everyone who has been working to bring this new assistance option to UMW is eager to have any and all students who need nutritional support apply for these meals. Please help spread the word about the availability of this new dining plan to your friends, colleagues and students.

For more information about applying for meals, contact Chris at cjporter@umw.edu. For more information about the Swipe Out Hunger program and Sodexo’s partnership with that organization, contact Rose Benedict at rbenedic@umw.edu.

If you, or a student you know, would like to apply for meals, please use this LINK.  It will take you directly to the application form.

Cultural Awareness Dining Events Make National News

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A recent Islamic Cultural Celebration Dinner was planned and executed by Jordanian pastry cook Hind Abulali and included Saudi Arabian Kabsa and Lebanese kafta made with Halal meats.

A recent Islamic Cultural Celebration Dinner was planned and executed by Jordanian pastry cook Hind Abulali and included Saudi Arabian Kabsa and Lebanese kafta made with Halal meats.

Food Management Magazine, a national publication, recently published a feature story about the cultural awareness dining events that have been co-sponsored by University Dining and the James Farmer Multicultural Center and student cultural groups, for over 10 years. Dr. Marion Sanford and the dining team have worked closely together to create special dining events that celebrate the many diverse cultures of our UMW students. We’re very proud to have been recognized by Food Management Magazine for wonderful partnership in promoting diversity and inclusion through our dining events. We hope you enjoy this article.

https://tinyurl.com/kexkmx5y

 

University Dining Updates

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All University Dining locations are open to everyone: students, faculty, staff and members of the public. In addition to the reduced prices for faculty and staff at the Top of the UC, Bodacious Burgers, and “Eagle Meals to Go,” University Dining is offering free or deeply discounted items for faculty and staff once each week. Details can be found on the “Dining Tips for Faculty and Staff” tab on the University Dining website.

Passover items, such as matzo, matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, charoset, beets, and hard-boiled eggs, will be available at lunch and dinner from March 27 through April 4 at the Top of the UC. For additional information contact Rose Benedict, University Dining Marketing Manager, at rbenedic@umw.edu or 540-654-2169.

 

Say ‘Thank You’ To Dining Workers

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It's All Thanks to Them graphicThe University Dining management team wants to let all of the dining employees know how much their hard work, dedication, and friendly service are genuinely appreciated by everyone here at UMW. Almost every day we get comments from students or members of the faculty and staff about how much they love and appreciate our workers, and we’re hoping you’ll share those sentiments with them by writing “Thank You” notes, signing display banners, or submitting THX messages online in preparation for our Employee Appreciation Week that begins on March 1st.

Please stop by the Dining Concierge desk on the 2nd floor of the University Center during the week of February 22nd to sign our banner, write messages on postcards, or drop off your own notes of appreciation. There will be a host at the Concierge station between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day, but you can still drop off a note or sign the banner if the station is unattended. We know that many of you have favorite team members, but we do want all of our staff to get recognized.

Photo Opportunities! We’d love to take photos of you holding up messages of appreciation! You can do that, too, when you stop by the Concierge! We’ll put the photos up on our monitors and on EagleVision during the week of March 1st. During that week all of our staff members (we hope!) will be wearing buttons with their pictures on them (with no mask!), so you can see their great smiles! We invite you to give them lots of great feedback, and let them all know how much you appreciate their service.

We’ve got lots of special “thank you” events planned for them that week, from candy bars, to ice cream treats, to donuts and prize drawings, but your personal words of appreciation mean more to them than any prize we can give them. For more information, contact Rose Benedict, University Dining Marketing Manager, at rbenedic@UMW.edu or 540-654-2169.