CWU Dining Services receives national award for outreach program

Dining Services is a key part of day-to-day operations at Central Washington University, providing the campus community with access to a broad variety of food and drink, as well as opportunities to learn more about where that food comes from and how it’s made.

This year, one of the department’s education and outreach efforts was recognized with a silver Loyal E. Horton Dining Award for Outreach and Education Program of the Year at the annual National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) conference, held in Salt Lake City on July 8. The award, named after NACUFS founder Loyal E. Horton, celebrates dedication to excellence and innovation in higher education dining services on the national level.

CWU Dining Services was recognized for the Jump Start Kitchen program, a collaboration with CWU Visitation’s Jump Start series of events aimed at providing incoming first-generation students with a few extra weeks to settle into an unfamiliar college setting.

Through partnerships with the Wildcat Farm and Wildcat Pantry, Jump Start Kitchen shows students how to construct a healthy meal from farm to table, and gives them an opportunity to connect with the Dining Services team and their peers in the process.

Campus Executive Chef Joe Ritchie has led the program since its inception in 2024, and he has witnessed firsthand the impact it can have.

“It’s always fun to see how much the students appreciate these opportunities to engage with us,” Ritchie said. “You can just see it on their faces. They are absolutely blown away by the quality of the food, and how simple it is to prepare.”

Dining Services Director Dean Masuccio explained that the program is part of a larger push within the department to become more involved in CWU students’ overall educational experience.

“Our mission in Dining is to nourish both body and mind, and we live into that through educational experiences like this one,” he said. “Cooking demonstrations and helping our students understand where their food is coming from are essential for us to be the department we want to be.”

The Jump Start Kitchen experience features a visit to CWU’s on-campus Wildcat Farm to learn about how produce makes its way to the kitchen, and what to do with it once it’s there. Students also get to cook for themselves in the well-equipped kitchens of the Health Science building. When interviewed about last year’s program, Ritchie noted the deep engagement fostered by the workshops.

“We wanted to keep it simple so the students could take the recipe home and make it for themselves,” he said. “They were all very engaged and they asked a lot of great questions, which made it really fun for the staff. It also gave us a chance to show them what food service is all about. We are human, too, and we want to engage with them.”

The Loyal E. Horton award puts CWU Dining Services in esteemed company on the national stage. For Masuccio, it’s a sign that the department’s work to deliver far beyond its core responsibility of feeding the campus community is paying off.

“While achieving this recognition is an honor for us, our work is far from finished,” he said. “This year, we’re really focusing on acting on the feedback we receive from our students and employees, and on developing our team and ourselves as leaders. We’re working out how we can go above and beyond what is expected of us, so we can make a difference for our students and our campus.”

As the success of the Jump Start Kitchen program has proven, there’s real strength to be found in a campus-wide network of staff and faculty working together to uplift the CWU student experience. Masuccio knows that however well things may be going right now, it’s only the beginning of what’s possible.

“I firmly believe in campus partnerships, and the unique ways in which we can help each other support our students,” he said. “As we join more conversations with stakeholders from across the university, we’re finding more and more opportunities for the kind of innovation that we’ve been recognized for.”