Errol Huffman, assistant director of Business Services at Indiana University in Bloomington, has been selected as the new director of Dining Services at Dickinson.

Huffman will begin his tenure at Dickinson on Dec, 2, 2013, replacing Keith Martin, who left his position as Director of Dining Services in July. According to Joyce Bylander, vice president of Student Development and member of the Stakeholders Committee that chose Huffman for the position, this is the first time the position has been vacant in more than 20 years.

According to Steve Hietch, vice president of Operations and Auxilliary Services, Huffman’s appointment came after a search that lasted almost two months and began with a pool of more than 50 applicants. The search process included three rounds of interviews: First with Heitsch and Steve Riccio, associate vice president of Human Resources, and then with the Stakeholder Committee. The committee, which included representatives from the college farm, the offices of the President, Student Development, Admissions, Student Advancement, Conferences and Special Events (CASE), and Dining Services, conducted interviews with four finalists via Skype before choosing two finalists for on-campus visits and interviews.

“We are extremely excited to have [Huffman] as our new Director of Dining Service,” said Hietsch in a statement. “Mr. Huffman has over 20 years of experience in the higher education food service. Some of [his] strengths [that]… led to his selection were his overall knowledge of higher education dining services…vision and strategic planning skills, analytical skills and business acumen, communication skills, experience in working directly with students and his vision for incorporating student input into the dining planning process, [and] emphasis on teambuilding and professional development for staff.”

Huffman has already begun to develop plans for how he will improve dining services at Dickinson.

“I will take time during my first few weeks on campus to build relationships with the dining services employees, students of the college, and the greater Dickinson community,” said Huffman in an email statement.

During his time at Indiana University, Huffman led and completed projects that included implementing different types of meal plans, facility renovations, menu revitalization, and organizational development. Huffman plans to use student and consumer feedback to guide his agenda at Dickinson.

“Last year’s [customer survey] and the comments made by students, faculty, and staff points to a number of opportunities I want to explore with students and the administration,” said Huffman. “There are three tactical goals I want us to pursue in the short-term. The first goal is to provide more nutrition information for the food we serve through online publication and at information stations in the food service areas. Second, students can give me feedback about the changes to hours of operation and how the changes meet their needs. We can look at opportunities to create even greater satisfaction. Third, we will work with the farm to identify how we can increase our menu integration of their locally grown and organic products.”

Members of the Stakeholders Committee are also excited to see the beginning of Huffman’s tenure.

“[Huffman] was the number one candidate for a vast majority [of the selection committee],” Bylander “I think he’ll come and he’ll listen, which is important. He’s very strong operationally, so he’ll certainly know what to do when he gets here.”