Winter 2023 Campus Dining Today - 17

of their community, The Arc starts by matching
the person with a position appropriate for them,
finding a job that is tailored to the abilities of
that individual. Their goal is to ensure that each
individual has a job they can do well, and that they
enjoy. Currently, The Arc Prince George's County
has between 60 and 70 people working in the
community, many of them with dining services at
the University of Maryland.
Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland
The Arc believes that there is a job for every
person who wants to work. They evaluate each
person they work with to determine what type of
job will facilitate their success - with customers,
or in the back of the house, working alone, or
as part of a team. They make plans to provide
their crew members with training, supervision,
and community. To that end, The Arc has based
a program administrator on site at the university
who onboards every new employee. Starting with
the individual in their home, they work together to
determine what time to leave the house, which bus
to catch, and what to bring with them to campus
to be on time and ready for their work shift. They
give instructions on time-reading and clock use and
provide patterns to follow to get them to the right
place, with a precise uniform and the exact tools to
use.
There are only a few specific, special requests for
Arc team members: a steady schedule, consistent
duties, and predictable and patterned routines.
When, inevitably, changes happen, The Arc helps
navigate through them, coordinating new report
times and work locations, and educating about new
duties and responsibilities.
Once the new team member is in place and ready
to work, the program administrator continues
to watch over each of their mentees, confirming
that they are working well, that they understand
ongoing duties, and checking in with the operations
team on their performance. The program
administrator can also function as a counselor,
working with the dining services operations
managers when there is a dispute or performance
issue.
For instance, one of The Arc employees recently
displayed a significant, unexplained change in
attitude and performance. The manager called
the program administrator who assisted with
a counseling session. In a great outcome, the
employee came to understand what was expected,
and the operations manager gained greater insight
into what created the issue and how to
resolve it to the satisfaction of everyone
involved.
Steve Ray, assistant director of 251
North Dining Hall, described The Arc
community members as " willing to learn,
dependable, consistent, and proud of
their performance. "
" Once they master their basic job, they
are eager to learn new tasks, " Ray said.
In recognition of UMD Dining Services'
work on this program, the team
received a Governor's Citation from Gov.
Larry Hogan in 2018. Hogan's citation
emphasized UMD Dining's " dedicated
service to the state of Maryland by
striving to increase inclusive community
work opportunities for those with
disabilities. " The citation recognized
UMD Dining for ensuring people with
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Winter 2023 Campus Dining Today

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