Rita Webster, Englar Dining Hall’s general manager, has several responsibilities behind the scenes that no one truly knows about. From preparing events to receiving feedback from students, to monitoring Glar throughout the day, there is little relaxation for her.
“There are typically no normal days,” says Webster. An average day for her entails working 10 to 12, or more, hours. Most of her days are filled with answering questions from students and employees.
She monitors all areas throughout the day to ensure that Glar is serving quality food, and she always makes sure guests are happy. Webster completes daily and weekly reports to provide feedback and has budgets to manage as well.
Webster has always had a passion for nutrition and health. She has a degree in dietetics from Texas Tech University (TTU). She started working as an assistant manager in dining services on campus while attending TTU. Webster says the positive experience made her decide to continue her career in the field.
She has worked for Sodexo for 16 years, mainly as a catering director at both UMBC and the University of Mary Washington. Her last position before general manager was catering manager here at McDaniel. She worked in the position for two years and was then promoted. She has been in her current position for five and a half years.
When asked what her favorite part of being the general manager of Glar is, she says, “I love attending ‘Dinner on Us’ because it allows me to meet new students, and I get to know what they like about Sodexo and McDaniel College.”
She also enjoys creating menus for Glar’s theme nights, like Southern Comfort Night, and says that the feedback is useful in creating new ideas for dining services.
Different dining specials are released through campus announcements and event emails. There are a variety of themes depending on what the food options are, such as “cityscape in Austin,” “rawsome food lunch demo,” “roll your own sushi,” and several more diverse options.
Freshman Patricia Davie says, “I really like the different theme nights in Glar and how they let us know what days they will be on. My favorite is death by chocolate; it makes going to eat at Glar more exciting when there is something to look forward to.”
If you have any questions or would like to give feedback about Glar dining hall, please contact Rita Webster at rita.webster@sodexo.com or rwebster@mcdaniel.edu.
