Educational Institutions around the country are starting to regain their charm and lighten up as students return after almost 1.5 years, bringing life back to campus. The nervousness combined with excitement, the sound of students chit-chatting in the canteen and hustling around the corridors, catching up with friends, getting to know the new students, and preparing for freshers’ party, just like any other year’s “first day at college.”
Amidst the excitement, there also lies apprehensions of ensuring everyone’s safety. Though institutions have equipped themselves with online learning, the question lies in whether they are best prepared to welcome back students in a much safer way to ensure that the Covid-19 guidelines are being followed as the students return. On the other hand, parents carry their own worries about their child’s safety while sending them off to college again.
With plenty of challenges being thrown by the pandemic at the institutions, one major challenge lies in ensuring the meals are served in a contactless way to keep student safety in check and the mess/canteens are operated efficiently. Another concern institutions have had for a long time is how to make sure no food is wasted and thus, reduce overall vendor expenses. It has also been quite common for students to complain about the mess food, thus, it becomes important for institutions to build a feedback mechanism to address the student concerns and provide meals that are enjoyed by all.
With CollPoll’s Mess and Canteen Management Module, colleges and universities can seamlessly automate meals to address these challenges.
1. Configure Mess, Canteens, and Vendors
To automate the entire meal availment process, institutions have to configure all the mess and canteens that are present on the campus, add vendors, and map them to their respective mess. Different user types i.e. Students, Faculty, or Staff also have to be mapped to different mess and canteens, for them to avail the meal from their respective mess locations. Admins have the option to add, edit and delete users from the mess.
2. Publish Menu and Manage Meal Timings
To publish the mess-wise menu, admins can define the meal types i.e. Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, etc. Admins can also configure the meal timings which get reflected in the users’ mobile devices, real-time. Admins can add the menu for each meal, define the menu items as vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and can set the timings of the meals and mess to accommodate requirements from students on short notice, with the option to bulk upload the menu.
3. Meal Availment with QR Code
Gone are the days when students had to queue up in lines for paper coupons to avail meals. When they are accustomed to ordering foods online, they want a similar digital experience in their modern campus as well. Through the CollPoll app, students can now generate QR code-based digital coupons to avail their meals. They can also see menu and meal timings on their mobile apps. If they don’t avail a meal, the same will be reflected in their CollPoll account.
4. In-app Notifications for Students
The tech-savvy generations definitely want to stay updated with everything that is happening around them. For updates or changes in Mess and Meal timings, students receive notifications on their mobile app. Along with meal timings, students can view the coupon code to avail their meals under the reminder tab on their mobile devices.
5. Reports and Analysis on Food Consumption
While it’s important to automate the meal operations, it’s also critical for institutions to measure the consumption patterns and reduce food wastage, directly impacting the vendor billing. CollPoll platform provides useful analytics in the form of day-wise reports to optimize food preparation and manage vendors. Institutions can also generate weekly and monthly reports to track the number of users per meal and the number of meals per user.
6. Feedback Collection
To improve the food quality and address the students’ concerns around the food taste, quality, and overall menu, institutions can build a culture of feedback using CollPoll. Real-time and automated feedback can be collected on the app, which the admins can access by viewing the dashboards that display the user ratings as well as suggestions given by the students.
The Meal Automation Module developed by CollPoll aims to enable educational institutions to manage their mess and canteen in a seamless and efficient way and improve the kitchen operations to ensure food sustainability.
World Food Day was celebrated across the globe last week to spread awareness about the sustainable ways in which food should be produced and consumed to fight hunger and malnutrition. By implementing CollPoll’s Mess and Canteen Management Solutions, institutions can not only contribute to this global cause by saving food but also ensure student safety by following Covid-19 guidelines. Request a Demo now!
