Dining Services Employee of the Month

Each month Utah State University’s Dining Services focuses on one of its seven core values and selects an hourly employee who exemplifies the month’s core value.

For December, Dining Services highlighted Empowerment.

“Everyone within the organization is empowered to make decisions within policies. The question we always ask in making decisions is whether or not this leads to an Excellent College Experience. We are accountable for our decisions and actions and take ownership in everything we do.”

Dianne Althouse was named the December Employee of the Month. Althouse, an employee of University Catering, was first selected by her peers, then by University Catering management and finally by Dining Services Executive Director Alan J. Andersen.

"Diane has exhibited this value ever since she was hired as a catering server,” Althouse’s peers and manager wrote in her nomination. “Diane has made decisions on several occasions that have created an excellent college experience to both fellow employees and our customers. The first example is the way she handles new catering staff. Her supervisory skills allow the staff she is training to learn by making decisions for themselves while guiding them with the correct policies and procedures.

“The second is an example from a catering event Diane was the supervisor for. The event was a wedding luncheon and reception. After the event the groom personally told the story of what had happened the day of his wedding. Some of the guest to the luncheon had gotten lost coming to the Alumni House. The luncheon started late in the first place but several guests were extremely late. It was getting close to the time to set up the reception but there were still wedding guests who had not arrived or needed to finish eating. When he approached Diane she thought for a minute and suggested setting the reception up outside on the patio. She then directed her staff to move everything they had started setting up outside and made sure the flow of the event worked. He was so appreciative that his guests for both the luncheon and the reception were taken care of seamlessly. Since then, three people have said how impressed the groom was that Diane had been able to problem-solve and how impressed University Catering was.

“I truly believe if Diane had not been empowered to make the decisions she did, the groom would not have had the excellent college experience he and his guests did.”

As Decembers Dining Services’ Employee of the Month, Althouse received a plaque and a $50 Aggie Express Gift Card, presented by Andersen.

Contact: Annie Christensen, annie.christensen@usu.edu