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What's Fresh? The Christopher Nutrition Sciences Center
Ask Judy Beto ’73, professor of nutrition sciences, if she has encountered anything unexpected in the new Jay W. and Doris K. Christopher Nutrition Sciences Center in Parmer Hall, and she responds by telling you about the careful design of the facility. “This has been a five-year planning process, so we hoped not to encounter any surprises!” she says.
The center, to be dedicated on Wednesday, April 30, 2008, is named in honor of the founder of The Pampered Chef and her husband; the couple lived just blocks away from the university when they launched their business selling kitchen essentials. To create the center, Beto thought through every detail, drawing upon the expertise of the department’s nearly 700 alumnae/i and working closely with the architects. As a result, Dominican University now has a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen that she likes to think “rivals Food Network,” with slim “lipstick” cameras “that focus down on what’s being done in the demonstration area, so each student can clearly see—on mounted video screens—what’s going on while they’re at their own workstation replicating the task.”
The demonstration area, with its technological sophistication, is the part of the center that Angela Douge, adjunct professor of nutrition sciences, favors most. Having taught in the old facility, stepping into the new lab’s reincarnation “is like Christmas, tenfold!” for Douge, with its abundance of space, equipment, technology and quality.
The complexity of what can be accomplished in the nutrition lab has also increased. Rita Treynker, a junior who transferred to Dominican this fall, explains, “It has high-tech equipment and a lot of cool gadgets for the food science students. For example, there are devices that let us measure the density and color of a food.”
The nutrition lab also benefits by being on Parmer’s first floor, opening onto Shaffer Silveri Atrium. Enticing aromas waft out to passers-by, inviting them to check out what’s cooking. “It’s so accessible,” says Beto. “I wanted to be right where the action was. People can stop by anytime and feel a sense of ownership.” Says Douge, “I think it’s brought in a lot of people to look, and some think, ‘I wonder if I could take a class in this department.’”
“Here, students can really take off with all their ideas”
—Judy Beto '73, professor of nutrition sciences
As anticipated, the nutrition program is expanding like a soufflé in its new setting. With the technological advances, the number of students attracted to the classes has also increased. “We’ve had so many new majors, and so many transfers,” says Beto.
Treynker explains why she transferred: “I wanted to major in nutrition and dietetics,” she says, “and I wanted to go to a smaller school. I really enjoy the personal attention that I get from the teachers. I also talked to Dr. Beto, and she told me about the new nutrition lab, and that sparked my interest.” The facility is attracting non-majors as well. Basic nutrition is one way to fulfill the natural science requirement for liberal-arts majors, plus many students take it for personal enrichment. To interest a broad range of participants, Beto has added new classes, like one on sports-related nutrition this spring.
The Recipe Box Café, a nearly 50-year tradition that gives students hands-on experience in professional food preparation and hospitality skills, is thriving. Now set in Parmer’s showcase multi-story atrium, the program has been upgraded so that students serve their meals using fine tablecloths and silver charger plates, new china and silverware. “Those are things that really help the students feel a sense of pride,” according to Beto. “Here, students can really take off with all their ideas.”
But for Beto, none of this was unexpected. The advance planning worked so well that during the transition to Parmer Hall—with high-tech tools, an increase in students, new opportunities—the biggest obstacle turned out to be a simple, structural post in the kitchen. During the design process, she says “we tried and tried to work around this post in front of the display area, until we finally gave up and incorporated it.” The university mounted a videoscreen on the post, which turned out to offer in-class benefits and became one of Beto’s and Douge’s favorite components. “Maybe that’s a lesson in life for all of us. Don’t waste all your time moving around something; just embrace it.”
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