In an effort to improve the perception of college dorm food, and to undoubtedly deter cafeteria worker abuse, colleges across the U.S. are asking parents to send favorite family recipes.

"It's a great connection with home for the students, and a way to de-institutionalize a college food service program," said J. Michael Floyd, food service director at the University of Georgia, which pioneered the approach 20 years ago with its annual Taste of Home competition. "These parents aren't just sharing a recipe; they're sharing a family tradition."

Brilliant! What a great example of an institution becoming more human.

"The students are thrilled about it, the parents are thrilled about it, and we're happy because we get new items to add to our menu," Mona Milius, dining director for the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, said.

On the surface, this seems like such a natural fit that “duh” comes to mind. But get into the culture, history, and budgets of institutional food service and you’ll see how amazing this idea really is. (Note: I am not an institutional food service expert, so please don’t send me examples of other cool stuff that they’ve done – I went to college, ate the food, abandoned my meal card and ended up living on ramen noodles.)

By incorporating home recipes into the menu, the colleges will create a positive experience at each meal – or at least the promise of such. While I don’t see “We have home cooking!” showing up on the UConn recruitment brochure anytime soon, fostering positive experiences has the potential to increase future participation in alumni efforts (where the money is).

Being human can result in increased bottom lines. Who knew that college cafeterias would be figuring that out?