Autumn - Ohio State University

As the end of the internship draws nearer and nearer, it feels as if time is flying faster and faster.
On Monday and Tuesday, I tied up some lose ends on the menu for my theme dinner, which is now my theme lunch, and performed marketing tasks for my lunch as well as other events/dining locations on campus. For my event, this included putting all of the updated menu items in CBORD and updating the posters and napkin-holder inserts before printing them.

Wednesday was another field trip day! This time, we went to the Hobart warewashing plant. There, we were able to view the factory in which industrial dishwashers and cooking appliances are constructed and a research and development area. One area of the tour that stood out to me was a "testing" room. In this room different types of parts were being continuously run in order to determine the effects of extended use on Hobart's products. For example, one piece of equipment had started its test in January of 2011, and it was still running when we visited! Below are some pictures from the trip:


Thursday started off with another, smaller, field trip, in order to do some market research. The trip took us to a nearby Caribou Coffee location. The main goal was to investigate what types of impulse buys Caribou offers to its customers, because a Caribou Coffee will be sold at one of Ohio State's, soon to be open, facilities.

After the morning coffee run, I spent the rest of my day shadowing management at North Commons, a traditional dining hall. North Commons is where my theme lunch will take place. Therefore, I will be spending the majority of the rest of my internship at this facility, in order to become familiar with its operations. I also spent time at North Commons on Friday; however, Friday morning, I participated in a mock interview. The position that I interviewed for was that of "Service Coordinator," which is a position that requires tasks such as supervision, management, and quality control. Despite my nerves, and the fact that I already knew all of the interviewers, I was told that I performed very well: "Cool as a Cucumber," was one positive comment that I received.

This week was very enjoyable and educational (especially when I received feedback from the mock-interviewers). I can hardly believe that there is really only one more week of the internship left!

Autumn - Ohio State University

The past week was filled with opportunities to learn more about foodservice management at Ohio State. Monday through Wednesday, I spent time with operations managers at the Courtside Cafe and Juice 2, a quick-service restaurant and juice bar at the recreation facility. There, I learned about managerial duties that involve money (deposits, change ordering, and counting cash register drawers), supervising, and those that occur outside of the building (delivering lunches to camps). I even got the chance to take a couple of orders at Courtside Cafe during the lunch rush. Taking orders was definitely a challenge, having not used this location's system before; however, I survived! I will miss my time at Courtside, not only because of the knowledge that I gained from the managerial staff, but also because it serves some of the best food on campus!

I spent Thursday and Friday morning observing in the instructional kitchen, which is hidden in the basement of Ohio State's union. The kitchen consists of 6 identical stations, and at each station about 3 chefs were working on various dishes. Thursday was spent observing various dishes being made for lunch, and then I got to taste the result of 2 hours of labor. (As always, it was delicious!) Friday was a little different. My observations Thursday were meant to give me an idea of how the chefs work in the kitchen, because, on Friday, I was actually judging the chefs working/sanitation habits. On Friday, each chef cooked a meal alone and they were all judged on the same categories, such as sanitation and taste. It was a great event to be a part of, and I enjoyed watching and tasting the work of all of the chefs.

Thursday afternoon was my favorite afternoon of the week. That afternoon, I spent time in Human Resources. There, I was able to have my resume and cover letter styles critiqued, and I was provided with valuable advice for my post-college career. I also learned how HR supports the University Residences and Dining Services department at Ohio State.

I learned more valuable information on Friday afternoon, when I spent time with the operations manager at the North Commons, a traditional dining hall. I spoke with him, at length, about how he manages his operation, specifically how he manages his unionized employees. I learned that in some situations, dining services managers prefer student employees; however, they also appreciate the consistency that unionized employees possess. I also observed that when working as a manager in any operation, in order to be effective, it is necessary to be clear and fair in both your policies and practices.

This week, I also spent time working on my menu for the theme dinner. One of the chef's helped me to calculate the food costs for all of my items, and I believe that we generated what very well may be the final menu. The upcoming week will allow me to finalize my theme dinner plans; I will let you all know how it goes!

Autumn - Ohio State University

The halfway point has passed, and I am now entering the final stretch of my internship! This also means that I am getting closer to the day of my final project theme dinner. And, now, I am realizing that there is a lot more that goes into feeding 550 people than I had previously expected.

On Monday, I worked on marketing for my dinner. The theme for the dinner is "Passport to Europe, " so the meal will feature different dishes from various European countries. My marketing work for the dinner included generating an idea for a poster to advertise the event and searching for decor and music that will be used to give the traditional dining hall, at which the dinner will be held, an atmosphere that is more appropriate for my theme.

Tuesday was also spent working on marketing, but this time I was focusing on marketing tasks for Ohio State. My job for the day was to search the web and generate ideas for a section on the University Residences and Dining Services website.

On Wednesday, I moved away from marketing and worked in the kitchen of Morrill Tower, which serves lunch for the Ohio State orientations. This means that I aided the kitchen staff as they plated hundreds of turkey croissants for the hungry visitors. After helping out with orientation meals, I helped to prepare the employee meal and did prep work for the next day. Before leaving the kitchen, I used the knowledge of the chef and the operations manager to aid me in my menu planning for the theme dinner. Their comments and critiques put me multiple steps closer to finalizing my menu!

Thursday was field trip day! Accompanied by my supervisor and an operations manager at an Ohio State dining establishment, I traveled to Ohio University. The demographics of the cities surrounding Ohio State and the Ohio University are markedly different, as are the dining services operations of the two universities. Our field trip included a complete tour of the currently operating dining services at Ohio University, including a tasting at the bakery and lunch at the union! One aspect of Ohio University's operations that stood out to me was the fact that it has its own warehouse of food products and dining supplies on-site. (I also noticed that there was much less of a rivalry between the two universities, which is nothing like the relationship between Michigan State and the University of Michigan.)

My week concluded, on Friday, with more menu planning, attending an administrative meeting for Morrill Tower dining services, and with inventory work at a campus dining operation. I had the most fun doing inventory work because I was able to put my organizational skills to work. I also know that I will need to use these skills and others during this last stretch of my internship because there is still much to be done for my theme dinner.

Autumn - Ohio State University

This weeks activities consisted of Menu Planning and Cafe Services. On Monday, I spent time with two of Ohio State's chefs, in order to fine-tune the details of my final project, which is to plan a dinner that will be served in a traditional campus dining facility. The chefs aided me in completing the menu that I am planning for the final project, and I was able to shadow one of the chefs on that day. During the shadowing experience, I sat in on a meeting between the chef and a student with allergy concerns. I also witnessed a sales meeting between the chef and two sales representatives.

On Tuesday, I experienced a more technical side of the foodservice system at Ohio State. I spent my day learning some of the functions of CBORD, foodservice software, and of the university's register systems, MICROS. Tuesday was a very technical day, and I was provided with a lot of information. However, I was able to use the time to use CBORD to look up the recipes and food products that would be needed for my final project.

For lunch on Monday and Tuesday, I was able to participate in a tasting of revamped menu items that will be served in one of Ohio State's dining halls in the Fall semester. The food was plentiful, as you can see below, and it was delicious!

Wednesday was the beginning of my cafe services experience. I also experienced cafe services on Thursday and Friday. During these three days, my time was spent shadowing the Cafe Operations Manager, her Assistant Manger, and her Service Coordinator. Each day, I followed one of these individuals on trips between three of Ohio State's five currently operating cafes and their main office. The tasks that I completed with cafe services included learning how to make espresso drinks for the first time and completing evaluations of the three cafe locations, in addition to learning the varying yet overlapping responsibilities of the individuals who I shadowed.

An exciting event that occurred during my stay with cafe services was that, on Thursday, the division of Ohio State's University Residences and Dining Services (URDS) that supplies the cafe's with sandwiches and salads was understaffed and was not able to produce the needed amount of food in time for delivery. As a solution, myself and other URDS staff put on aprons and hairnets, over our business casual attire, and helped get the sandwiches and salads out on time. This event illustrated just how much the various URDS divisions depend on each other. I really enjoyed my experience with cafe services; however, next week, I will be moving on.

Autumn - Ohio State University

The holiday weekend was a nice break after finishing the first quarter of the internship at Ohio State. However, once we returned from our home states, it was right back to work. The first assignment for the week was to work at the Ohio State Union Market. The Union Market is a food court, which presents students with the option to customize their meals in ways that traditional dining cannot offer. On Tuesday, we worked at the Union Market's sandwich/wrap/panini station, Dough-HI-O, and make-your-own salad station, Across the Field. The work was not too strenuous because there were no new student orientations this week, but the Union Market was still functioning to meet the needs of its regular diners.

On Wednesday, we were back at the Union Market working at its burger station, Fired Up. This station was the most energetic of the three because it was set up as a mock of the famous hamburger chain, Five Guys. This meant that when taking orders, we were to yell out to the cooks just how many patties of what kind (hamburger, turkey burger, chicken breast, salmon burger, or veggie burger) were needed.

Thursday brought us experiences in marketing and administration, as we shadowed employees from the University Residences and Dining Services main office. This day included critiquing the university's 19 page catering menu and sitting in on a meeting to shorten the menu. We also met with a representative from TriMark/SS Kemp, who will provide the university with various types of foodservice supplies and equipment. The last activity of this busy day was meeting with one of the head chefs in order to smooth out some kinks in a proposed set of traditional dining menus. We really felt a part of the team, after this day!

On Friday, we went on our first field trip. On our field trip we visited the headquarters of Velvet ice cream, which supplies various ice cream products to Ohio State. We toured the grounds with a gaggle of preschoolers and learned about the history of this family operated business. After our tour, we ate lunch at Velvet's restaurant, which included a few sundaes! However, the excitement of the day did not end after we got our fill of ice cream. On the way back from Velvet, we stopped at one of Ohio's roadside attractions:This is the Longaberger Basket Company headquarters, and, as you can see, it is a seven-story basket-shaped building. Weird!



After all of the lessons learned and excitement experienced, at the end of the week, the atmosphere at Ohio State changed. The number of participating NACUFS interns dropped from two to one, this week. However, I will continue to keep you updated on the activities that occur at Ohio State, and I am ready to face the challenge of continuing the internship on my own!

Autumn & Julia - Ohio State University

Four a.m. wake up calls are near and dear to our hearts, or should we say sleeping patterns, and the beginning of this week called for one more early alarm. Monday morning was yet again another 5 a.m. start time. However, this time we could easily wake ourselves up as soon as we arrived at our new job site, because we were working in the bakery. What a sweet treat that was!

Our first duty at the bake shop was to sort all the prepared baked goods into tins for different coffee shops that sell the items. The drivers picked up the deliveries at 6:30 a.m. so you could imagine how quickly you need to put them together in the school year with at least triple the amount of baked goods. Next, we got our hands dirty when we received the responsibility to make brownies and cheesecake mix, which we eventually combined to make cheesecake brownies (left). Our last accomplishment in the bake shop was a batch of single-serving crumb cakes. Even though it was hours of temptations working around all the sweet treats, we had a great time getting involved with the delicious creations.

Tuesday was our day off, and that sleep felt like the best thing that ever happened to us. We woke up energized and actually got to meet reality T.V. personality Bethenny Frankel (right). She was signing her products at a near by Kroger grocery store, and we stood in line for 2 hours to see her. Later in the day we ventured to Whole Foods and a French restaurant where we purchased some treats for later. On our day off, we also discovered our new favorite ice cream shop, Graeter's.

Our week ended at Sloopy's, Ohio State's student-operated diner. Wednesday through Friday we performed service procedures and also observed the diner's opening and closing duties. Sloopy's only operates between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. during the summer, compared to operating from 6 a.m. to at least 2 a.m. during the school year. Despite diner's service being much slower than it would have been in the school year, we did learn how to tackle Sloopy's lunch rush.

This week went by very quickly, and, after Sloopy's, we both traveled back home for the holiday weekend. Julia flew back to New Jersey, and Autumn drove back to Michigan. We expect that the weekend will energize us for the rest of the summer, and we are excited to see what the internship will have in store for us next!

Autumn & Julia - Ohio State University

It's hard to believe that we moved in just one week ago. This week flew by, and we already got a glimpse of the blood, sweat, and tears shed for university foodservice.

After moving in on Sunday night, we made our first visit to North Commons, the only traditional dining hall that is operating during the OSU summer quarter. A brief tour of campus followed, and boy are the buildings massive here!

Monday was house keeping day, which included getting student ID's and parking passes, taking care of payroll paper work, and meeting the important faces of OSU foodservice. Our supervisor borrowed a electric vehicle to transport us around this large campus. The highlight of the day was that the electric car made it to our destination without running out of battery. (At one point, we were driving up a hill and the pedestrians were moving faster than we were!)

On Tuesday, we started our day with marketing. This included traveling to various dining locations and critiquing their customer friendliness. Our notes and observations were collected to help with future projects at these locations. After marketing, we learned about food and workplace safety and sanitation. We then applied this knowledge on Wednesday when we worked on the hot food line during the lunch hours at North Commons.

The most of our effort this week went into Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On these days we worked with the events coordinator and executive catering chef on preparation and service for the Ohio Special Olympics. On Friday, we met and bagged nearly 3000 cookies, separated and plated nearly 6000 pancakes, and scooped and garnished 105 two-inch pans of pasta (below). Saturday and Sunday, we ran food for the breakfast service at the Special Olympics. This called for a 4am wake up call and revisiting the food that had been prepared the previous day.


This first week started slow, but by the end of it, we were eagerly awaiting nap time. Our understanding of basic foodservice has been increased, and we are excited to continue to broaden our foodservice horizons this summer at OSU!