Monday, June 6th
Our second week began a bit slow, with us needing to retrieve our student IDs and complete staff on-boarding. We completed "compliance," an online training course that outlined the OSHA regulations as well as other safety precautions we would need to be mindful of as we worked. Although a bit tedious, we learned quite a bit.
Following our training, we worked in another one of Brody Dining Hall's venues. This venue, "Homestyle," features southern comfort foods such as mashed potatoes and mac n' cheese. Jennifer cut and served rotisserie chicken, while I managed the mashed potatoes and gravy.
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| Some wisdom in the training room
Tuesday, June 7th
Rather than spending our day in Brody Dining Hall, we moved over to Akers Dining Hall. Although this venue is closed for the summer, all the staff gathered here for training sessions geared towards cross-training them in various different halls. We observed as Executive Chef Jason instructed the staff on how to serve at each venue, and even got to serve the staff ourselves. In particular, Jen was in "Slices," the pizza venue, while I was in "Stix & Noodles," an asian fusion venue. It was very nice to work with and meet many new staff members.
Wednesday, June 8th What a busy day! First, we toured the various Sparty's locations. Sparty's is the name of the campus' retail centers, which serve various prepackaged items and snacks. There are 22 locations total, with 3 of those locations being coffeehouses that serve various drinks, as well as 1 hybrid location that serves fresh pizza. These venues serve as a great grab-n-go venue for students who don't have the time to sit for meal or are not in a convenient dining hall location. Upon returning to the office, we were able to sit with some members of the HR team, who explained Sparty's on-boarding process for student employees as well as some of their employment policies. After lunch, we met with Alan, the Director of MSU's athletic concession stands. Alan led us on a tour of all the different concession facilities, including the massive Spartan Stadium. Although it only houses 7 home football games, the stadium generates more than half of the concessions' total revenue. Given that the stadium seats over 75,000 people, 600-800 employees are needed for every game. To balance this immense need for a short term workforce, MSU takes a very synergistic approach. For 10% of the total concession revenue or a guaranteed amount, service groups such as churches, nonprofits, and high schools can staff an individual concession location. This way, the concessions are adequately staffed while allowing a community organization to benefit as well. We toured the Breslin Center (basketball), the Munn Arena (hockey), the Jenison Field House (volleyball, track, etc.), the Old College Field (soccer, baseball, softball), and Agricultural Pavilion concessions as well.
Another eventful day! We began the day by working in MSU's Union Food Court. In particular, we worked in the sandwich venue, beginning the prep for lunch as well as preparing the day's catering orders. Although particularly quiet during the summer months, it was interesting to see another type of food option offered to the students and staff. We then toured the campus' three Starbucks locations. Although we did spend some time learning to make different drinks, we mostly observed the behind-the-scenes work, such as doing inventory and stocking. Despite its small size, the Starbucks in Wells Hall is one of the highest grossing Starbucks in the United States! It was a perfect example of how a privately contracted company could function well alongside a massive campus culinary organization.
With a massive conference of over 3000 people needing to be served, Brody Dining Hall needed some extra staff. Although we had served at Brody before, this was our first glimpse at what serving groups as large as the typical semester's student body could entail. Jennifer and I were split among two different breakfast venues, serving hundreds of people common breakfast foods such as a scrambled eggs and french toast. For lunch, Jennifer was on beverage duty, running around stocking and cleaning the various beverage locations. I worked at "Cayenne," the Mexican food venue, first marking chicken over a very hot stove and then preparing massive quantities of guacamole. Although the time flew, we were absolutely pooped by the end of the day!
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