DAY 1: Names, Places, and the
Whole Shebang of UNI
Thursday, June 7, 2012
University of Northern Iowa
Today was my first day interning with University of
Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA. My
initial meeting with my director was amazing; I love that she is a Registered
Dietitian, which is eventually what I would like to be. We toured the campus in nice 75-degree
weather! The campus is beautiful with an
abundance of wildlife and trails. The
campus is larger than the university that I attend, but it is not
overwhelmingly gigantic even though I seem to get lost every time I step out my
door. The hospitality here is great; I
get the feeling that anyone would give me the shirts off their backs. I met tons of people that I will be working
with this summer. I hope that they will
be patient with me learning their names.
There are many food service facilities to choose from at
UNI; they will accommodate to anyone’s taste buds. Speaking of taste, I participated in a
taste-testing panel…mmm…pizza! Wow, these
were bizarre but amazing pizzas such as loaded baked potato pizza and Big Mac
pizza. I was able to comment on what I
liked and disliked about the pizzas maybe they will use some of the
improvements that I suggested, which would be awesome.
Even though I was pretty full from the taste testing, my
director took me to lunch at their food service facilities. To the girls working at Colby’s today, you
make a mean turkey sandwich, and it was delicious! Afterwards, my director allowed me to sit in
on an interview for a director position of facilities and dining at UNI. I never knew that the interviewing process
was so extensive. There a panel of ten
people interviewing one person, and that was only one portion of the
interview!
Next, we did some more touring of the campus and met more
people. Yikes, there are so many names
to remember. I am happy that I will be
getting to work with all of them throughout the program. Well, I have blisters on my feet, and I am
overwhelmed with all the information that I received today, but I am excited to
see what awaits for me tomorrow!
What
is everyone doing for their special event/projects?
DAY 2: STUDENT IDs, COMPUTERS, & TECHNOLOGY
Friday, June 8, 2012
University of Northern Iowa
It was the second day of the
NACUFS internship, and I shadowed/assisted the dining technology coordinator at
UNI, a position where many hats are worn.
First, I started my day learning how university identification cards
were made. The system was pretty simple,
I looked up the students with their identification numbers, took a picture, and
printed their cards. The students can
use these cards at numerous locations on the campus for their meals in the
dining halls, checking out books in the library, and charging items from the
bookstore. This was the best part of the
day seeing the anticipation of the incoming freshman glowing with excitement…if
they only knew what they were getting themselves into…just kidding college has
been the best part of my life.
Afterwards, the coordinator and
I had a relaxing time in her office talking about all the affiliated systems of
dining at UNI. Typically, there are two
types of systems that colleges and universities can use to set up meal plans,
to control access to facilities, to take attendance, etc. UNI uses a CBORD system. The other system is known as the Bboard
system. As it is my understanding that
both systems are very similar much like the similarities to CVS and Walgreens.
Next, we discussed the Empower
System, which is a database that keeps track of employees’ timecards. The system provides scheduling and reports of
the employment at UNI. It can sort lists
based on a number of criteria and filter information with a click of a
button. This system allows for more time
for managers to deal with pertinent issues rather than calculating how many
hours each employee worked each day.
We spent the last portion of our
day talking about what the Food Pro System is.
Food Pro is a large database run by just about every affiliated dining
manager at UNI. It has the ability to
analyze inventory based on what was previously purchased and what will be
needed in the future. Previous days or cycles
determine the future customer count. I
was amazed when she told me that the patron count was very predictable, and
most of the time they are higher than 95% accurate. In addition, recipes can be kept in this
system, which makes it easy for all the facilities at the university to
maintain a standard shall I say taste throughout the campus.
Wow! What a day.
I am so glad that we have technology.
I cannot imagine how tedious and overly time consuming some of these
tasks would be without these systems. We
have come a long way from writing on stone walls, and I am eager to grow alongside
of technology.
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