Page 11 - och0517_Magazine

They help to work with cur-
rent trainees. “Last summer
we had the first two interns,”
he said. “Once they completed
the internships, we hired them
full-time. One of the employ-
ees who we hired on is actually
a full-time hourly employee
with benefits at the Teachers
Café. She helps as a bridge
between those students who
are impacted by several other
disabilities, and our supervi- said. “We do an extensive survey each fall, which
sory staff. It helps the students helps us identify what those trends and preferences
understand that they can trust are within our current academic population and
the employees and our supervi- community. We also base those menu trends on
sors, and that they are in good seasonality as well. We will change that menu peri-
hands and we will take care of odically throughout each semester as the seasonal
them and help guide them through their learning experience.” ingredients become available; or if we are seeing a decline
While the partnership has helped the trainees grow, Ryan in certain products, we’ll change that menu mix accordingly,
Jones, resident district manager with Aramark, said that the while hitting the student preference and faculty/staff needs.”
trainees have helped the location do the same. “Our customers A very popular addition to Teachers Café is a partner-
really do like the café, not only for the food options in there, ship with Servatii, a legendary Cincinnati-based bakery with
but they also enjoy interacting with the co-workers — espe- numerous locations throughout the city. “It is well-received
cially all of our special needs interns. The customers have from our community and clientele here versus a more generic
really driven toward making sure that location is successful, program,” said Jones. “That was a big win. We rolled it out
and they continue to bring their business there.” campuswide this past year, but it all started at the Teachers
Customers can find a variety of grab ’n go items in the Café, which is where we saw the success from that program
café. “Working with the college and their needs, grab ’n go and those products, which gave us the direction to launch that
seemed to be a good fit for the building traffic we were expect- campaign campuswide.”
ing and the needs of the community,” said Wahlke. “There is Also available in the café is an item that was the start of
also coffee, as well, to support them. It was a good fit with the collaboration between Dining and the Advancement and
the production space available and the needs of the students.” Transition Services Program: dog biscuits. “Two years ago,
“We offer an array of both sandwiches and salads that fit they approached Cameron about producing [the program’s]
within our meal-plan program,” said Jones. “They are utiliz- dog biscuits within one of our ovens,” he said. “Basically,
ing meal exchange at several locations, in addition to the they take the spent grain from a local brewery and they turn it
Teachers Café, that includes salads, sandwiches, side items into dog biscuits and sell them for fundraising purposes. That
like fruit cups, seasonal items like coleslaw and potato salad. is how our whole relationship started. They continue to sell
We do protein-focused offerings, such as cheese and salami and currently offer those biscuits in that location. It is a huge
or pepperoni; things that are carb-friendly.” success story for them and they receive a lot of recognition
A number of factors went into the choice of menu items. for them as well for that effort.”
“Our menu development with our grab ’n go program aligned —OCH
with regional trends and consumer preferences on campus,” he

ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY MAY 2017 | 11