Ketchup with Megan Thomazin

Meet Megan Thomazin, cook at HSS Dining!

1. What is your job?

Megan is a cook in the afternoon and evening.  

2. What time do you have to be here to open and prep food?

She works 12:30 pm-9:00 pm Monday through Friday

3. Something you like about your job?

Megan likes the predictable schedule and all of her coworkers.

4. What path led you to work at this dining hall?

Megan went to Lincoln Southeast in high school and then went to Southeast Community College where she earned her Culinary Degree.  After graduating in 2007 she worked for a catering company.  She decided to come work for UNL because of the great job benefits.  She eventually wants to go into nutrition.  

5. What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

Megan enjoys biking, gardening, camping (basically anything outdoors), and she has quite the passion for belly dancing and Zumba dance classes.  She also loves to read; her favorite book is The Mists of Avalon.

Ketchup with Janet and Marilyn!

Meet Janet and Marilyn, managers at HSS! 

1. What is your job?

Janet is the full-time manager of Harper Dining Hall.  She directs all 32 full-time employees, does evaluations, and makes sure the staff is working well together.  Marilyn is one of two assistant managers at HSS, and she trains 55-60 student workers each year and oversees all the employees.  In general, Janet, Marilyn, and the other assistant manager Barb make sure everything is running smoothly and must deal with whatever comes up.  Marilyn told a story about a bat in the dining room one Sunday evening and how staff and UNL police had to chase a bat around all evening.  They truly have to deal with anything and everything.  

2. What are your hours?

Janet’s hours vary.  For Marilyn’s schedule, she alternates each week with the other manager.  One week she is at work from 7 am-3:30pm Monday through Friday, and the next week she is here for the late shift from 12:30-8 or 9.

3. How long are the shifts for employees?

Everyone has 8 hour shifts.

4. How many kids come in to eat during each meal period?

500-600 for breakfast, 700-1000 for lunch, and 1000-1200 for dinner.

5. Where are you from?

Janet is from Madison, NE, and Marilyn is from Waverly, NE.

6. What path led you to work at this dining hall?

Janet graduated from UNL with a degree in nutrition and dietetics.  She went to work for a hospital where she was a clinical dietitian on the cardiac floor, so she made sure patients that had recently had surgery were eating the right things.  She never dreamed she would be at UNL, but an old boss taught her to “make lemonade out of lemons” and search for a job she would be happy with.  Marilyn had a similar back story, as she also worked in a hospital.  Janet and Marilyn actually worked at the same hospital at different times, and never imagined their paths would cross.  They have both been working together at UNL for 20 years now.

7. What do you like about your job?

Both Janet and Marilyn love their jobs for the stability and awesome benefits they provide.  Even more so, they like seeing all the kids that come through as well as the people they work with.

8. What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

Janet is a proud grandmother of some pretty cute kids that she loves to spend time with.  She also really likes to travel.  Marilyn has a little crazier hobby.  She has quite the passion for riding ATV’s.  

Ketchup with Jesse Elsener!

Meet Jesse Elsener, P.M. Team Line Leader at CPN!

1.     What is your job?

I am the P.M. team line leader. I’m in charge of everything that goes on the line at night. It’s my job to communicate with the kitchen leader if I’m running out of anything.  My main manager is Joel, Pat, or Jane; the team leaders are next in charge after them.

2.     What time do you have to be here to open and prep food?

I don’t have to prep food much because the kitchen does that. I just need to prep things on the specialty bar, but usually Rhonda and her student workers do that. I get here at 11:30 and help finish out lunch and any prep that needs to be done for the evening meal or the next day. 

3.     How late do you stay after closing?

We close at 7, we clean everything, then I send the student workers home at 7:30-7:45 and then I’m usually here until 8 unless something extra needs to be done.

4.     How long are the shifts?

8 hours-plus always. Some days there’s not much plus, other days there’s a lot of plus. I like the longer days so I don’t mind.

5.     Something you like about your job?

The people are great. I’m proud of our night cooks, because I came from a world of restaurants and the guys at night keep the standards set really high.  I like all the students that come through and getting to be a part of their life in a place where there’s no class or no pressure.

6.     Where are you from?

I’m from Lincoln. I’ve moved around a bit but have always come back to Lincoln.

7.     What path led you to work at this dining hall?

I had spent over a decade as a professional cook. I’ve done everything in a restaurant. From the time I was 14, to the time I was 29 I had been working in kitchens. Then, I burned out.   I thought it would be a fresh start to work at the university. I got hired at east campus, then came here.

8.     What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

I’m a musician. I have 3 different groups I play with. I listen to a lot of music and can never listen to enough music. I have a favorite radio show called “The Best Show on WFMU”.  I also have helped make movies, record other groups, or produce music.

9.    Do you have a spouse and/or kids? / Are you a student?

I have a girlfriend who is transitioning into my fiancé.  

Ketchup with LeAnne Rutt!

Meet LeAnne Rutt, a Produce Supervisor of Selleck Dining Hall

• What is your job?
• LeAnne is in charge of produce prep at the Selleck Dining Hall.
• What do you enjoy about your job?
• She enjoys the organizational aspect of her job.
• What is a typical day like?
• A typical shift includes her checking the produce as soon as she gets to work, then separating and putting away what doesn't need to go upstairs from the basement. She prioritizes the produce and prepares for the next day. 
• LeAnne doesn't have a lot of interaction with the students because she works in the basement a majority of the time. She gets to see lab students and some of the student employees.
• She works five days a week for about 40 hours a week. 

Ketchup with Lindy Sites!

Meet Lindy Sites, a team member at the Abel/Sandoz Dining Hall

●         What is your job?

○        Lindy is a cook and team leader in the Abel/Sandoz kitchen.

●        What are your hours?

○        She works 5:30 am to 2 pm.  The dining halls open at 6:45, so this gives employees 1 and a half hours to prepare both breakfast and lunch.

●        What’s something you like about your job?

○        Lindy enjoys cooking, seeing the teamwork that goes on behind the scenes and the consistency of her job.

●        How many people work during each shift?

○        There are about 20 people who work the morning shift including dish-washers, cooks and student employees.

●        Where are you from?

○        She is from Hastings, Nebraska but has lives in Lincoln for 8 years.

●        What path led you to work at this dining hall?

○        After working in restaurants and finding them to be too much, Lindy walked into Selleck with her resume and was offered a job there as a part-time employee.  She later moved up and now works a permanent position in the Abel/Sandoz dining hall.

●        What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

○        She likes working on projects and cooking.

●        Do you have a spouse and/or kids?

○        Lindy lives with her partner.

Ketchup with Claudia Wheeler!

Meet Claudia Wheeler from HSS!

1. What is your job?

Claudia is the secretary for Harper Dining Hall.  She describes her job as a “catch all." She does things such as payroll, counting money, answering the phone, or even checking people in.

2. What are your hours?

She works 9-5:30 Monday through Friday.

3. What is something you like about your job?

She likes the students a lot and the energy and excitement they provide.  She jokingly said “she doesn't want to be old." With her personality, she is the last thing from it.

4. Where are you from?

Claudia is from Mobile, Alabama.  She claimed she could swim before she could walk, and especially with Nebraska’s brutal winter, she misses the beach and especially the weather.

5. What path led you to work at this dining hall?

Claudia is relatively new to Harper Dining Hall! She started working here a couple months ago. Previously, she worked in catering on East Campus for 8 and a half years, and before that she and her husband lived here there and everywhere because her husband was in the Coast Guard.

6. What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

Claudia likes to read a lot, and she is part of a book club which she described as “a drinking club with a reading problem.” She also loves her two cats.

7. Do you have a spouse and/or kids?

Claudia has three kids, all of whom have their own lives now in areas such as environmental politics and fisheries and wildlife.  She also has a husband, Ryan, who has a passion for screen writing.

Ketchup with Rhonda Alcorn!

Ketchup with Rhonda Alcorn from CPN! 

·        What is your job?

o   I am a dining service associate team leader. I am responsible for set-up, maintaining the specialty food bar (eg: stir fry), ensuring the safety of the food (temperature), putting the food in pans, supervising the students, and setting up the sandwich bar.

·        What time do you have to be here to open and prep food?

o   I’m here at 8, by ten thirty both bars have to be set up and ready to go.

·        How late do you stay after closing?

o   We close at two and I leave at 4:30.

·        How long are the shifts?

o   8-4:30, unless there is a special dinner like the GFL thanksgiving dinner.

·        Something you like about your job?

o   I love serving the students especially at CPN. I’m glad that we don’t have the market style and get to talk to the students. I love seeing the students. I have been doing this for 31 years and I absolutely love food service. I love working with food and making people happy.

·        Where are you from?

o   I’m originally from a small town in North-Central Kansas, but I’ve called Lincoln home since 1984.

·        What path led you to work at this dining hall?

o   I was originally hired at Harper in 1984, and started as a food tech. I loved the job and the position opened here as a team leader, then I applied and accepted it.  After time, I went back to Harper, then returned to CPN in 2012.  One of the reasons I came back here after leaving is because of Jane Wemhoff and Joel Fogerty, the managing staff.

·        What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

o   I love crafting, playing piano, and gardening. My biggest thing is my family and my grandchildren, that’s the number one.

·        Do you have a spouse and/or kids? / Are you a student?

           o   I have three kids and a husband.