Details
Wellness Nutritionist, Ball State University
Muncie, IN
Age: 25
Education: B.S. in Dietetics, Michigan State University
Years at organization: 2
Why Selected?
According to Lucas Miller, assistant director of operations and executive chef at Ball State, Amanda has made an impact on dining services by:
- Developing a food action plan that is more accommodating of students’ individual dietary needs, provides a greater variety of appropriate menu items and improves food safety.
- Collaborating with multiple departments to develop a campus wellness initiative.
- Training the staff at Ball State University’s onsite K-12 school to serve kid-approved meals that meet the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act regulations.
Get to know
Updating the protocols for working with students who have individual dietary needs. It’s an ever-evolving process, but it makes a great impact. For example, in 2013 BSU Dining implemented a food allergy action plan and introduced allergen-safe zones in many of our kitchens. Most of our locations are retail-based, which allows us to add specialty foods right to our everyday menus, minimizing student wait time and increasing availability.
Q. What would you say you excel at over more seasoned colleagues?I love interacting with students—in class presentations, food samplings and info tables—whatever it takes to meet more people and really spread the word about healthfully navigating our 14 dining locations.
Q. What's the best career advice you've been given?“Find a job that you can’t imagine leaving.”
Q. What's been the biggest challenge you've had to overcome?Convincing others that even though I’m a dietitian, I’m not the food police.
Q. What's been your most rewarding moment?We have four interns working in our central office throughout the school year and we will be hosting our third dietetic intern this summer. Providing hands-on, real-life experiences for these students and watching them evolve and learn is one of the most gratifying parts of my job.
Q. What's been your funniest on-the-job disaster?I was working for Michigan State University Extension as a Nutrition Program instructor. My colleague and I were talking with our class and prepping for our cooking demo when all of a sudden the portable stove burst into flames. We found the fire extinguisher and everything was fine, but from that class forward, any time we started cooking our participants would make jokes about not setting the place on fire.