LSU Career Chats: Field Trip to the Dairy Store
June 11, 2024
Career center field trip series: the lsu dairy store
At the Olinde Career Center, we are always on the lookout for exciting on-campus opportunities.
This summer, we're thrilled to introduce our series of field trips! Our first outing,
led by our director, Jesse Downs, was a great success. Read on to discover her insights
and learn more about this exciting initiative.
My kids LOVE field trips.
They love the adventure and the atypical day. Field trips are a fun and casual way to learn new things and create core memories. We’ve decided this will be the summer of field trips for the Career Center. We need to get out, see the awesome things happening around campus, and have a little fun as a team.
First up – The Dairy Store.
The LSU Dairy Store has been around for a LONG time but just got a glow-up with a
new facility in the Spring. It’s no secret the ice cream is delicious, but we had
no idea how big of an operation this was.
SEAUX excited to see my girl, Shanice! I taught her as a first-semester freshman and now she's a rising junior and shift leader at the Dairy Store!
The facility has 1.5 miles of stainless-steel pipes, a million-dollar ice cream machine
that can make 750 gallons of ice cream, capacity for milk production and cheese making
(coming soon!), and a test kitchen.
Most impressive is that this operation is predominately run by 16 student employees. Under the leadership of Dairy Store Manager, Nick Uzee, this team of students operates all equipment from making ice cream and cleaning the equipment, to managing social, driving the milk truck, and selling ice cream to their fellow students.
Contrary to popular belief, students from all majors work at the Dairy Store. We loved
learning that students also had the opportunity for shift leader positions and to
create and test new flavors that could make it to production. Of course, we had to
treat ourselves at the end of the visit. The team verdict – chef’s kiss!
Career Center staff enjoying their Dairy Store ice cream
About the LSU Career Center
Our team is committed to ensuring every student has ample opportunities to gain experience, grow their network, and communicate their aptitude for a chosen career long before graduation. We believe LSU students are unparalleled in their potential to step into leadership, solve problems, and elevate the workforce for the benefit of all.
About the LSU Dairy Store
The primary mission of the Dairy Store is to provide teaching and training to students. The Dairy Store is used as a training tool to simulate the work of a full-scale commercial dairy processing plant in which our students will one day be involved. The Dairy Store is also used as a tool in accomplishing LSU AgCenter research projects involving various dairy and food product applications.