Who's Who at FSU?: Service Workers

"Service Workers", an episode of Who's Who at FSU?, was a 30-minute broadcast on the Ferris Access Channel that aired from March 6th of 2008 until April of that same year. The theme was service desk personnel from various parts of the campus, and the different experiences they had in relation to the functions they'd served.

History
As part of the Studio Production class at Ferris, the Dozerfleet founder was assigned to produce a show for Who's Who at FSU?, a program that was hosted by faculty member Terry Doyle. After an initial meeting with Terry, the Dozerfleet founder proceeded to find volunteer guests for the show. Initially, Kelly Boos was selected. While initially willing to comply and even suggesting that she'd talk it over with her boss before appearing on the program, she later went back on her word and claimed that the Dozerfleet founder would have to discuss things with that boss directly.

She then stalled on being of assistance in helping to arrange a meeting, working to ensure no meeting would ever take place. When reminded of her past promises, she tried to cast all blame on the Dozerfleet founder for not doing what she was only making more difficult for him to do. When things which needed to be written down for her were, she lost them and accused the Dozerfleet founder of never writing them down.

Fellow classmate Chuck Reppuhn did some investigating, and discovered that what Kelly was really doing is trying to make it impossible for the Dozerfleet founder to have any chance of getting her on the program, but was not honest enough to say no directly. In spite time for the show drawing near and desperation growing, neither Terry nor the Dozerfleet founder were being shown any respect or sympathy from the Timme Center.

As a result, Terry set out to find Ashley, a woman whom he knew would be glad to appear on the show. The Dozerfleet founder discovered Keriann Wilson at the FLITE library on campus, who initially had her doubts but was willing to give it a shot anyway. He also recruited Center Ice Cafe cashier Jeff O'Dell to appear on the show.

The teacher, Glen, dismissed the success with the other two guests as being "more the result of luck than the result of skill," counting it against rather than for the show's producer. On the day that the show aired in March, Jeff and Keriann arrived just minutes before recording took place. Both were extremely nervous, but gave their best possible performance. A confident Terry and Ashley arrived on a reasonable note time frame, and the show began recording around 3:00 PM on that afternoon.

Opening
As the show opened up, Terry introduced the program to the audience. Nervous, the director (referred to on this site only as "the ND") delayed on the cue for Camera 1 by two seconds, producing an awkward cut-in to focus on Terry. A short while later, a delayed Camera 2 made the cut to Keriann as she introduced herself. Keriann explained that she was a sophomore that semester.

Camera 2 panned right in a jagged fashion to introduce Jeff. In a smoother fashion, Camera 2 then panned further right to introduce Ashley.

Guests' goals
After Terry took a break in the pace of the interviews to explain the purpose of the episode in his own words, he returned to Keriann to inquire of her what her major was. She explained her goals of going into the nursing school, and even joked about her mom's initial objections to it.

The conversation then turned to Jeff, who elaborated on his love of horticulture and gardening. He mentioned he had an aspiration to open up a greenhouse, and that gardening was more to him than merely a hobby. He originally worked for GM for several years, but then decided to accept early retirement to pursue his other interests.

Ashley explained afterward that she, like Keriann, was interested in nursing.

Guests' jobs
The next topic on the guests' minds were their different jobs on campus, and its significance to them. Keriann began the discussion by talking about the FLITE library and the numerous facilities within it. The camera briefly dissolves to a graphic of the FLITE library, pulled from the website.

Jeff talked about his job at Center Ice. He pointed out how the work schedule in the evenings was convenient with his school schedule during the day. He also discussed how visitors to Center Ice attend in all stripes of regularity. Terry and Jeff joked about how students had a tendency to forget to have their items scanned during major exams.

Afterward, Ashley discussed her paper-pushing job in some of the more administrative departments at Ferris, particularly in regards to handling student transcripts.

Experiences
At this section of the show, Terry had a walkthrough with the guests about how they're typically treated on the job by patrons. Keriann explained that the library tends to be less than eventful most of the year, but that this changes quickly when mid-term and final exams are in effect. Students, usually content, grow disgruntled when there are not enough study rooms.

Jeff went on to explain how it isn't usually until way late in the evening that he is able to head home, since Center Ice is an almost always hectic experience. However, he is usually able to get out of any situation by keeping good humor. Ashley explained that she had never, to her memory, been treated poorly on the job.

Concerning their earliest memories of being on campus, Keriann described that things improved for her the longer she was there, as she had more friends to help her out. Jeff describes his return to campus after years of living in the adult world as being awkward, even mentioning students being so afraid of him walking down the halls that they'd cramp against the walls to distance themselves from him. In relation to that, Ashley described the need to befriend the RAs to compensate for the fact that she had no friends at school prior. Her high school companions had all left for other schools.

Keriann went on to explain how her academic adviser in her previous major had made her feel very welcome on campus, as opposed to most advisers who merely do the minimum of their jobs. Jeff explained how one of his gardening teachers had gone above and beyond to make sure that he learned new tricks in gardening even after believing he knew it all. Ashley had a bit of a runaround, but found herself eventually in the same boat as Keriann in terms of hitting off lucky with an academic adviser who went above and beyond the call of duty.

Next, Keriann discussed her experiences in a sorority on campus, and how she was initially overwhelmed but grew steadily into the role. She explains becoming president of the sorority for a time, and a few of the programs the sorority had performed and difficulties with getting permits for those programs. According to Jeff, he didn't have time for such activities. He explained how most of the time he didn't spend in either class or working at Center Ice was spent in the greenhouse. He did, however, elaborate on the fact that the greenhouse holds its own fundraisers. Ashley concluded by stating that she was unable with her math and sciences classes to make time for activities such as Keriann's.

Guests' advice to other students
Terry then initiated a conversation in which he hoped to get the guests to talk about the times in their lives where they would have discovered the best possible advice that they could then turn around and give to newcomer students. Keriann's advice to newcomers was to "not be overly afraid of anyone," stating that the girl she once believed she would never be able to befriend wound up becoming her best friend and the vice president of their common sorority.

Jeff's advice was to set aside time for both school and for self, and to be willing to offer free advice to younger students since they'd inevitably need it and trust someone older for it. Ashley, with no ideas of her own, simply agreed with Keriann's statement. She did, however, elaborate that it is easier to do at a smaller campus such as Ferris than it is to do the same at a much larger one such as Michigan State.

Conclusion
As the time rolled down on the interviews, Terry tried to draw to a close by asking the guests who their favorite teachers were on campus. Keriann's reply was that she admired Dr. Friar, the Sexuality class instructor. Ashley agreed. Jeff stated that his favorite was John VanderSloot, his gardening instructor.

Terry then acknowledged the conclusion of the show as the credits rolled on the screen. The different production personnel for the episode, which consisted of the students in the class at the time, were listed in accordance with their specific tasks. The class was designed to have 13 students enrolled. However, only 11 enrolled and two of them dropped. This meant that some of the nine students were credited for more than one task in the production.

Reception
The episode was received by most critics and reviewers of the access channel as being "typical" and "acceptable," with nobody going out of the way to say that any part of the production exceeded expectations. The content was deemed modest, passing, and interesting, just not exemplary in execution. While the production was not considered a big issue, there was a lot of criticism aimed at the director and the technical director for missed cues and lagging camera work.

In the end, everyone was graded as having done a modest job. The episode aired until April, when someone else produced the next episode of Who's Who other than the Dozerfleet founder. The airing of the new episode came as a relief to the guests from this episode, who were self-conscious about being on TV for nearly two months straight.