Student Labor and Summer Internship

Our office employs Berea College students from all majors. Our student employees assist our office carrying out various projects, from designing checklists, to helping create Value Stream Maps. If you’re interested in working with our office during the school year, you can let us know using the Contact Us form at the bottom of our home page.

Every summer, the Office of Continuous Improvement hosts a summer internship with up to 6 students. Our internship gives our students first-hand experience in the field of continuous improvement and project facilitation. 

Our interns carry out a process improvement project over two months, and each one obtains a Green Belt Certification from the University of Tennessee at the end of their internship. You can learn more about the benefits of our regular student employment and internship programs in the infographic here.

2023 Continuous Improvement summer interns with their Lean Green Belt Certification plaques. From left to right: Gloire, Jena, and YinKyay

As part of their Green Belt project, students collaborated with the Craft Shipping Department to streamline the shipping process for Berea College’s retail stores. With no standardized procedures in place, training new student workers and ensuring operational continuity posed a growing challenge. To address this, students implemented several Lean countermeasures, including a Master Checklist, a photobook for visual guidance, a Kanban system for box reordering, a 5S organization with labeling, and a 5S inspection sheet for sustainability. These improvements resulted in a 22% reduction in touch time, saving approximately 51 hours annually—equivalent to six workdays and $1,523 in soft savings—enhancing both efficiency and future workforce readiness. These countermeasures ensured that when new students transition into the Shipping Department after students graduated, there would be less risk for defects.

2022 Continuous Improvement summer interns with their Lean Green Belt Certification plaques. From left to right: Brandon, Adrianne & Justin 

As part of their Green Belt internship project, students collaborated with the Visitors Center to optimize the retail merchandise reordering process. To improve efficiency, students implemented a 5S organization of the storage room, a WIP board, and multiple checklists for inventory ordering, stockroom maintenance, and end-of-week tasks. These improvements led to a 29.32% reduction in touch time, saving 118 work hours (approximately 15 workdays) and $3,547.50 in soft savings annually. Additionally, cycle time per order decreased by 21.21%, three non-value-added steps were eliminated, and rework significantly dropped from 82% to 10%.

2021 Continuous Improvement summer interns with their Lean Green Belt Certification plaques. From left to right: Patrick, Mawi, Julia & Edison

As part of their Green Belt project, Mawi and Edison collaborated with Facilities Management to implement a new inventory system for the paint being stored. Previously, there was no inventory system in place, leading to expired paint dating back to 2002, minimal storage space, and inefficiencies in ordering. To address these issues, students implemented a FIFO (First In, First Out) system, a quality control checklist, and a waste disposal guide to maintain inventory quality. These improvements resulted in over 300 square feet of space saved and time savings of 12 minutes per paint order, equating to $1,200 in soft savings annually, along with a more effective use of student labor.

Julia and Patrick partnered with the Craft Shipping Department to improve the phone ordering process for Visitor Center products. To enhance efficiency and customer experience, students developed a visual management system for product weight and costs, a standard work checklist, a checklist poster, and implemented a 5S organization system. These efforts reduced touch time from 41 minutes to 9 minutes—an 80% reduction—saving 77 hours and $1,920 annually. Additionally, rolled throughput yield increased by 55%, and both students and customers experienced a more streamlined and comfortable ordering process.