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| June 30, 2003 | NATION'S RESTAURANT NEWS | ||
CIA adds dash of innovation to culinary education recipeBy Kerri Conan
The institute currently is developing a five year strategic plan, the first of such magnitude, according to Ryan. He won't reveal much else until results of a related study, now being facilitateed by Boston Consulting Group, are announced in September. "What I can tell you is that' innovation' will be one of our watchwords," he said. Innovation in the area of continuing education already is under way. A diversified lineup of pilot programs and services now are offered at both the Hyde Park and St. Helena campuses. According to Mark Erickson, vice president of continuing education for The CIA, the programs are self funded through their own tuition, support and sponsorship. The newest is the ProChef Certification Program, jointly run by the CIA and the American Culinary Federation. Designed to cover three skill levels, each step of certification focuses on culinary knowledge, management and financial aptitude. The idea is to validate not only the cooking aspect of the chef profession but the business aspects as well. "We did a tremendous amount of surveying to find out what the industry wanted," Erickson said. "Foodservice managers say they want chefs with the soft skills. [That means] not only culinary strength but the ability to manage people and money." Level One tests basic culinary experience, such as core cooking techniques and simple preparations. It also looks at people skills that gravitate around what Erickson calls "followship," rather than leadership qualities. For instance, instructors look at whether the chef listens well and follows through on assigned tasks. The financial component hinges on costing menus and determining the value of labor and food. Level Two advances the culinary expertise to include menu planning; knowledge of some basic cooking disciplines, such as regional American or Asian; and food science principles. Leadership skills focus on beginning supervisory responsibilities, while financial aptitude includes inventory and product management, or the ability to recognize and implement controls. By the time the chef reaches the third level of certification, he or she should have much broader culinary skills, including knowledge of emerging cuisines and of wine and food pairings. The professionals also are expected to be experienced leaders, handling workplace and harassment issues, as well as structuring an organizational chart with job descriptions. On the financial side, they must be able to budget for a complex foodservice operation and understand such key concepts as return on investment, depreciation and payback analysis. Program participants can complete coursework at The CIA for each level as needed, working toward practical and written examinations. Level One instruction will begin this summer, with Level Two expected to be launched this fall. Rollout of Level Three will follow early next year. At the end of the process, both The ACF and The CIA will issue dual certification. Certification falls under Professional Development, one of five arms in the CIA Continuing Education area. The others are Custom Program Development, Product and Menu Research and Development, Intellectual Property Development and Relationship Development, which includes partnership programs with other organizations and institutions. In addition, two new facilities are under construction at Greystone. The first, the Rudd Center for Wine Studies, is expected to open in October. Although the campus has been conducting wine education and certification classes for a few years, the new building will include separate I asting and lecture areas. "Our program takes wine from the bottle through the rest of its life," Erickson said. "It's about the hospitality rather than the agricultural or production side how wine is marketed, distributed, paired, poured and enjoyed." The other facility is called the Flavor Discovery Center. It will be located in the Greystone gatehouse. Fitted with state of the art computer technology, the rooms will house a kitchen and 36 person theater, where the audience can respond to what they are experiencing right in their seats. Software is being designed to collect and tabulate data in a way that should make tasting information statistically valuable. There's also news on the CIA degree program front. In May the school announced an educational alliance with the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. So far, students from Cornell have participated in culinary classes at the Hyde Park campus. The next stage will take interested CIA students up to Ithaca, N.Y., to study hospitality management. "It's the perfect example of how important these partner relationships are for students," Ryan said. "Everyone can benefit when you put together the two biggest complimentary industry institutions in New York state." At this point, the fastest growing CIA programs are the bachelor's degrees in both culinary and bakery and pastry arts, according to Ryan. Admissions in all programs are at an all time high, he said, insisting, however, that the college does not measure growth in terms of warm bodies. "Our intention is to provide the world's best culinary education," Ryan said. "We manage growth within that fundamental mission." So far, the troubled economic climate has not had an impact on the school's ability to increase both enrollment and curriculum, Ryan said. "Knock wood - the industry supports us and understands our mission. For that we are grateful," he said. "And besides, we bring a restaurant business sense to our operation. In other words, we always watch our nickels and dimes." | |||
