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Culinary Youth Team Canada 2008

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Applied Degree in Culinary Operations

The Culinary Institute of Canada is regarded by many to be the premier culinary school in Canada. The addition of the Applied Degree in Culinary Operations to the school’s offerings further reinforces the CIC’s commitment to providing high quality, relevant training for students and for individuals working in the industry who want to further enhance their skills in order to assume leadership roles.

An applied degree program prepares students for specific occupational fields. The degree is based on industry demand and focuses on applied learning with well-defined competencies. Applied degrees require students to participate in field placements, and are subject to stringent monitoring and review by an external panel on a continual basis.

The Applied Degree in Culinary Operations focuses on the application and integration of skills developed in consultation with the Culinary Institute of Canada national advisory committee. The committee is comprised of culinary entrepreneurs, research and development managers, resort and restaurant operators, consultants, project managers, policy development professionals, nutritionists, educational experts and chefs. The Culinary Institute of Canada works with the committee to identify emerging trends and developments within the culinary industry.

Traditional foodservice roles are blending with roles in other sectors of the industry. Research shows that the expectations placed upon foodservice professionals in the changing workplace require new, highly specialized skills for those who desire to move to high-level positions. Strategy Management, Foodservice Economics, Human Resource Management, Foodservice Research and Development, Technology, Marketing, Facilities Design, Project Management, Crisis Management, Service Management, Consulting and Policy Development are all emerging areas in which foodservice professionals have the opportunity to participate. The Applied Degree in Culinary Operations includes an industry-partnered research placement. Students have the opportunity to develop and pursue many research interests through exciting, interactive courses with support from the Culinary Institute of Canada’s internationally acclaimed faculty. The applied degree program enables the chef or cook who wishes to make the most of these new opportunities to maximize their potential quickly in a rapidly changing industry.

Students may enter the program upon completion of their Culinary Arts Diploma at the Culinary Institute of Canada or another recognized institution along with a minimum of 1280 documented service hours or they may enter the program directly from the workplace, providing they can attest to five years experience in the culinary industry, at least one of which must be at the supervisory level.

All students are required to complete a 16-week internship between their first and second year of training and a Directed Foodservice Study. During the Directed Foodservice Study, the student conducts research in foodservice with both CIC faculty and employer supervision.

Sector Specific Courses

Food Safety Policy Development and Implementation
This course enables the student to become a leader in the design, implementation and review of the flow of food within an operation. Students will review the food safety practices of an operation, develop a needs assessment, and create and implement policy that ensures a safe food environment. Students will gain a deeper understanding of how critical written communication is at the managerial foodservice level.

Systems for Foodservice Operations
Students will use a Foodservice Systems Model as a theoretical and practical approach to transform the inputs of a foodservice operation into outputs. This measurable, hands on approach with industry applicable outcomes remains critical for success at any professional management level.

Strategies in Food and Beverage Research
The student will learn about direct methods and resources to research, analyze and interpret industry-wide issues and problems. Students will experience the critical nature of ethics during research. The concepts of critical and analytical thinking are incorporated into this course. The application of industry practice prepares students to take on leadership roles during the program and beyond.

Foodservice Study Seminar I
This introduction to the Directed Foodservice Study is dedicated to helping students streamline their research interests. Students and faculty interact specifically to uncover research areas of the industry, develop research strategies and to ensure ethical standards are observed.

Foodservice Study Seminar II
This interactive study seminar is dedicated to the final development of a student’s Directed Foodservice Study. It will ensure that the triangulation between the student, college and industry site is at a level where the intended research can be carried out successfully. Before a student begins their Directed Foodservice Study, they will have their research intent, location, goals, faculty advisor and industry partner in place.

Management of a Diverse Workforce
This human resource management course is designed to enable the student to manage a dynamic, skill-based team. Emphasis will be placed on both the theory of teambuilding and current workplace strategies. Students will learn more about the challenges facing the culinary field in the areas of motivation, leadership, mentorship and empathic response.

Foodservice Product Development
This course provides the student with a hands-on approach to learn about the rationale behind new product development in today’s retail and foodservice industry. Students will participate in the process of product development and experience the development of a potential product from concept to launch. Areas of study include strategy, production capabilities, processing, evaluation, nutrition, marketing and the ultimate feasibility of the product.

Foodservice Workplace Health and Safety Strategies Integration
This course is designed to develop, evolve and integrate safety risk management throughout an entire facility. Students will be able to measure need and analyze the risk for sound strategies pertaining to workplace health and safety.

Foodservice Technologies: Needs Assessment and Implementation
The Foodservice Technologies course addresses two demanding aspects of professional foodservice management. First, the student will learn about many different technologies that are uniquely applicable to the safe and efficient operation of any foodservice establishment. Second, students will be exposed to needs assessment strategies, implementation training and systems review in order to assess the appropriateness of their research designs.

Functional Facility Design
As foodservice operations designers, students will face challenges around matching a facility design with environmental issues, ergonomics of design, design regulations, customer and food flow, receiving, storage and possible disposal of food. This challenge requires solid strategy implementation so the ultimate goals of all involved are met.

Foodservice Marketing Strategies
This timely application of best practices in an industry-based setting allows the student to apply the principles, creative strategies and assessments of foodservice marketing.

Applications of Financial Accounting in the Foodservice Industry
This course provides students with the skills to apply basic financial accounting to their research project and beyond. Students learn the purpose and importance of accurate accounting practices, various forms of business organizations and related financial statement formats. Emphasis will be placed on analyzing business transactions by identifying the various types of accounts affected and the rules of debit and credit. Students will develop their skills by applying accounting cycle steps to their research interest or case studies.

Internship
The applied degree internship opportunity has been designed to compliment prior culinary-based internships, co-ops, work placements and field experience. This pre-professional, paid internship will give the student the opportunity to apply course and experience related knowledge to many career paths within foodservice. Students will continue to develop as culinarians and have the opportunity to meet potential future employers. This industry and faculty supervised position is intended to further the development of an individual’s culinary expertise in a variety of settings.

Advanced Managerial Communications
This course will help students develop the effective, professional communications skills crucial to success in today’s industry. Effective communications skills respond to the need for policies and proposals to be written in an understandable, professional and concise manner. The course will also enable students to find strategies to communicate specialized ideas to many different groups of people such as representatives from government, associations, the general public, and private investors.

Strategies for Project Management
This course is designed to offer professionally recognized strategies for students to partake in the creation and re-creation of food and beverage facilities. Students will experience how foodservice concept, design, organizational charting, tendering, purchasing, proposals and time line management have a critical effect on how concepts are transformed into reality.

Strategic Crisis Management
Strategic Crisis Management provides students with the skills to communicate, provide due diligence and retain public trust during a wide variety of crises. Water control and distribution, terrorism and food poisoning are all examples of potentially crippling events for which a manager must have strategies in place for legal, moral, social and financial reasons. A best practices and case study approach to this program culminates in the creation of viable action plans and provides invaluable information pertaining to appropriate and inappropriate courses of action in crisis situations.

Consulting: A Global Perspective
Historically, there have been few foodservice professionals with the skills to provide timely, concise and profitable information to others when they are asked for their professional advice in areas such as equipment, facility design, dietetics, concept, cost control, energy management, menu design, training, feasibility studies, food safety and legal options. This course will focus on strategies for meeting the client, developing and maintaining a professional relationship with them, and providing accurate recommendations.

Effective Service Management
Designed to enhance the direct link between the need for strong customer service strategies and the overall success of a foodservice operation, this course covers topics such as the nature of service, basic service strategies and service encounters, enabling students to evolve with a growing industry trend of foodservice globalization. Students will be able to design a competitive service strategy that will ultimately help provide credibility and profitability to any service encounter.

Directed Foodservice Study
This practical, community-based semester entails the launch, execution and review of a negotiated learning contract between the student, employer and Holland College faculty. During this industry paid study, the student will take on a supervised research role in foodservice with their employer. Students will have developed a research interest through two 16-week internships, course work, and prior work experience. This project will enable the student to implement new skills, which will enhance their immediate career aspirations along with addressing the industry’s need for continued foodservice growth. The student’s project will have been created and modified on an ongoing basis throughout the program to ensure readiness for launch. During the foodservice study, students will have the opportunity to meet with their faculty supervisor. This study will culminate in a presentation to instructors, industry professionals and fellow graduating classmates.

Career Opportunities

The Applied Degree in Culinary Operations enables graduates to pursue careers in the following areas:

• Food styling for television and print media
• Research and development
• Foodservice purchasing
• Managing sous chef or executive chef
• Food and beverage management
• Institutional operations management
• New food product development
• Healthcare foodservices management
• Restaurant operator or entrepreneur
• Foodservice labour negotiations
• Foodservice consulting
• Food safety management
• Foodservice systems specialist
• Chef education
• Foodservice facilities design

Graduates may also use the Applied Degree in Culinary Operations to take advantage of further educational opportunities in Master’s programs at Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Guelph University in Guelph, Ontario or in Niagara University in Lewiston, New York. Other relationships are currently being developed.

Admission Requirements

All applications require:

• A completed Holland College application form
• Resume including work and volunteer experience with applicable dates, membership in groups, associations or athletics, awards and distinctions, and any other information about yourself relevant to the program to which you are applying.
• An official high school transcript or equivalent
• Three letters of reference
• Preference will be given to applicants who hold a Canadian Red Seal Cook’s Certificate of Qualification or equivalent.

Students entering the program in the Diploma Stream must provide:

• Proof of successful completion of the Culinary Institute of Canada’s two-year Culinary Arts Diploma program or a recognized diploma from another institution; and
• Documentation of 1280 hours of culinary service, which may include any internship, practicum, co-op or work experience hours.

Students entering the program in the Industry Stream must provide:

• Proof of five years of culinary work experience, including service hours and dates and a summary of skills and duties performed, confirmed by a supervisor or employer on company letterhead; and
• Proof that at least one of those years of experience was at the supervisory level, confirmed by a supervisor or employer on company letterhead.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact David Harding, Programs Manager of The Culinary Institute of Canada at 902-894-6805 or dharding@hollandc.pe.ca.