Think Tank: An Introduction
08 November 2013
“The Gold Medal Classroom” launches a new editorial department and forum for deans and directors in 2014: a leadership think tank.
By Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC
These are challenging times for culinary-arts programs. Administrators are faced with demands for measureable outcomes from various accrediting agencies, the cost of equipping and operating viable programs is increasing exponentially, and the price of education for students has increased far greater than other indexes (one leading culinary school reported that its yearly tuition alone increased from $8,490 in 1990 to $24,550 in 2010--or 290%) while financial aid and personal loans have become more difficult to obtain.
The ever-increasing number of culinary programs across the country has skewed conversions for admissions departments and increased their cost of identifying candidates (qualified or unqualified), and faculty are faced with teaching a student body that is oftentimes ill prepared for the rigors of a career in food. On the bright side, the restaurant industry in America is strong and growing and demand for qualified graduates remains high.
How do we sift through these challenges, face them head on, differentiate between cause and effect and prepare programs and students for a successful future? This is the most important task that faces program deans and directors. Too often we find ourselves dealing with the operational challenge of today and losing sight of the issues that will keep our programs viable and our students employable.
The challenges are large, much larger than an individual school or administrator can address independently. Thus, it is important that the decision makers interact with others and approach solutions as a collective body. The moral and ethical issues focus on adequately preparing students to be successful and creating unique value from the programs they enroll in. The business issues focus on delivering these programs to sufficient numbers of committed students with financial margins that allow each school to not only survive, but thrive.
These are the topics that I will address with deans and directors in a monthly “Gold Medal Classroom” column in 2014. This will be a forum for all those individuals who have the responsibility for building and delivering first-rate culinary education now and in the future. At the forefront will remain: “Is It Time to Reinvent Culinary Education?” I look forward to lively discussions on the following topics throughout the year:
- The cost of educating our students
- Salary scales for graduates: Are they in line with the cost of education?
- The need to train internship sites and build strong industry relationships
- Accommodating the online options
- Finding and training culinary educators
- The faculty credentialing issue
- Should culinary programs respond to industry trends or should we define what those trends will be?
- The accreditation hammer: using the process to improve
- Addressing recruitment challenges
Paul Sorgule, MS, AAC, president of Harvest America Ventures, a “mobile restaurant incubator” based in Saranac Lake, N.Y., is the former vice president of New England Culinary Institute and a former dean at Paul Smith’s College. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.harvestamericaventures.com.