Meeting & Agendas

Good morning everyone: I wanted to take a few moments to write to you to get some feedback and also give you some updates from the last Advisory Board meeting from this Spring’s meeting.

Mandatory advising for all CULA classes We are still continuing on with our mandatory advising program for all students taking any CULA classes. Let me give you a brief refresher on the procedure. All returning CULA students must complete an advising form for our department. This confirms several things about the student: •That they are a registered CULA or Pastry Arts major so we receive an accurate count from ACC on the number of students in the program. •It confirms the classes taken by the student in the past in order to ensure that pre-requisites are being followed. •It allows myself to check each student’s progress and assist in assigning the next set of classes that they should take based upon some guidelines that the students give us. •Then we unlock the classes chosen to allow them to register for the classes. •For all the new students, they must complete the same form above but also meet with one of our advisors in the department. This ensures that they understand the departmental requirements along with signing up for the right classes in the program. We have done this for the last two years and we have seen the following results: •Better grades as students enrolling understand what is required of them •More dedicated students •A more accurate count of CULA students (as of the Spring 2010 semester, we had 312 CULA students) Changing of grading scheme to make the grade of ‘D’ or lower not an acceptable grade for course competition The college has now approved our system and starting this Fall, any ‘D’ grade in any CULA course is not considered an acceptable grade. The student will still receive credit for the class but the CULA department does not consider the student to have achieved an adequate number of competencies in the class to move forward. Therefore, the student will have to repeat the class in order to receive a higher grade and can not move forward in the program until this occurs. All grades up to the start of this Fall 2010 semester are ‘grandfathered in’ but the students will be made aware of this in all syllabi in the future. We feel that this will ensure a higher caliber of graduate as we know that the ACF Competencies have been covered.

This certificate continues to grow in size and we should have about 35 declared majors in this program in the first year alone. We have added the cake production classes and Chocolate and Confections classes for implementation next year. Our big problems are the following: Finding qualified individuals to teach that have the proper credentials ( a minimum of an A.A.S. degree in CULA or Pastry Arts) Space requirements – the classes are being held in the mornings in both of our kitchens but as these programs grow, the space requirements will get heavier. We really need the Pastry Arts kitchen which is part of the Master plan for ACC but needs to be implemented. Any feedback, ideas, etc that can assist with both of these issues would be appreciated. I would like to hire one more qualified adjunct instructor for this fall if possible.

The Beverage Program has been moved back from a Spring 2011 implementation to Fall 2011. This has been done for two primary reasons 1) This summer, there will be a state wide course re-write for all CULA classes and we are going to get these beverage classes added to the state curriculum. Therefore, they may not be ready for Spring implementation. 2)The entire program will have to be held offsite and various locations around the city. We are working on locations as we speak but we are requesting assistance from you with this to attempt to get two or three primary locations to hold these classes.

The American Culinary Federation Site Visit was held from May 5th -7th here at the department with much fanfare. Thanks to everyone that could make the reception and assist with their comments. I’ve attached the report to this letter for you to look at. In addition, the entire Self Study is available for you as well. It’s too big to send out by e-mail but I can send it to you if requested on a CD ROM. We did exceptionally well with only the one non-compliance of not having two advisory board meetings each year. We plan to have another meeting this fall.