The Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago announced that it will launch a new program in October 2011 for part-time students to complete their bachelor’s degree in the culinary arts. The new flexible learning option, designed for working adults who have already obtained an associate degree in the culinary arts from Kendall, will blend online and traditional on campus instruction.
According to Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE, MBA, dean of Kendall’s School of Culinary Arts, the new B.A. part-time completion program offers flexibility to chefs already working in the marketplace as well as new students eager to begin their careers. “This flexible format will benefit students who have completed the culinary associate degree or who would like to pursue a B.A. but need to either continue working or enter the workforce while studying.”
Like Kendall’s traditional baccalaureate in culinary arts, the new part-time online/on campus format combines rigorous culinary training with a solid set of business skills. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, chefs with good business sense will have better job prospects, especially at restaurant chains where attention to costs is very important. “Kendall’s new culinary B.A. part-time completion program will provide graduates with culinary and management skills to be more competitive in many different areas of foodservice,” Zonka says.
In the junior and senior years of the baccalaureate program, students further their knowledge of the culinary arts with challenging classes in global cuisine, food science, advanced pastry, and research and development, while honing their business skills and deepening their understanding of the business world. The new part-time format also includes a concentration in culinary nutrition currently offered to students in the traditional B.A. program. Courses are 10 weeks in duration, including an intensive integrative senior project required for graduation.
