By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT

A seminar can be a great place to push students’ thinking and provide them with a different educational experience.

Last month, we discussed using how to make large classes seem small and less intimidating to students; this month, we will talk about the delight of some faculty members and the fear of others: teaching seminar classes, courses most often with fewer students and focused on specific, limited themes or topics.

Definition of a Seminar
Of course, many colleges have used the word seminar to distinguish certain courses as in Freshman Seminar or Major Seminar, often courses with large enrollments that have nothing to do with the original conception of seminar. However, most seminar courses are typically organized around a single topic or set of topics, they involve fewer students (often just enough to sit around a table or in a circle), and they require an approach to teaching and learning different than the typical lecture and discussion. Those of you who have had a chance to teach seminar courses know how different the experience can be and often how critical it is to help students adjust to this alternative structure.

By Adam Weiner, CFSE

What will a potential employer see if he or she looks up your student on Facebook? This and six other points will help you help your grads find meaningful employment.

With the end of the school year approaching, a number of your students will be out in the job market looking to turn all of their culinary skills (that you taught them) into gainful employment. Now for some painful reality: Unless you teach them how to get and keep a job, all of the technical skills that you have taught are in vain. You might feel that you don’t have time to teach these skills or that they aren’t part of your curriculum. Yet, you must remember that even if your student is potentially the next Bobby Flay, it is useless if he/she can’t get a job and keep that job.

This article will be about how to teach your students to get a job, and the next article will regard teaching how to keep the job.

Courtesy of the National Mango Board

Mango consumption has nearly quadrupled since 1990 to an estimated 2 pounds per capita annually.

Nothing conveys a taste of the tropics like fresh mangos. Luckily, you can use them to bring a burst of sunshine to menus year-round. The Orlando, Fla.-based National Mango Board (NMB) has made it its mission to educate foodservice professionals about the availability, selection and preparation of the world’s most popular fruit.

There are six major mango varieties available in the United States throughout the year. On the outside mangos vary in size, shape and color. On the inside, the subtle differences in flavor and texture fuel chefs’ imaginations for seasonal menus.

Although only a small percentage of seafood consumed in the United States comes from the Gulf of Mexico, the impact of consumer perception is taking its toll on restaurants, finds Technomic.

Last summer’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico released an estimated 200 million gallons of oil over the course of three months. Despite the fact that only about 2% of fish and seafood eaten in the United States comes from the gulf, the spill has continued affecting consumer behavior. A new study by Chicago-based trend-tracker Technomic finds that 23% of consumers say their consumption of seafood at restaurants decreased during the spill. Perhaps more importantly, 19% of consumers were still eating less fish even as much as four months later as a direct result of the spill.

Renowned chef and restaurateur Michael Lomonaco will be honored at the annual Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) culinary event on February 16, 2011, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at PIER SIXTY at Chelsea Piers to support the scholarship and enrichment programs offered by C-CAP. Since 1990, C-CAP has awarded high-school students $31 million in scholarships and donated $2.5 million worth of supplies and equipment to classrooms.

The American Culinary Federation Education Foundation (ACFEF) Accrediting Commission, which assures that culinary programs with ACFEF accreditation meet at least a minimum of standards and competencies set for faculty, curriculum and student services, selected three new members to its commission and announced several leadership changes at its biannual meeting held at Lincoln Culinary Institute, West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 16, 2011.

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) has launched a first-of-its-kind course to raise the quality of food served at hospitals and other healthcare facilities nationwide. Foodservice Management in Health Care (MGMT 411) is an elective business-management course for second-semester CIA seniors. It is believed no other college course of this nature is being offered at this time.

With the aging American population, people are spending more time in hospitals, rehab centers, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Foodservice plays an important role in both the health and quality of life of patients and residents. At the same time, managing budgets is also important. The new CIA course introduces students to the challenges of running a healthcare foodservice operation and prepares them for management positions in that field.

The Board of Directors of the New England Culinary Institute announced in December the appointment of G. William Meckert, III, as the college's new president.

Meckert succeeds Fran Voigt, co-founder of the Montpelier, Vt.-based culinary institute. Voigt served as its president for the past 30 years and grew the school from seven students to the 650 who are enrolled in its various programs today. Voigt is the acknowledged visionary for the college, as well as its inspirational and institutional leader, and he will remain its chief executive officer.

Candy Wallace, founder and executive director of the American Personal & Private Chef Association (APPCA), has accepted the invitation to serve on the culinary Program Advisory Committee of The Art Institute of California-San Diego for a one-year term.

According to Laird Livingston, CEC, CCE, AAC, The Art Institute of California-San Diego’s academic director of culinary arts, the program’s Professional Advisory Committee is a sounding board for the industry, ensuring that the program follows industry standards and teaches relevant curriculum with industry-utilized kitchens and certified chefs meeting the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) standards of excellence for accreditation.

Wallace bring nearly 40 years of dedication to the foodservice industry—the last 17 as the foremost authority on personal chefs in the United States—to her role at The Art Institute. She founded the American Personal Chef Association in 1996 as the first significant national effort to recognize the impact of personal chefs on Americans’ evolving lifestyles and to provide career and management training to those who aspire to become personal chefs with their own businesses. She led the positioning of personal chefs as culinary professionals, culminating in 2002 with a formal partnership with the ACF to award certification to qualified personal chefs. In 2006, Wallace embraced the professional-development needs of private chefs by restructuring her organization to become the American Personal & Private Chef Association.

By Birch DeVault, M.Ed.

Though baking comes with its own rigors and rules, learning international breads expands students’ repertoire and deepens the learning experience.

Baking and pastry, for many culinary students, can be either an exciting challenge or a daunting endeavor. In many ways, the very cognitive underpinning of baking and pastry arts is completely different from that of culinary arts. Working baking and pastry recipes into culinary classrooms can ease some trepidation students have toward the discipline.