Kirkwood students transferring skills to Food Science
When students come to Kirkwood Community College to study Hospitality Arts, they get hands-on learning in a one-of-a-kind teaching laboratory: The Hotel at Kirkwood Center. When they’re done at Kirkwood, they are able to transfer to another unique setting: Southwest Minnesota State University and the world’s only Bachelor of Science degree in Culinology.
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center gives students a chance to practice what they learn, daily in the operation of the new 71-room facility. The two culinary labs, bakery lab, full-service restaurant, hotel bar, guest rooms and conference center all help students become better prepared for work in the hospitality industry after graduation. Thanks to an articulation agreement signed with Southwest Minnesota State in 2006, Kirkwood graduates are able to blend food science with the artistry of culinary arts – Culinology.
Students who transfer to Southwest Minnesota State don’t focus as much on creating meals to serve at restaurants or banquets, but food that can go out to millions. Culinologists are the ones who break down food to the molecular level to work with pH, color, nutrition, packaging requirements, shelf life and more. You can often find their creations on the aisles of your local grocery store.
“At Kirkwood we focus on the fundamentals of cooking and giving students the knowledge they need to be successful in the industry,” said Kirkwood Hospitality Arts Department Chair Mary Jane German. “More and more when we talk to students about the possibility of blending the science and research with the culinary side, they really perk-up. It’s great to have Southwest Minnesota State as a place where our students can continue their education after we start them off.”
Of the handful of students who transferred into this program, two are recent Kirkwood graduates. Amy (Blum) White was the first graduate of the Culinology program and got a job as the master of culinology at UniPro Foodservice in Atlanta, GA, the largest foodservice distribution cooperative in the country. Angie Havens just completed her second internship in research and development with Burger King in Miami, FL and is now a food technologist at Otis Spunkmeyer in San Francisco.
Other SMSU Culinology students go on to internships and careers with places like Blue Bunny, General Mills and other food manufacturers. “With a supportive advisory board, I am able to utilize my position with the Research Chefs Association, the industry and SMSU administration to grow and take this program to new heights,” said SMSU Director of Culinology Michael Cheng. “In an era when other Culinology programs have about 10 new students each year, we’ve been averaging 30 per year.”
Cheng added that the Culinology graduates have a 100 percent job placement rate with a starting salary of more than $50,000.
“The majority of the classes we teach at Kirkwood transfer directly to SMSU,” said German. “We work with our students who want to go there, to make sure they are taking the classes that do transfer. When planned out, it’s two years here, then just two years there.”
It’s not just Culinology that prompts Kirkwood students transfer to Southwest Minnesota State. Kirkwood graduate Nate Schomers wanted to earn a four-year degree in hospitality. He just graduated from SMSU’s Hospitality Management program.
Kirkwood’s Hospitality Arts department has more than 300 students enrolled in its Culinary Arts, Hotel Management, Restaurant Management, Bakery and Food Service Assistant programs. They all get their training in The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, a brand-new state-of-the-art facility on Kirkwood’s main campus in Cedar Rapids, IA.
For more information on Kirkwood’s Hospitality Arts programs, visit www.kirkwood.edu/hospitality .
For information on The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, visit www.thehotelatkirkwood.com .