Program Review for Culinary Arts
Program Review Framework & Criteria
I. Connection: From interest to application (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of any changes to the program since the last cycle and the appropriate updates to the catalog (general education changes, program requirement changes, ancillary program costs for students, hours/credits of credentials, etc.).
The program made a major curriculum change since the last review, with a dramatic increase in laboratory time. At last program review the C.S.C. had one classroom only class for every laboratory class. The new C.S.C. has 3 laboratory classes for every classroom only class. That is a marked increase in kitchen lab time meant to get students ready for a career in culinary arts. The prior C.S.C. taught culinary arts, but also had a hospitality component. The current Culinary Arts C.S.C. does allow students to possibly get two industry certifications while completing the degree.
2) How do students find out about the program? Please provide examples of advising activities, marketing materials, or other outreach and engagement events designed to recruit students to the program.
Marketing for this C.S.C. is done primarily through the area high schools. One of the area high schools receives dual enrollment credits for students allowing them to complete about half the C.S.C. while in high school. Two of the other area schools have established Culinary Arts programs. Contact is made with the culinary instructors at these schools through personal visits, phone calls, or email with the intention of building awareness of the PHCC Culinary opportunities. The program works with the campus coordinators for each high school to build awareness of the program benefits. A table for culinary arts is always available at Senior trips and occasionally at high school college nights. The program also has a brochure available throughout campus.
II. Entry: From application to pathway entry (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of your program credentials and how they stack into one another.
There are 3 current pathways for culinary students. The culinary arts C.S.C. is designed to stand alone with the purpose of students gaining employment in the field upon graduation. However a student could transfer to a VCCS Culinary Arts Associates degree at another VCCS school and have all culinary credits transfer. The third pathway is a PHCC Business Technology with Culinary Arts Specialization Associates degree with an embedded Culinary and Hospitality C.S.C. available for students that might lean towards a degree with more hospitality focus than the culinary C.S.C..
Questions for consideration:
1.a. What is the employability (or transferability) of each credential?
. Students with the Culinary Arts C.S.C. are ready for entry or mid level jobs at local hospitality kitchens. A student currently working in the industry might be eligible for management upon completion of the degree, depending on experience. Completion of the Culinary Arts C.S.C. would give the students 25% of the course work for the Business Technology Culinary Arts A.A.S. degree. It would supply a student with 55% of the coursework for the Culinary and Hospitality Management C.S.C.
1.b. Do all credits from a sub-credential transfer into the parent credential?
1.c. What is the timeframe of completion for all credentials within the program (i.e. is the program setup to award sub-credentials prior to the parent credential)?
The degree can be completed in one year or two semesters. After the laboratory work was expanded the degree needs Fall, Spring, and Summer classes to complete, but is still one year for completion.
2) Program enrollment, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization (Quantitative, IE)
a. Annual program FTE and HC over the last review cycle (To include SCHEV program ratios and SCHEV class ratios)
The table shows a decrease in program enrollment after the 2015-16 academic year. This was due to two of the area high schools losing their dual enrollment status in their culinary programs. A student coming from one of these schools would not be starting with the credits they had in years prior to 2015-16. Increasing culinary enrollment from these two area high schools without these PHCC credits will be a focus on program marketing moving forward.
III. Progress: Pathway advancement (Quantitative, IE)
1) Student learning outcomes data
2) Program credit attainment (15/12 in one semester, 30/24 for those who enrolled in two consecutive semesters)
The culinary C.S.C. has 28 credits of which 3 are an internship completed second semester. A normal path would be 13, then 15 hours. That is always the chosen pathway if students can complete that schedule. On occasion a student will start with 6 hours and stretch the degree into 3 semesters, usually due to transportation, or work issues. During the 2018-2019 a planned summer semester was added to the degree, making the normal schedule 10,12,6 hours, which accounts for enrollments under 12 credit hours.
3) Program retention and persistence relative to the start date of the program (subsequent term calculation)
Persistence and Retention Table
The program does very well at graduating students who start in the fall since only 2 or possibly 3 semesters are needed. The students not completing in the past 2 years have enrolled in other PHCC programs. Prior to the 2017 year, students would often be enrolled in the Hospitality C.S.C. and that has returned odd data in this table. Currently all beginning culinary students are enrolled in the Culinary Arts C.S.C. making the persistence data as of late much better.
IV. Completion: Credential attainment (Quantitative, IE)
1) Sub-credential attainment and timeframe (are students completing sub-credential prior to or at the same time as parent credential?)
There is no sub-credential for this program.
2) Parent credential attainment and timeframe, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization
This current year the C.S.C. required summer credits to graduate and several students did just that. Also the aforementioned students taking less than 12 credits have returned to finish this semester, 2019. The numbers in 2017,2018 years show a high percentage of students finishing in two semesters. Prior to the 2016 years many students would be in either the Culinary or Hospitality C.S.C. often having credits in both, but not completing either. This situation has been remedied with the curriculum changes resulting in the much improved numbers in recent years. The instructor has reviewed 4 students past records and by making a course substitution or two has allowed them to receive a credential. Again, all possible due to the curriculum changes.
a. Are students completing within 6 semesters (150% of graduation time)?
V. Transition: Employment or transfer post-credential (Quantitative, IE)
1) Transfer outcomes (students who transfer with associate degree, students who transfer without)
This credential is not set up to transfer.
2) Student perspective/satisfaction
VI. Sustainability: Future Program Outlook (Mixed methods, IE, program head and dean)
1) Program forecast (major expenditures, changes, personnel needs, etc.); any future costs should be explained in this section)
No major changes or equipment needs are planned at this time. If the program has a piece of equipment cease functioning it will look to be replaced, however changes to the type of equipment is not necessary at this time. The program at times uses adjuncts which have been relatively easy to find and have performed well.
a. Any other pertinent information relevant to the review process should be provided here (e.g. community need, state/federal requirements, external accreditation, SCHEV low enrollment warning, etc.)
b. Employment forecast for program (Analyst data)
The program has had excellent results in working with area hospitality businesses and placing graduating culinary students in full time, local employment. Many culinary students begin in Fast Food jobs and are able to move to the Casual dining hospitality jobs with degree completion. Local hospitality employers often make contact with the program head with intentions for hiring culinary students. In most cases, all students who desire to work are placed through the internship program, contact from employers, or PHCC career center.