Progress 09/15/05 to 09/14/08

Outputs
We completed the objectives within the timelines identified. AHC Culinology AA degree was approved by the California Community College Chancellors Office (CCCCO) and the Research Chefs Association (RCA). Culinology is the RCA registered trademark name combining the three disciplines into one distinct discipline. The AHC Culinology program began in Fall of 2007. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (CPSLO) developed the Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science with a concentration in Culinology to begin Fall 2009. Articulation agreements exist with CPSLO, California State University, at Fresno (CSUF) and California Polytechnic State University, Pomona (CPP). We expanded and revised all Culinology courses to include Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and added two new courses: Introduction to Food Science; and Food, Nutrition, Customs and Culture. We hired a Ph.D. food scientist instructor to meet RCA criteria. We purchased library resources and student culinary supplies, state-of-the-art food science equipment and education materials for the courses. The program was marketed in over 15 news copy media. We designed and posted a web site with links. The program is listed on the AHC grants web page. We created a professional DVD that includes footage from AHCs new commercial kitchen, CPSLO food processing lab, Sierra Vista Hospital and The Lido five star fine dining restaurant at the Dolphin Bay resort. Students, professors and chefs, not actors, starred in the DVD. The DVD is formatted for multimedia use. We updated our Culinology brochure to reflect program changes. We created and sent out e-fliers to over 600 high school students who showed an interest in the program. We marketed the Culinology program to community colleges, local culinary industries, K-12 schools. We presented the Culinology program annually at 4 AHC career-day open houses to over 300 students and 50 counselors and at 6 career-day fairs at local high schools to over 6,800 students. Staff gave 12 presentations to home economics, foods, nutrition, child studies, chemistry and math classes at 5 of the high schools totaling over 500 students. Annual tours of the cooking program were also done for over 300 fourth through sixth grade students. The joint Culinary Arts and Culinology advisory board members met annually. CPSLO used funding for one lecturer position, one student employee, equipment, curricular materials and for food production plant operations. AHC students started the Taste Makers Culinology and Culinary Arts Campus Club (Taste Makers Club) which is catering events on campus and won the AHC student club award. Although we met our timelines and were within our budget we were constantly challenged to meet requirements and deadlines while staying on top of the constant change from all agencies involved with the project. Here are just a few of the program challenges: new articulation procedures, writing and changing curriculum while teaching it, budget cutbacks, program recognition within the Family and Consumer Sciences discipline, new accounting computer software, CPSLO quarter schedule versus AHC semester schedule and lack of support staff. PRODUCTS: AHCs Culinology AA degree program is approved by the CCCCO, and the RCA and articulates with CPSLO, CPP, CSUF. This is the second 2 + 2 Culinology degree program n California. CPSLO now has a Food Science BS degree with a concentration in Culinology scheduled for enrollment Fall 2009. There is a Culinology Student Education Plan (SEP) with both Culinary Arts and Culinology information for counselors to use. All the Culinology courses now have SLOs, YouTube, and black board (BB) access to facilitate learning and student networking. The library now has expanded culinary resources including journal subscriptions and reference books. We have a colorful poster with pictures of students and instructors cooking, a power point presentation, program brochures, media copy, testimonial e-fliers, student portfolios and projects for outreach promotion. One of our students, Yavanna Leffers, is the featured student for AHC and is on the main web page, TV commercials, radio and even has a bigger than life size picture of her on the campus bus. Yavanna also designed the Taste Makers club logo. We also have a story board and script for students and faculty to demonstrate combining the nutrition, chef, and food science careers into the one Culinology profession. We created a selection procedure which was used to distribute chef uniforms, knife kits and text books for students with financial need. We designed and posted a web site with links. We created a professional promotional DVD that includes footage from AHCs new commercial kitchen, CPSLO food processing lab, Sierra Vista Hospital and The Lido five star restaurant at the Dolphin Bay resort. Students, professors and chefs, not actors, starred in the DVD. The DVD is available on disk, the internet, TV, and radio. We have a job and internship resource guide with over 300 contacts. Chef Weir completed culinary training to meet RCA requirements. AHC now has a fully stocked food science classroom with the following equipment: digital viscometer, planimeter, water activity meter, refractometer, portable balances, analytical balance, ph meters, thermal circulator, vacuum chamber packing machine, nutritional analysis costing software and small wares. CPSLO funded one lecturer position, one student employee, a dough sheeter, curricular materials and for food production plant operations. The Taste Makers club is up and running with officers, a web site and students catering events on campus. OUTCOMES: There are currently 60 students in the Culinary Arts and Culinology program. Nineteen students have Culinology SEPs with plans to transfer to CPSLO in Fall 2009 for the Food Science with Culinology concentration BS degree. Of these students 8 (42%) are Latino and 18 (95%) are receiving financial aid. There is a persistence of over 15 students between year 2 and 3 of the grant. There now exists a 2 + 2 + 2 transfer career path. We have doubled the enrollment in the Nutrition Science, Principles One, Principles Two, and Basic Baking courses as a result of the new Culinology degree. AHC and high school faculty and counselors are familiar with the program and are able to communicate the details to students. There is an influx of requests from the public for curriculum development, enrollment information or to interview staff in response to the Culinology marketing materials. We now have over five local executive chefs giving guest lectures in classes, acting as mentors for students, interested in teaching at AHC and working with us on internship programs. Six students were placed in internships in Fall 2008. Pre and post tests in the Introduction to Culinology Professions class show at least a 50% increase in student use of Culinology related library resources, transfer and career center services. There are three student mentor relationships. Student evaluations showed a positive rating of 80% in the Introduction to Culinology Professions course and significant curriculum changes were implemented based on student recommendations with favorable results. Some of these changes include YouTube, more guest speakers, cooking contests, tours, and samples of previous students projects and portfolios. AHC institutional SLOs are also integrated into the Culinology AS degree curriculum and reflected in student projects and portfolios in the Introduction to Culinology course. The program coordinator is on various RCA education committees and networking with the industry leaders. Students started the Taste Makers club which is generating income from catering events for other campus clubs and programs. They meet weekly, have a policy and procedure manual, have their own web site with logo, and won the AHC student club award. CPSLOs dietetics program faculty and food science program faculty have improved communication and there is a faculty dietitian designated as the Culinology contact advisor for students. There is ongoing collaboration between the RCA, CPSLO and AHC to standardize and improve curriculum. Our program is being showcased through RCA publications as an exemplary community college Culinology program for other colleges to follow including one from Malaysia. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Our major commitment has been to disseminate research-based understanding of our Culinology education program to primary, middle, secondary, high schools, other community colleges and four year colleges. Our What is Culinology DVD, technical reports, program review data, student testimonials, and media copy is all available on-line through the World Wide Web. We presented our program results to a RCA representative and project evaluator. We also presented and disseminated our program findings to three representatives from Taylor's School of Hotel Management who are opening up a Culinology program in Malaysia. We have been and continue to be available to make presentations on campus, at conferences, write journal articles and summaries for written sources producing research-based training materials and good practice guides. See also publications. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Allan Hancock College will continue this program in a second USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), (HSI) grant that was awarded for 2007 to 2010. It is titled Multicultural Culinology from Campus to Career. This program is designing and providing faculty with coaching and guidance, peer counseling, and tutoring resources to ensure student success. Educational stipends are available to students with an identified need through an evaluation survey with criteria from the RCA. Scholarships will be awarded to one or more Culinology transfer students, preferably Hispanic. We will enroll a minimum of 20 students per year in the Culinology AA degree option, ensure the persistence of 15 students, and transfer of 5 students to the baccalaureate level in subsequent years. There will be an increase in enrollment in the Culinary Arts and Management programs and increase certificate completion to 10 per year over a baseline average of 7 per year. A manual with recruitment, retention, and resource information is being created, and faculty and counselors at AHC and high schools will be trained using the manual to coach and facilitate students. We are creating online course supplemental tutorials for Culinology core courses. Evaluation and feedback reviews between culinary industry internships, with graduates as guest lecturers, are being created. We are working with CPSLO Food Science and Nutrition staff to expose students early on to the food science internship opportunities outside the area in order to have a low stress, seamless transition for students. We will have our club students interact with CPSLO club students to create an intercollegiate family. Collaborative events with the RCA and USDA Food and Nutrition Services Agency are projected. AHC staff and students are talking with administration and applying for other grant funding. We are looking to have one or more culinary student run facilities to prepare meals on campus for catering events and restaurant style dining. Included in this are plans for a new baking facility to also provide income generating hands-on training for students. We will continue to revise program courses in collaboration with articulation officers, and general education instructors with AS, BS, MS career ladders at California and other western colleges that have Culinology and-or Culinary Arts and Management degrees. We will create a transferrable Culinary Arts Associates degree based on industry standard proficiencies with a seamless, progressive pathway linking Career Technical Education in secondary levels to post-secondary levels. Our proposal is to upgrade culinary technology in the home economics cooking classroom and to convert another classroom into a dining room not only to meet industry standards; but to become an income generating, state-of-the-art industry integrated front and back of the house cooking lab.

Impacts
This grant has resulted in improved quality of life for AHC students, faculty and local employers. More than half of the students are employed in the culinary field. They are coming up with ideas on how to improve the program according to a focus group discussion, want other career pathways such as: Child Care Food Service Certificate, Restaurant Business Certificate; Wine Paring Certificate, and Nutrition for Healing Certificate. Students are acting as peer educators are going with staff, dressed in uniforms, to do outreach, presentations, and to recruit and encourage others, and are demonstrating characterization of Culinology principles in their lives. They have increased the sensory and nutritional quality of foods and cost efficiencies in their own lives. Faculty talk with one another about how to help students be more successful. They are referring students for counseling, scholarships, tutoring and calling them at home inquiring if they need help. We had no idea how completely lost some students were until other students, becoming peer educators, stepped in to help. Faculty are part of a team and are voicing their satisfaction with how engaged and excited students are. They feel more personally involved with students and successful as instructors. Administration serves our food at their board meetings, encourages faculty and students to keep up the good work, and enters into dialogue to strategize and implement program improvement. This is a sustainable program because we have the policies, procedures, and information to give to others to follow.

Publications

• What is Culinology Dir. Lisa Hammert and Jeffrey May. PennyJar Pictures, 2008. http://www.pennyjarpictures.com/Video|pct|20AHC|pct|20Long|pct|20Vers ion.html http://www.pennyjarpictures.com/Video|pct|20AHC|pct|2030|pct|20First| pct|20Cut.html
• Associate in Art Culinology. Allan Hancock College, 2007. http://www.hancock.cc.ca.us/pdf/Culinology-brochure-3-color.pdf
• Research Chefs Association, 2008: http://www.culinology.com/rca-approved-programs
• Allan Hancock College, 2008: http://www.hancockcollege.org/Default.aspPage=1360 www.hancockcollege.edu/culinaryarts http://www.hancockcollege.edu/Default.aspPage=1364 http://www.hancockcollege.edu/Default.aspPage=720 Putting grants to work for Culinology http://www.culinologyonline.com/articles/putting-grants-to-work-for-c ulinology.html http://www.hancockcollege.edu/news2.aspxID=258&subject=1624
• Cannon, Rebecca. Putting Grants to Work for Culinology. Culinology, The Official Magazine of the Research Chefs Association May 2008. http://www.culinologyonline.com/articles/putting-grants-to-work-for-c ulinology.html
• Ragus, Natalie. Culinology among new degrees. Santa Maria Times 12 Oct. 2007.

Progress 09/15/06 to 09/14/07

Outputs
The Culinology Associate of Arts (AA) degree program at Allan Hancock College (AHC) was approved by the California Chancellor's office and the Research Chefs Association and is currently open for Fall 2007 enrollment. All of the program courses were expanded to meet the requirements of articulation agreements. We also have articulated all courses in AHCs AA degree with California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). We purchased library resources. Staff oversaw the brand new college funded construction of the new commercial which will house the Culinology courses starting fall 2007. This grant has also enabled us to design and post a web site with links. All internal and external stakeholders are referred to this page to view program details, progress, and key contacts. We are creating a professional promotional DVD that will include footage from AHCs new commercial kitchen and local food industries. E-fliers were created and sent out to over 300 high school students who showed an interest in the program. Marketing the Culinology program to secondary schools, high schools, community colleges, and local community businesses is taking place through various presentations and media. The Culinology program was also presented at four AHC career open houses to over 1000 students and 50 counselors. The Culinology program was presented at six career fairs at local high schools to over 6,800 students. Staff gave twelve classroom presentations to home economics, foods, nutrition, child studies, chemistry and math classes at five of the high schools totaling over 500 students. Over 300 elementary school students completed a tour of the cooking program. Students from three to four classes were invited to each of the five sections presented in the auditorium with 20 to 50 participants. California State Polytechnic University used funding for one lecturer position, one student employee, the expendable piece of equipment, curricular materials and for food production plant operations. Although we have met our timelines and are within our budget we were constantly challenged to meet requirements and deadlines while staying on top of the constant change from all agencies involved with the project. PRODUCTS: Our Culinology Associate of Arts (AA) degree program was approved by both the California Chancellor's office and the Research Chef's Association. We developed three new courses which were also approved. The three new courses are: Introduction to Culinology Professions (3 units); Introduction to Food Science (3 units); and Food, Nutrition, Custom and Culture (4 units). This new Culinology AS degree at AHC has nine major courses (29 units) four support courses (16 units) and seven general education courses (21 units). This degree has a total of 76 units. There is also a required cooking internship within the program. The new Culinology BS degree at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo has fifteen major courses plus a food science/food processing internship (62 units), two support course (8 units) and six general education courses (24 units). Many of the general education courses are also support courses. The total number of units for both degrees combined is 170 units. Culinology Program Articulation Agreements are also being obtained from California State University, Fresno and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Additional text books, DVD and e-resources were purchased for student use in the library. Recruitment of underrepresented students was completed through collaborating with Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS). A Web site with links was designed and posted. The Culinology brochure was updated to reflect changes in the program. We had an article on our program published in the local newspaper. The Research Chefs Association also wrote a feature article on our program in the Culinology Currents Magazine. The program was presented on a local radio talk show. E-fliers were created and sent to over 300 high school students who showed an interest in the program. The Culinology AHC/Cal Poly advisory team met five times. The new advisory board including students, high school teachers and community representatives met and provided valuable program input and support. OUTCOMES: Approximately 20 students, including underrepresented students, are expected to enroll in the Culinology Degree program beginning fall 2007. We also expect a persistence of 15 students, and transfer of 5 students to the baccalaureate level beginning in fall 2009. Articulation agreements will be prepared from California State University, Fresno and California Polytechnic University, Pomona for their new Culinology programs. Culinology programs will increase by a minimum of one per year for the next five years. Online tutorials and industry linkages for program courses will increase student retention and success to meet or exceed college averages. Student evaluations are expected to show a positive rating of 80 percent or more for the new courses. We will have scientific instrumentation for state of the art education. There will be increased collaboration with local businesses through networking which will include a minimum of 10 internships sites. This will be a sustainable program for others to follow. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Staff presented Culinology information to over 6,850 high school students and over 50 high school and community college career counselors. Staff developed, printed and electronically distributed Culinology brochures and e-fliers with student testimonials to over 50 students who requested additional program information. A Power Point presentation was updated and shown to: faculty; high-school counselors and students, matriculation officers and at open houses, career fairs; and at elementary schools. Culinology was discussed on a Radio talk show and staff interviewed for a newspaper article. The new web page was expanded to include student testimonials and links. The web page will be available thousands more students exploring this career and materials will be disseminated to over 7,000 high school students annually. High school and college career counselors will actively market the program to a minimum of 20 students per year using program marketing guides. Student use of Culinology related library resources will increase by 50 percent FUTURE INITIATIVES: Allan Hancock College will continue to market our Culinology and Culinary Arts and Management program opportunities. We will provide faculty with coaching and guidance, peer counseling, and tutoring to ensure student success. An additional USDA awarded grant will fund educational stipends to students with an identified need and one or more scholarships will be awarded to a Culinology transfer student, an under-represented student in California, to complete a BS in Culinology at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. AHC will continue to enroll a minimum of 20 students per year in the Culinology AA degree option, ensure the persistence of 15 students, and transfer of 5 students to the baccalaureate level in subsequent years. The project will continue to target an increase in enrollment in the Culinary Arts & Management programs and increase certificate completion to 10 per year over a baseline average of 7 per year. An information manual on Recruitment, Retention, and Resource will be created and faculty and counselors at AHC and high schools will be trained to coach and facilitate students. AHC will make online tutorials for Culinology core courses. Culinary courses will continually be expanded and revised to meet needs of the growing Culinology job industry. Students completing the program will act as mentors for entry level students. Ongoing increased under represented student recruitment and retention will occur. Industry internships for students and externship opportunities for faculty will be available. Internships will increase collaboration between AHC, California Polytechnic University and community businesses that result in adequate pay for the graduate employees. Collaborative events with the USDA Food and Nutrition Services Agency will occur. Allan Hancock College will convert their cafeteria into a culinary student run facility preparing meals for campus catering events and restaurant style dining. A new baking facility funded by the college will also be constructed to provide hand on training for students. We will continue to develop BS degree support courses in collaboration with articulation officers, and general education instructors with AS, BS, MS career ladders at California and other western Colleges that have Culinology and/or Culinary Arts and Management degrees.

Impacts
Our Culinology AS/BS degree program combines three disciplines Food Science, Nutrition, and Culinary Arts into one new, cutting edge degree program between AHC and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Other California universities are now creating Culinology BS degree programs. Culinology graduates will improve the sensory, nutritional, and quality of food cost effectively. This will work towards improving health by reducing obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and other food consumption related illnesses. We coined the term Multicultural Culinologists creating great interest and support from the Culinology community. Multicultural Culinologists will emerge as under represented students bring their ethnic culinary practices and customs into the industry. The creation of this program addresses the anticipated demand by employers, who expect a 10 percent increase in local food industry position vacancies with applicants who can work while they go to school and who are better prepared to climb career ladders. New innovative local, healthy cultural foods businesses will be created. Students will be able to live locally and obtain advanced culinary degrees at less than 25% of the cost to attend a culinary academy out of the area. Since this grant was a program development grant and the degree program begins this fall no students have benefited directly from the program yet. Marketing, promotion and exposure to the program has drawn interest from students, faculty, the industry, and community.

Publications

• Culinology Program E-flier Dave Richards, Ginger Lordus 2007. Culinology Student Testimonial E-flier Richards, Ginger Lordus 2007.
• Santa Maria Times newspaper article, Cordelia Rackley 2007.
• Culinology Currents magazine article Research Chefs Association, 2007.

Progress 09/15/05 to 09/15/06

Outputs
We completed the following Objectives within the timelines identified. A few minor delays were encountered. We develop a transferable AA degree in Culinology (culinary arts, food science, and nutrition) for enrollment in Fall 2007. We expanded and revise all culinary arts courses in AHC's new Culinology degree program. We designed and add three new courses: Intro. to the Culinology Professions; Introduction to Food Science; and Food, Nutrition Customs & Culture. We articulated all courses in AHC's AA degree with Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and to meet California Community College requirements for transfer. We purchased library resources but did not spend all monies allocated, pending approval from the library within the time constraints placed by the APP committee approval process. We outreach to underrepresented students by collaborating with AHC's Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program and Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS). We are almost done creating our Web page with links. We created a promotional DVD that was just completed. The number of revisions and people involved in this process extended our time line. We develop marketing brochures and program information. We are marketing the Culinology program to secondary schools, high schools, community colleges, local community businesses through various presentations and media. We have been working with our original Culinary Arts and Management Advisory board members. We will create a new board for the new Culinology program now that the program has gained approval and our web page and DVD are available for dissemination. We drafted a proposal to RCA for their input and feedback are in the final stages of completing this document and will submit it this month. The slight delay in submitting this document is because it must include all of our second and third year project work to include Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's proposed Culinology courses. We hired a project evaluator and identified all baseline criteria and are collecting data. We did not purchase the equipment for the new food science course because the new skills center facility has not been completed yet and we have no storage facilities for the equipment until 2007. The course design is different than originally planned and different equipment may be needed. PRODUCTS: We reviewed: Lower Division Transfer Project and California Articulation System documents; Culinology programs; University Transfer Center guidelines; CSU requirements; Research Chefs Association (RCA) guidelines; and USDA grant documents. We revised five existing culinary courses. We wrote Culinology Scope of Work/Action Plan for Allan Hancock College (AHC) & Californis Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). Staff created three new courses: Introduction to Food Science; Intro to the Culinology Professions; Food, nutrition Customs and Culture, to meet above program guidelines and California Articulation Numbering System (CAN) and Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum (IMPAC). The course Safety and Sanitation was also revised to include Spanish and meet learning disability requirements. We developed an AS Culinology degree. We developed registration procedures and set up enrollment data bases. Grant funds were used to purchase a computer and office supplies. Project participants joined the RCA and Culinary Federation. Staff developed a student questionnaire. An advisory board was created to include representatives of the culinary arts, nutrition, food science, math & science departments, retail business, USDA, Industry, professional groups, teachers, agricultural extension and RCA. Project staff obtained new text books, magazines, & DVD. We conducted outreach, designed Culinology Web Page & banner. OUTCOMES: Under represented students will enroll in and complete the Culinology AS from AHC and transfer to Cal Poly Culinology BS. There will be increased collaboration between the schools and local businesses. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Staff developed, printed and electronically distributed Culinology brochures. Staff presented Culinology program information to instructors, student advocates and various events. A Power Point presentation was created and shown to: faculty; high-school counselors, matriculation officers and open houses; and at elementary schools. Culinology was discussed on a Radio talk show and staff interviewed for a newspaper article. FUTURE INITIATIVES: We will initiate registration procedures with Cal Poly for AHC students to take a Food Processing course at Cal Poly and earn credit at both institutions. Students will join Cal Poly Chapter of MANNRS. Outreach is to industry campus programs, schools, and AHC financial aid office. We created links to related sites. We use multi media advertising: brochures, posters, news releases, ads in college schedules, letters to businesses, and will do E-mail blasts and a Leadership Project Newsletter. We oversee the new AHC skills center to include Culinary Arts, multi purpose foods nutrition room, smart class room, and commercial kitchen. We will design a new Introduction to the Profession course at Cal Poly and gain college approval this and the Food Nutrition Customs and Culture course at Cal Poly. We will develop BS degree support courses in collaboration with articulation officers, and general education instructors with AS, BS, MS career ladder. Internships will increase collaboration between AHC, Cal Poly and community businesses that result in adequate pay for the graduate employees.Culinary degree programs at colleges will share course and articulation transfer agreements. There will be food production facilities and internships to provide underrepresented students with hands-on experience and future jobs.

Impacts
We will blend three separate disciplines into one new, cutting edge degree program. Transferable Culinology degrees will exist throughout California. Career ladders will allow underrepresented students to gain employment while working towards their degrees. We will continually expand and revise current courses to meet needs of the job industry. There will be internet accessible curricula design, materials development and library resources. Ongoing increased student recruitment and retention will occur.

Publications

• Culinology Program brochure Ginger Lordus 2006. Culinology DVD Bruce Gourley and Ginger Lordus 2006