Happy New Year!

It is now time to enjoy the waning days of 2008 with family and friends and partake in a well deserved rest to refresh and restore body, mind, and spirit to take on the spring semester.

We at FELC wish you a happy and prosperous New Year and look forward to growing our learning community in 2009.

The blog will resume with new posts on January 4, 2009. In the meantime, if you are a first time visitor to the blog please enjoy archived posts.

Visited by Three Ghosts!

Now that the semester has ended the time to reflect on my teaching comes to me whether I like it or not due to my inner desire to be the best teacher I can be, which is no doubt true of those of you reading the FELC blog. Since Christmas Day has come and gone a useful anaology on teaching comes to mind in the form of Dickens' A Christmas Carol because the ghost-like voices I hear in my head during this time of reflection are like the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.

The voices of the past help and hurt me as a teacher. The voices of students past sustain my current teaching practices when former students contact me as alums in myriad ways to take the time to let me know that what I taught them helped them in their careers and in their lives (a bonus). One former student recently gave me feedback through Facebook about the book I use in my sales class by writing, "i can not tell you how much the "Platinum Rule" actually helped me when I was working my last sales job! one of the few textbooks from undergrad I am referencing..." One student told me that the successful management practices he uses today are those he learned in the management course he took from me.

Then there are those voices from the recent past known as "the last semester" that haunt me (and hurt me) as expressed in written form in the open-ended feedback section of the course evaluation that express sentiments such as: "You suck!", "This course sucked!", "I did not learn anything in your class!", and a personal favorite, "You should have never been given tenure!" These hateful sentiments hurt for two reasons. The first is that I try very hard to be a good teacher so those comments hurt. The second is that the hurtful sentiments are never accompanied with "because......" which would provide me with some constructive feedback to improve and not "suck so much" in the next class. I try to forget the hurtful comments, which is next to impossible, and soldier on believing that I am doing what I can to be the best teacher possible -- as I understand it in its present form.

The voices of students present are usually complaining in tone and intent and rise when they have made mistakes, that somehow turn out to be my fault, when telling me that: "The syllabus was not clear enough, The test was too hard, I did not understand the assignment, You did not clearly explain the assignment, I forgot the assignment was due, My boyfriend reset my alarm causing me to miss class, I assumed I could make it up, and on and on and on. No doubt those of you reading today's post have heard these same voices and many more. I often wish that students voices would be clarifying in nature and perhaps the complaining voices would diminish, and usually do for those students who ask, "The syllabus says..., could you explain that a bit more so I understand what you are asking me to do?, or "This is an example of a source I would reference in my paper, is that correct?"

All told, I think it is the voices of students present, whether complaining or clarifying, that make it most difficult to extract ways to improve my teaching because they are learning and not knowing machines so their limited understanding of the way I have designed my course to maximize their learning potential is lost on them as they are in the mode of completing this semester's list of classes in order to enroll in and complete the next batch with a singular focus of graduating on time -- whether they learned anything along the way or not, or so it seems!

The voices of students future are those I must ask for the next group of students that will enroll in the next set of classes I am called upon to teach. As in the Dickens' story, the future ghost shows Ebeneezer Scrooge scenes that may come true if his miserly ways persist, so I too must examine whether the courses I teach, and the way I teach them, will benefit students when they are alums. When it comes to the intro class I imagine them asking me, "How will this course help me pass the courses I will take as a sophomore?" or "Will I become more aware of the management jobs that will be available to me upon graduation in the hospitality industry?" Then there are those I ask before teaching the sales class, "How will taking this class help me be an effective salesperson someday selling for a full-service hotel?" or "How will this class help me manage the sales function as GM of a full-service hotel?" There are similar questions for other classes I teach as well. So far, the voices of students past fortunately suggest I am on the mark.

So I hope you all are visited by these same ghosts, too. They shape the courses I have been called upon to teach and the way I have taught them and lead to new teaching methods down the road. In doing so I hope I am better prepared to teach the next batch of aspiring hospitality professionals (who will change careers another 3 or 4 times after graduation) for the careers and courses that lie ahead in spite of that "look on their face" (you know the one) when I am attempting to teach them things, in ways foreign and novel, that will one day benefit them and our industry that have come from those helpful and hurful voices of students past, present, and future.

Happy Holidays To All!

We at the FELC want to wish everyone in our learning community the happiest of holidays and a much improved economy in 2009! We look forward to meeting many of you at our innaugural Summit in Charleston, SC, February 26-28, 2009!

Sincerely,

Chef Michael Carmel, Dr. Mick La Lopa, Jami Yanoski

Green Gift Giving

Start a new gift giving tradition this year and be more eco-friendly or Green. There are plenty of ways to give great gifts and be sustainable, too.

The easiest way to accomplish the goal of Green gift giving is to give of yourself. There are plenty of charitable organizations in every community that need an extra pair of hands, an additional vehicle to transport people, etc. Instead of spending 6-8 hours driving around to the malls, finding parking spots, and searching for the perfect gift that same amount of time would truly make a difference in the lives of those in need, whose ranks are growing as the recession continues.

You could even drop a $20 in the Salvation Army kettle and make yours and the volunteer bell-ringer's day! Now that is what I call unconditional love.

Since most of you reading this blog are great cooks, consider giving the gift of food. In our house we have mixed up batches of hot cocoa, placed them in jars that once held peanut butter, decorated the jars with handmade labels, and given them to teachers, neighbors, and others. We are now baking and decorating cookies to handout, too.

If still feel the need to purchase something the TreeHugger website has some Green gifts that can be given to your favorite foodie, As stated on their website:
"Foodies are the easiest people to please on any holiday gift list. Who else would be happy with a block of cheese, a bag of local walnuts, or an envelope with a few seeds in it? Here's the key to giving the perfect present: green foodies like to feel connected to their food. If they know the farmer that grew it, if they can cook it for friends and family in their own kitchen, or if it came from their own backyard, they'll be content. And while imported foods from abroad were once de rigueur, today's emphasis on locally-grown food means the goodies that get the biggest smiles are the ones that also save you a bundle on shipping." Gift giving ideas for your favorite foodie can be found at:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/food-holiday-gift-guide.php

If you have Green gift-giving ideas to share with those reading the blog please add to this post.

Pop a Green Cork on New Year's

Since this is prime holiday season I thought I would dedicate this week's blog to celebrating with family, friends, and others in an ec0-friendly way.

To get a jump on New Year's for those of you who are decidely Green or working on it, there are eco-friendly pink champagne's available to drink in the New Year. The brands found at the link below have good information as to what makes them Green and range in prices so that they can be enjoyed by almost anyone regardless of the holiday budget. The link may also be a great tool for the beverage management classroom when discussing ways to satisfy the growing demand for those customers who are choosing Green hospitality businesses over those that are not.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/buying-guides/buy-green-pink-champagne.html

Global Hospitality Industry Going Green

Ernst & Young has released a report that looks at the efforts of hotel companies to become more eco-friendly in eight regions of the world. The Ernst & Young's 16-page report specifically looked at the lodging industry's environmental policies and practices in Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East, Oceania and the U.S. during 2008.

The report builds on the global environmental certification program that was developed for the travel and tourism industry in 1996 as a joint effort between three international organizations: the World Travel & Tourism Council, the World Tourism Organization and the Earth Council. Together they launched a plan familiar to many now teaching hospitality and tourism courses: Agenda 21 for the Travel & Tourism Industry: Towards Environmentally Sustainable Development.” Now named, “Green Globe.” With respect to the hospitality industry, hotels can receive “Green Globe” certification by addressing sustainability issues realted to: greenhouse emissions, energy efficiency, management of freshwater resources, ecosystem conservation, and waste water and solid waste management.

At the end of the report are 10 areas in which lodging and travel operations could take action to become more eco-friendly, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Green Globe and Agenda 21 programs:
* Waste minimization, reuse, recycling
* Transportation
* Energy efficiency, conservation, management
* Land-use planning and management
* Management of freshwater resources
* Involvement of staff, customers, communities in environmental issues
* Waste water management
* Design for sustainability
* Hazardous substances
* Partnerships for sustainable development

The report is a great educational or research tool for those teaching hospitality and tourism courses that focus or touch upon sustainability. I found it to have many practical examples of hotels around the world that have made the move to be more sustainable as well as some of the challenges that hold back well intended efforts to be more eco-friendly.

FELC to Launch e-Journal for Members

The FELC is making plans to launch a peer reviewed electronic journal for members in spring 2009. The journal will be dedicated to publishing high quality essays on teaching submitted by members, called the e-Journal of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Education (e-JCAHE)

One of the key features of the journal is that it will not be published on a periodic basis, common to most journals, instead articles will be added as they are accepted by reviewers so that there is a continuous stream of essays for members to consult to enhance the quality of their teaching.

Look for updates in the members newsletter and the Members Area of http://www.fooded.org/ for updates on submission and review guidelines. Dr. Mick La Lopa and Chef Michael Carmel will serve as the first Co-Editors and will form an editorial advisory board to review submissions so if interested please send an e-mail to mlalopa@fooded.org. If you are also interested in submitting articles for the e-JCAHE in the spring please also send an e-mail to mlalopa@fooded.org to start working on your potential publication.

The Gift of Food for Christmas

For most of you the semester or term has wound down or about at the end. What lies ahead is a winter or holiday break. No doubt all of you are on the faculty of programs that have a foodservice or culinary component, which means you may have an abundance of inventory sitting in dry, frozen, or cold storage. At the same time, there are food banks and homeless shelters in your community that are finding it more and more difficult to provide food for the growing ranks of the hungry due to the recession.

I know that funds are limited to the point that many have been asked to cut next year's budget but this is the season of giving and I would ask that you look at your inventory and find foods that you can donate to the local food bank or homeless shelther. Perhaps you and your students could even take a hot meal that you have prepared together and serve it at the local shelter, teaching your students the value of civic engagement.

All I can say is that the messages from the little match girl, George Bailey, Ebeneezer Scrooge, and countless others were not lost on me and hope that they were not lost on you either so am asking this day that you and I do what can be done to give the gift of food to those who might otherwise go hungry this Christmas.

Handling Student Confrontations

I reviewed this resource and found it to be a great way to observe a typical confrontation between students and faculty and advice on what should be done based on the advice of a consultant (found at the bottom of the script that follows the video case). The original message that I was sent to learn of this resource was as follows:

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Teaching and Learning, for example, have a series of streaming videos at http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/conflict/index.html that were produced to help faculty avoid difficult student confrontations before they happen by analyzing and responding to scenarios.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

I wanted to call your attention to the top left-hand column of this blog. The Extra! Extra! Read All About It! feature of the FELC blog allows you to one stop shop the news that effects all of us teaching culinary arts and hospitality. I wanted to put together something that I would use every day in the hopes that it would be of value to those following the blog, too. I find it a great resource to keep tabs on what is going on in academia and in the industry to keep pace with trends that may effect my students, my teaching, and my program. I hope it will serve you well as a quick way to find the news that matters to each and every one of you, too. To find current news stories just click on the title, such as "Culinary News" and the current stories in that category will appear below with a synopsis of the article that you can then click on to read the full story.

Bookmark This Online Journal

I belong to a great listserv and a post concerning the Mountain Rise journal came through a couple of days ago. I encourage you to visit it and review some of the excellent articles on teaching that may benefit your efforts to be a quality teacher:

The latest issue of MountainRise, the international e-journal for the scholarship of teaching and learning, is available at http://facctr.wcu.edu/mountainrise/issue.html. This issue covers topics such as: student feedback and critical thinking, cooperative service projects, electronic portfolios, and getting to know the millennial generation.

All the best!

My Beloved Industry Makes Me Crazy!!!!!!

In my sales class the students do a hands-on selling assignment to learn sales; a skill that cannot be learned from reading a book on sales. To simulate the sales function, the students sell merchandise as part of a student association fundraiser (Hospitality Sales and Marketing) to earn the right to go on the incentive trip that is established at the beginning of the semester. They are the ones who also choose the details of the incentive trip, which is usually a dine around to two or three restaurants by stretch limo, so it will be something they want to do and motivate them to sell their products (which they also choose) during the semester. It also allows me to teach them to do budgets on a small scale.

Last night was the big night. The students raised $18,000 from the sale of glassware with Purdue logos and met their sales targets for the dine around. Four stretch limos showed up outside our building to provide transportation to the first stop on the tour for the 46 students who earned the right to go on the dine around (actually the whole class earned the right but some opted out). The kids joyously jumped into their limos and headed out for their dine around. So far, so good!

The first stop on the tour went off without a hitch. We had pre-ordered the starters and they were ready when the students got there in the limos. I stopped in to pay the bill toward the end; I do not ride in the limos to "cramp their style."

The second stop would provide a sharp detour on what had been good food and service established at the previous restaurant. The limos pulled up as scheduled. I arrived a bit earlier to make sure they were ready for our party. When I went in some of my students were there working reception (hard not to find hospitality kids working in local restaurants and bars with 700 kids in the program) and showed me where they would be seated. To my surprise, smack in the middle of the tables that were set aside for our party was a four top that was finishing up. We had to wait for them but after 15 minutes I asked to start seating the students who were waiting outside in the limos, which interrupted what had no doubt been a quiet dinner for the four top up to that time.

The next snafu was when the kids called me over to point out the prices on the menu. Since the kids set the budget for the dine around we had done a pre-order using the online menu for the restaurant to help guide their choices and meet the budget. It turned out the actual prices were, on average, $10 higher than advertised on their website, which was disappointing to those who had pre-ordered as many as two entrees. I told them I was disappointed as well but the budget was still $45 for that stop on the dine around and to do their best ordering things they would like.

The next snafu hit. We sent in the pre-order yet I was watching the servers and noticed them taking orders. I approached one of the servers and asked why he was taking orders. Well, he said, he was allowing students to change their minds and was not not sure what became of the pre-order. He assured me it would not take interrupt the speed of service so I reluctantly allowed it to continue.

Okay, the salads and bread came up rather quickly. BUT 1.5 HOURS LATER THE ENTREES BEGAN TO ARRIVE even though I kept insisting they get them out sooner. I even had them take the orders for dessert or entree takeaways while we were sitting on our thumbs. Had I known that would have been the case I would have sent the kids back to their limos to drive around until the entrees were done.

Then the NEXT snafu hit. I had billed the place as being the best fine dining restaurant in town, which helped the students make their decision and choose it over another. So, I wanted to check with the students to see how they liked the food. Sadly, there were disappointed faces on many of the students faces. I asked what was wrong. Some had filet's and NY strips that were tasteless, one could not even eat the chicken parm because they apparently fried the breaded chicken breast until it was leather. I asked them what I could do to make it better, such as get a new entree, take it off the check, or get a voucher. I got the owner/manager, told him of the situation, and he went to retrieve one of the parms that was sitting in front of a student with a few bites taken out of it. He came back from the kitchen and said it was not too bad, "although the chicken was a bit overcooked."

Hello! That was what my students were complaining about! He said he did not want to argue, he wanted to make it right -- which was a very GOOD response indeed. I told him there were 12 students that would accept a voucher for any entree on their next visit because I really wanted them to see the place at its best.

But all was still not right with the world. I knew the students ordered desserts to go but the servers started to bring out trays stacked with small clam shells. INSIDE WERE THE SIDES THEY DID NOT BRING WITH THE ENTREES!

To compensate the time the students sat in the restaurant I asked them if they wanted to extend the limos another hour so they could drive around and enjoy them as planned and of course they thought that was a good thing to do, even though it added $400 to the pricetag of the dine around (which I had anticipated when setting the budget).

A longer story short, the students DROPPED $3,000 ON AN AVERAGE MEAL in the restaurant last night on the night dedicated to reward them and their sales prowess. The servers repeatedly apologized to the students for the poor service and average food but that only fell on deaf ears -- nobody who dines out wants apologies, they want great food and service. Besides, our students are trained to produce hospitality and they knew the details of the service shortcomings they experienced first hand.

I am still sad today as I write this blog and have called the owner/manager to request he call me so we can discuss the problems I encountered at dinner. I owe that to my students. I will walk him through the steps that led to the snafu last night, starting with the bad decision to allow the students to order anything they wanted off the online menu. They should, as we all know, have given the kids a limited menu to choose from to serve such a large party. There will be more to discuss NO DOUBT!

I guess the takeaway is that what would we expect our graduates to do if that was happening under their watch? Is it the responsibility of the customer to bring the manager over and express dissatisfaction with the food or service or do we teach our students to be proactive and go to the customer to find out? And if we are teaching them to do it, are they? Our industry is suffering right now due to the recession and if there were ever a time for our students and graduates to hang on to every customer that walks through the door -- and admonish those they work for for and/or those working for them that do not get this simple fact -- now is the time to do so. If not, McDonald's and Walmart will continue to eat away at daily stomach share because the price point is reasonable and the service sufferable (plus you get what you pay for when you have low expectations from the start)! It also means that those we are preparing for hospitality and culinary careers will find their career choices limited which may ultimately lead to steadily declining enrollments at our respective programs.

E-zine A Free Resource for Learning Community

There is an interesting online magazine that came to my attention today, called EzineArticles.com. It is a web-based platform that allows almost anyone to submit an article for publication. The Ezine can be accessed by visiting: http://www.ezinearticles.com/

From what I can gather this is no lightweight site for reading articles that are available to casual visitors and members due to submission guidelines. The detailed editorial guidelines can be reviewed by visiting the following website: http://www.ezinearticles.com/editorial-guidelines.html

There is a section on Food and Drink, which has articles in the following categories: Food and Drink, Chocolate, Coffee, Cooking Tips, Crockpot Recipes, Desserts, Low Calorie, Main Course, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Restaurant Reviews, Salads, Soups, Tea, and Wine Spirits. Those with expertise in these areas could certainly contribute great articles.

This may prove to be a great resource for those who need to get published at community colleges and four-year universities, providing your campus has not gone the snobbish route of ranking journals as top tier, second tier, etc. It may also be a resource that students can be sent to and find articles to help write papers, find new recipes, plan an event, and so forth, to support their studies. The possible utilities of the site are endless so worth checking out.

Listen to the Old Chefs

Our Chef Emeritus here in my department is Hubert Schmieder. Chef Schmieder is one of the last remaining old world chefs who has seen it all; and cannot believe much of what he sees today in the culinary world.

The one thing Chef sees that he cannot believe these days is the amount of food that is wasted in production whether it be underutilizing the product used to prepare meals, or the quantity of food prepared that well exceeded demand (meaning too much food was used in the first place), and the food that finds its way into the garbage. I loved it when he told me that he turned off the garbage disposal when he first came to Purdue because he wanted to know everthing that was being wasted so that he could adjust the production process to eliminate it.

The other recent comment he made is the current trend in cooking competitions and restaurants is the miniscule portion that is being served up. To his way of thinking, that is a tremendous amount of waste of labor and enegry to create something that nobody can identify what was used to prepare it in the first place. That is why he was delighted that cooking competitions are being won more often than not these days by chefs that are plating items that look like the food when presented to consumers or judges. In other words, when something is made from pork the customer can tell it right away instead of playing a guessing game of, "Is it..?"

I guess the message of today's post is that the culinary and hospitality world and those who are affiliated with it need to return to the roots established by the old world chefs and hoteliers. These are the people who epitomize what has become a throwaway line to many today, "Waste not, want not!" To them, being sustainable or "Green" is not something that should be in vogue, it should have been something that was the way of doing business all along. So tap into the memory bank of these "old chefs" who are "past their prime" and get them in touch with your program as much as possible because they know what it would take to use food to be more Green, end world hunger, and so much more.

End of Semester Rant

Oh, it is that time of the year!!! The time of the year when students turn into lawyers and lobbyists to have me bend and twist the rules to make up for their fact that THEY ARE NOT GOOD STUDENTS!

Case in point, I just had an exam that could be taken online. The exam date is noted in the agenda, the exam parameters are outlined in the syllabus, the students were asked if they had any questions the class period before the examination period, and the exam dates and times were posted on the class website. The students THEN HAD A 30 HOUR WINDOW to take the exam anywhere they liked with assistance from their notes. I honestly do not see how I could have given a more fair exam.

YET, starting two days after the exam period had closed the e-mails started to find their way to my inbox from students who missed the exam for countless reasons to justify the opportunity to make it up. I also was paid a personal visit by a student who now is claiming a disability in the 14th WEEK OF THE SEMESTER as the reason for causing the missed exam. Yikes!!!!!!!!!

The syllabus clearly states that if a student cannot complete an assignment, like the exam, they are to bring it to my attention BEFORE the assignment comes due and that once the due date passes the grade earned will be a zero. I am also happy to accommodate any and all students who have a learning disability prior to the due date of the assignment and do so happily to level the playing field for all students. That, of course, has fallen on deaf ears because it was of course NOT THE STUDENT'S FAULT they missed the exam; it was everyone and everything else in the world that was to blame. Heaven forbid the students owned up to their error, took the zero, learned not to do that again, and move on making them a better student when all said and done, which I hope will happen but will have to wait and see.

So now some of the "aggrieved students" -- who in FACT BLEW THE ASSIGNMENT ARE NOW LOOKING FOR SALVATION -- are climbing the chain of command to tell my department head , dean, and the office of the Dean of Students how "unfair" I am not to let them take the exam. Indeed I may even be pressed to not do what is right in this situation and be forced to reward irresponsible students with a mulligan to take the exam which goes against every ethical fiber in my body. It also cheapens the efforts, in my book, of all those students who simply took the exam as expected and is the BIGGEST SIN OF ALL.

I am ranting about this today because I think it is yet another "brick in the wall" of what is wrong with the American Society today. Each class of students I see entering college has the attitude of being entitled to a degree instead of making the grade and earning it the old fashioned way -- through hard work and dedication to ones' studies -- and we have got to do our level best to establish standards and stick to them for THEIR SAKE because the world does not give mulligans to those who screw up -- unless of course you are a Wall Street bank and got some of that government bailout money, which is another story -- and we do them no favors by continually cutting them slack.

So to all those of you out there who have standards of excellence and not willing to compromise on them to accommodate those who do NOT DESERVE such accommodation I applaud you today and want you to know you are not the one with the problem. It is those who do not play by the rules yet want to be treated like those that did who are the problem.

So I would like to end this post with one of my favorite lines from the movie Brubaker, starring Robert Redford, which tells the true story of a man who took over a prison and the obstacles he ran into by those managing the prison system when he tried to run the prison according to the law: "You can compromise on strategy but not on priniple." So my hat is off to all of you out there who took a principled stand and did the right thing and not bowing to the dark forces of entitlement!

So for those of you who need to rant about a same or similar situation please add to today's post.

Green Schools Inititative

I love the Internet. It is a marvelous way to find great information on accident when looking for something else. I found the website when looking for one a colleague was telling me about, which is a multi-layer marketing business (yes, like Amway or Mary Kay) that could be a great investment opporunity (http://ilearningglobal.biz/product.html) that sells online content for businesses and business people. I typed in the wrong URL and instead got an Internet site that should be of keen interest to our learning community because it has to do with greening schools and campuses.

The URL I ran across happily by accident was for Global Learning (http://www.globallearningnj.org/), which belongs to the New Jersey Sustainable Schools Network, defined as, "a new partnership of individual schools, professional associations, higher education groups, state agencies, state-based, regional and national nonprofit organizations, and corporations. Our long range goal is to promote education for a sustainable future -- local as well as global -- in all schools in New Jersey, working through existing educational organizations and agencies in a consortial approach." I found the website to be a very useful tool for those looking for ideas on making their school more sustainable.

As it turns out, the initiative in New Jersey is affiliated with the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE)(http://www.ase.org/section/_audience/educators/). According to the home page on the educators tab for the site: "Schools spend more on energy than on computers and textbooks combined. Reducing energy use is an effective way to help cash-strapped schools funnel more money into the classroom instead of the local utility. Just as important, the concept of energy efficiency provides multidisciplinary learning opportunities in math, science, and language arts. The Alliance to Save Energy offers educators a wide range of tools and resources to bring energy efficiency into the classroom to save energy while helping students build vital real-world skills."

The ASE has programs for K-12 (http://www.ase.org/section/program/greenschl/) and college campuses (http://www.ase.org/section/program/greencampus) which covers all of us in the learning community. After checking out these websites, if you are doing something at your school or campus along these lines, and/or affiliated with the Energy Saving Alliance please add to this post.

The Reality of the Recession

Wow, what a difference a year makes. It is one thing to read about the recession but it is another matter to witness it first hand. I am in Louisville, KY, getting ready for my son to compete in a regional gymnastics competition tomorrow. We are staying in the same hotel we stayed in last year and ate at the same Cracker Barrel that is located next door.

The first sign of a downturn is the parking lot. It was next to impossible to find a space near the hotel when we stayed here last year. This time, even though we checked in at 7 pm, we parked two spaces down from the front door. And when we went to eat at the Cracker Barrel we were immediately seated compared to the 20 minute wait we had last year.

As I look around to the parking lots of nearby hotels and restaurants I see the same thing. I see that this recession is a reality and our beloved industry is suffering along with the rest of retail.

What this means to me is that all of those students graduating from my program who were used to having 3 and 4 job offers at December and May graduation may not be so fortunate this year, which is why we should prepare our students for the limited job prospects they are about to discover. Perhaps we suggest they take more courses and postpone graduation. Perhaps we tell them to take any offer they can get, even if it is an hourly position, to at least get their foot in the door and in position for the opportunities that are sure to present themselves in six to 12 months. Perhaps you have other ideas in mind.

In any event, a discussion may well be in order to help our graduates prepare for the inevitable and show them that we do have their best interests in mind and prepared to do what we can to make a successful transition to their chosen careers. If any of you have any other ideas as to what we can do to prepare our students for limited job prospects please respond to this post and share with our community.

e-Journal with Great Teaching Tips

This resource hit my e-mail inbox today. The e-mail announced the fifth issue of Kwantlen Polytechnic University's eJournal -Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal. ISSN 1918-0853. I have given it a quick review and found the issue to contain lots of articles that had information that would apply to any culinary arts or hospitality classroom or laboratory.

The Volume 2, Issue 2, November 2008 is entitled, My Classroom: Reflection on Practise and Practices, Personal SoTL about Real Learning by Current Educators. This issue can be read for free by visting: http://kwantlen.ca/TD/Current_Issue.html

The home page for the e-journal can be found by visiting: http://kwantlen.ca/TD

Students Lie, Cheat, Steal...but no Big Deal!

I am alarmed at the results from the recent survey of close to 30,000 students by the Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, which can be read by visiting:
http://charactercounts.org/programs/reportcard/index.html.

The basic findings found that, on average, 30% of students acknowledged stealing from a store in the past year, with boys more likely than girls to do it. There were 1/5th who indicated they stole something from a friend. The study also found that cheating is rampant with 64% indicating they cheated on a test in the past year. Another 36% indicated they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment.

…..Yet, 93% of those surveyed said they were SATISFIED with their personal ethics and character.

The study findings suggest dire implications for those of us who are getting ready to accept the next generation of high school students on to our respective campuses? Talk about Gen-Disconnect?!

Yikes! How will we handle students who do things that are at odds with true ethical behavior? What is it about the way we will teach them that will enable them to find it easy to cheat? Will large classes make it easier to cheat than in small ones? Does more online learning make it easier to cheat than sitting in a classroom? Will this phenomena be tied to one discipline or all of them on a college campus? What does it suggest they are capable of doing once they are out of school and owning/managing foodservice or lodging businesses? The prospects are frightening indeed!

In any event, the facts of the survey (especially its generalizablity) suggest that we are going to have to be more vigilant as to whether or not students are doing their own work less we be fooled that they are “learning” from us in our classrooms and laboratories?

Perhaps we can have a roundtable discussion based on this study at the upcoming Summit in Charleston. If interested send an e-mail to Mick La Lopa at mlalopa@fooded.org.

Green Vodka

I thought I would continue to speak to beverage service topics that I started on yesterday's post.

If you talk to managers in hospitality businesses today, they will tell you that more and more individuals and groups are asking them "how green" the restaurant or hotel is before choosing to do business with it. If our graduates are not able to field that question in an intelligent manner they will continue to lose business to those that have plenty to say about their ongoing efforts and NOT their plans to do so.

To help along those lines is the emerging Green vodka product line. Vodka is a popular spirit among customers so it may be one of the safest bets to start stocking behind the bar. Especially when there are a large selection of domestic and imported vodkas that range in price to accommodate those who are buying Green.

A selection of Green vodkas can be found by visiting:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/buying-guides/buy-green-vodka.html.
In the event that the link goes away one day, you can directly access various vodka purveyors by visiting the following websites:
Prairie Organic Vodka (Minnesota) has a very cool site: http://www.prairievodka.com/
Reya Vodka (Iceland) another cool site: http://www.reykavodka.com/
Square One Vokda (California): http://www.squareonevodka.com/

Beverage Service Insights

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! The time spent with the family in Florida has even more appeal to immediately return as snow now blankets central Indiana.

I wanted to touch on the importance of beverage management today after sitting in a sports bar yesterday watching football. During the course of the game I observed so many bad behaviors being exhibited on the part of the bartender, of which some could have cost people their lives. I think it is important that we not only teach kids how alcoholic beverages are produced and how they fit into the scheme of a single meal or event, but responsible service on part of the staff.

Case in point. While sitting at the bar there was a group of "spirited" individuals who were very much enjoying themselves. One member of the party came to the bar, there were no servers, to pay the tab for the table. The bartender ran the credit card and had the man sign for it. During this transaction another member of the party came to the bar to see what he owed, if anything. The first gentleman responded that he had taken care of it. That was when the bartender indicated that the second gentleman indeed did owe for his drinks. The first gentleman asked how that could be when he asked to pick up the check for the table. The bartender indicated that he had not added it to the first charge, so the first gentlemen asked that he do so. Moments later it turned out that other drinks had not been paid for either. While the bartender kept going back to the register the patrons became increasingly frustrated with the fact that something so simple had all of a sudden become terribly complicated. They were not speaking to highly of the business at that point and talked amongst themselves as to whether or not they would leave any kind of a tip, especially when they had initially intended to leave a most geneous tip based on service provided up to the point of paying for the check. Finally, the first customer asked the bartender once more if he was heard when he had asked to pick up the tab for the table. The bartender indicated that he did not hear the man say that, which was easily construed as a lie. Needless to say, the party left the establishment in disgust over something that should have been so simple.

Another critical incident that caught my attention was irresponsible service on the part of the bartender. Across the bar from me were four men enjoying the Colts game. They were also "spirited." The bartender honored the request to serve up four generous Bull Blasters (Jagermeister & Red Bull). About 15 minutes later, the same request was honored by the bartender. The request to fill their basic drink orders in the meantime were also granted. In the span of one hour the four patrons were well above the blood alcohol limit to be charged with a DUI. No mention of this was made to the patrons by the bartender and am sure service continued after I left. In other words, the bartender was participating in a chain of events that could have provent to have had lethal consequences for those four patrons as well as those whom they may have encountered while driving home, or at home. I am also positive that this is not an isolated incident and the scenario plays itself out in countless restaurants and bars across the US every day in lieu of the fact that more efforts are being made on the part of law enforcement to curb drunken driving, groups like MADD, and others.

I guess the message today is that responsible beverage service is something that we must continually remind our students to practice when out there cooking and/or manging hospitality businesses. Yes, the bar business can be profitable but it can also put people in an early grave if not managed properly. One of the things I recommend we do as educators is to take students into the bar and sit at a corner table and have them observe the interaction between servers, bartenders and patrons to see if beverages are being served in a responsible manner. In this way it is possible to openly discuss the observations made -- and missed -- by the students to help them learn practical ways to manage responsible beverage service. Most important of all, students engage in a dialogue with each other and the teacher on how to balance the interests of the business with those of the customer so that both remain viable.

Customer Service Tips Learned at the Supermarket

Those of you who live in the Orlando area, or may have visited, have probably seen or shopped in a Publix. There is one located down the road from where we are staying and when we first entered it there was nothing special about the place as it looked like most supermarkets. What set it apart the first night we visited was when we found that there were no gallons of skim milk on the shelf. We approached an employee working at the seafood counter to ask if there was someone we could talk to that worked in dairy. She said she would call someone and that person appeared almost immediately out of the back to answer our question concerning the pricing of the milk. He said he would check with the manager. He soon came back and said that would be okay and that he would take us to checkout to tell the cashier about the pricing change. We indicated we had a few more items to purchase and instead of disappearing until we needed to head to checkout he took us personally to find our remaining items. I was floored! Never, and I mean never, has a supermarket employee ever given me the Ritz Carlton, "show the customer where things are" treatment. He then ushered us to the check out and told us to have a great night -- and he meant it!

Tonight we needed to get a few more items for tomorrow's Thansgiving dinner. As we were doing so we happened upon the deli area and were admiring the fried chicken, which truly looked delicious in its freshly fried golden brown state. As we were looking an employee walked over to us and asked if there was anything she could do to help us -- and she meant it, too. We said the chicken looked delicious and were it not so late we might be tempted to eat some. She indicated that it was indeed delicious and freshly made an recommended we try it on another visit perhaps.

On the way through the checkout the cashier looked at our purchases and saw that we had a store brand and Ocean Spray jellied cranberry (the goal being to save a bit of money on cranberry and hoped the difference in taste would be negligible). The cashier pointed out that the Ocean Spray was a buy-one get one. I said, "thank you," that was nice of you to bring that to our attention." She said, "I know times are tough and if I can save customers money I will do what I can to help," -- and she meant it!

Needless to say I grabbed the manager who happened to arrive on the scene at our checkout to straighten the shelves nearby and told her we really were impressed with the customer service we have been given by all employees, especially employees like Angela who told us about the cranberry. The manager said with pride, "That is why we hired Angela and people like her." The look on Angela's face suggested we made her night a little brighter, too.

I guess the bottom line is that we can never let our students take the recruitment, selection, and training of employees too lightly, because those are then the people who will become synonymous with the business they will one day own or manage leading to their success or failure. I saw no "warm bodies" filling customer contact positions at Publix; instead I experienced people who were hired because they were built for customer care. I wish I encountered more of the same at the restaurants I have dined in or hotels I have stayed in over the years that, on balance, have provided more bad customer service stories than good ones, and great fodder for underscoring points made during a lecture on how NOT to treat customers. I only hope now that the same is true at the other Publix stores we have driven past on our way from one place to another in the Orlando area. For those who have had a similar experience at Publix please feel free to share them in response to this post.

In the meantime, have a Great Thanksgiving! Time to put the blog down and spend the next four days with friends and family being completely thankful for my many blessings at work and home. I hope you will all do the same.

Hard to Beat the Mouse

Well, the mouse did it again! I showed up to the Magic Kingdom today with the family. The day began with sticker shock. The admission fee for a one day pass for four adults and 1 child (defined as 10+ or older at Disney!) came to $366, which the cashier told me with very little difficulty at all. Once my brain stopped yelling, $366?!, I handed over the visa and tried to forget that was a mere $144 away from what I used to make a month as a grad student not so long ago.

It was a perfect day with some clouds, no rain, and not too overrun with rival park goers who we would compete with throughout the day to ride the best rides. For those who have been to the magic kingdom, you will appreciate that our day began by literally walked right into the Haunted Mansion, then over to the Tiki Room, and on to the Jungle Boat cruise in the first hour! The same was true up to about lunch, where we stopped to have a two taco special (which you get to fill on your own at a buffet lade with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream), which was a real bargain at $29? After our tasty lunch we then went on to more rides, the character parade, and then more rides, the longest of which ended our day after an hour wait to ride the Thunder Mountain Train. Oh, and somewhere along the way we enjoyed a snack of 3 sundaes, a vanilla-chocolate twist, and cup of coffee for a mere $19.00.

In other words, Disney got $400 deep into my wallet. But guess what? It is amazing that when all was said and done the money spent was -- dare I say it -- worth it. The cleanliness of the park, the great rides, the truly accurate wait times quoted for rides, the decent food, the great parades, the highly trained "cast," the characters, the Florida weather, and the countless other tangible and intangible aspects of service, that are far too numerous to mention in this blog all worked together to provide my family and I with an unforgettable experience. One that so impressed me -- again -- that I wanted to share it on today's blog. I guess the message of this post is that customers will pay a higher price for those services that provide them with a memorable (good) experience, like we had today at Disney, even in an economic downturn like the one we are in where Disney is not lowering its prices to stimulate demand for its attractions (except the standard ones that kick in when you spend more days at Walt Disney World).

So, today, let us rededicate ourselves to making sure that our students have a real keen sense on what it means to deliver high quality customer service to their future guests. Paying attention to customer care details will enable our students to grow the top line and the bottom line from those who, like me, felt they got every penny for the money they paid for a day that my family and I are not soon to forget -- at a mere $400!

Turkey Prep Tips from Orlando

Well, the great thing about a blog is you can do it anywhere, anytime, with a laptop and a wireless connection; like here in Orlando on a fall break vacation with the family. While my wife reads to my son and the girls are texting their friends back home I can catch up on some e-mail and the blog as day 2 in Orlando comes to a close. I must confess that the one thing I think I like the least about Orlando, as someone who does not know enough about the area as I would like, is the utter lack of local eateries that are family friendly, like those great "greasy spoons" I loved so much back in my home town of Rochester, NY. And when you do find something that might have that family friendly potential, the curbside appeal, the staff and/or the menu are cause to keep driving down the road. What makes it worse is that when asking the question, "Where do the locals eat?," the recommendation is a chain restaurant, too!

Oh well, the search will continue in the remaining days left for that "Diners, Drive-thrus, and Dives" kinda place anywhere close to where we are staying. In the meantime, if you, your students, or anyone else you know is looking for some turkey cooking tips, recipes, etc., here are some resources from the National Turkey Federation, enjoy: https://exchange.purdue.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.eatturkey.com/consumer/thanks.html

Some Thanksgiving Humor!

An e-mail has been going around the internet sharing some humorous Thanksgiving cartoons so thought I would share some as we head into the holidays:

FELC Welcomes 30th Member!

The FELC is pleased to have reached a milestone of 30 members in our learning community. Our 3oth member is Dr. Korus Byron Korus, Ed.D., CEC., CCE., AAC. Byron has a storied and interesting background and will be a great addition to the learning community.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree from North Dakota State University in Pharmacy. In addition, he received a culinary certificate in applied food science in culinary arts in Moline, Illinois and worked in various hotels in Illinois to hone his art. Moving to Minneapolis, Byron was the executive chef for the Minneapolis/St.Paul Airport Hilton Chef Korus. Previously he has been an executive chef for many large hotels, restaurant and entertainment complexes; the Hotel Pere Marquette in Illinois, the Jumer Chateau Hotel in Bloomington, Illinois, and the Illinois Boat Works Project. He has also served as the food and beverage director for "Mississippi Live", and worked as a sales manager for Kraft Food Service. After starting his own company, Special Events Catering, Chef Korus went on to purchase Chuckwagon Catering in 1994. Chef Korus is a certified culinary educator and a certified executive chef, and was inducted into the Academy of Chefs in 2001. His previous awards include winning the National Taste of Elegance contest, winning many statewide Taste of Elegance contests and others, being voted Chef of the Year in Illinois and Minnesota, and receiving the Four-Diamond Award while employed at the Minneapolis Airport Hilton's Biscayne Bay Restaurant. Byron started teaching culinary art at the Art Institutes International Minnesota in 1998 where teaching became a new passion. Korus attended St Mary’s University receiving a M.A. and continued on for his doctorate. from Hamline University in St. Paul Minnesota. Byron’s dissertation focus is how team-based learning enhances knowledge building in a culinary environment.

Welcome aboard, Byron!

Research Hot off the Presses!

A professor who teaches a large lecture class (yes, me) with 210 students at a Big Ten University asked his freshman introductory course two basic questions just this morning. The two questions and the results follow:
1. Did you come to college to:
a. Learn from a computer?
b. Learn from a professor?
2. Do you prefer taking classes that?
a. Are taught with 200 to 1,000 students in class?
b. Are taught with a small number of students in class?

Of course, you will not be too amazed to learn that the majority of the students came to the university to learn from a professor in a small classroom setting. Although these results are based on a convenience sample I am willing to think that they are generalizable to incoming freshmen (or most students) at your campuses, too.

The reason I am bringing this up now is that there is a steady movement in higher education to think -- or want to prove somehow -- that computer-based learning is as acceptable (effective?) to students as being taught by a professor. I will forever contend that there is no substitute for a living, breathing, human being standing in the midst of students to broker teaching and learning. Technology is a great way to supplement that interaction, and even enhance it, but NEVER to replace it. If any of you have taught an online course you would know this to be true. So please be on guard to refrain from relying too much on computer-assisted-instruction (CAI), and keep those class sizes as small as is financially feasible, for the sake of our profession and the ability of students to compete and win one day in their chosen profession.

This post in no way is intended to be a slam on those that offer degrees only online, they are a viable way for those who cannot return to school to complete their degree, but I must confess there is a little something lost from the "college experience" by not being on campus to grab a cup of coffee and debate the issues of the day with a classmate, bear witness to a heated debate in the classroom between students and teachers, and more. It is just different.

2009 Summit Update

The response to the call for proposals has been great. We are happy to report that the opportunity to attend panel sessions, workshops, standup presentations, and poster sessions pertaining to culinary arts and hospitality education during the Summit will be available to attendees due to the great response!

To provide more educators the chance to participate in the Summit we have extended the deadline for proposal submissions to December 1. So if you put off submitting a proposal because you thought you missed the deadline you now have more time to submit one and make a contribution to our learning community. Please visit the following URL for information on proposal submissions for the Summit: https://www.fooded.org/annualconf.html

Please also note that the deadline for proposals to participate in the Ultimate Teaching Competition are to be submitted to Michael Carmel electronically via e-mail at mcarmel@fooded.org by December 15. For more information also visit: https://www.fooded.org/annualconf.html

FELC Welcomes John Drysdale to Advisory Board

We are pleased to add John A. Drysdale to the FELC Advisory Board. John, a long time top notch hospitality educator, is Professor Emeritus at Johnson County Community College, where he taught in the Hospitality Management Department. He has worked with the National Restaurant Association Solutions serving as an author and an advisor to the Manage First series and as an advisor to Pro Start. Additionally, he wrote the online menu course for the American Culinary Federation. He has served as a consultant on many projects including kitchen design and layout, food service operations and college curriculum development.

Professor Drysdale received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from Michigan State University and a Master of Science Degree in Administration from Central Michigan University. He is the author of Profitable Menu Planning, which is in its fourth edition, published by Prentice Hall and Foodservice Equipment; Operation, Sanitation and Maintenance, published by Hospitality Publications LLC.

John will be contributing to the content we will be adding to Members Area after January 1, 2009 and making presentations at the Summit. Welcome aboard, John. We look forward to the benefits you will bring our learning community for years to come!

FELC Welcomes Le Cordon Bleu as a New Sponsor

We are very pleased to announce that the Le Cordon Bleu Schools North America has signed on to be sponsor of the Foodservice Educators Learning Community. The Le Cordon Bleu is a recognized leader in culinary education worldwide and with 14 affiliate campuses in North America the Le Cordon Bleu name is synonymous with culinary tradition and innovation. A spokesperson for Le Cordon Bleu says, "We look forward to a great 2009 Summit in Charleston, South Carolina, and a lasting relationship with the FELC." We can assure the Le Cordon Bleu that the feeling is mutual.

To learn more about Le Cordon Bleu visit: www.cordonbleuschoolsusa.com

Foodservice Case Study -- Laverne & Shirley Show

Many of you are probably familiar with YouTube and if not your students definitely are into it. It can be a wonderful -- free -- resource for educators to do video case studies with students to underscore points made in almost any culinary arts or hospitality class that I can think of to support interactive teaching.

For example, below is a YouTube video of a clip from a Laverne and Shirley episode where they worked in a diner. If you have worked in a restaurant you can definitely relate to what it is like when the front of the house and back of the house are overwhelmed with orders from hungry customers and the system breaks down. I know it took me back to some crazy moments when I worked as a line cook and kitchen manager when a much younger man.

The video clip (which was brought to my attention by a student in my large intro class) shows Laverne and Shirley trying to work in a diner as a singular cook and server, which is reminiscent of the Waffle House or any small scale family "greasy spoon" that is sparsely staffed. This particular video is not only entertaining but provides for a great classroom discussion that could start with a simple question, such as, "If you were called in to manage this operation, what would you do to fix the system to better process customer orders?" There is no telling how much students might see, or miss, when given the chance to apply foodservice management principles so give it a whirl. The video can be accessed by visiting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7oHvQu-dc4

If you choose to use this video, or are doing something similar in your class, please share with our learning community by responding to this post.

The FRLA Green Restaurant & Hospitality Summit

For those of you who are interested in sustainable business practices in hospitality you might be interested in the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) Green Restaurant & Hospitality Summit to be held in Orlando, January 27, 2009.

The conference is intended for those interested in obtaining valuable information on attainable, measurable and sustainable foodservice business practices. The one-day summit seeks to, embrace the green economy, analyze the impact on the industry, identify innovative ways to reduce your carbon footprint, create "green jobs" and identify cost-effective means to become sustainable while measuring the outcome.

There will be a Food Service Track offering insights on: menu planning, sourcing from local markets, recycling and composting, water conservation, marketing, measuring the carbon footprint, and more. There will be a Sustainable Faciliities Management Track offering insights on: sustainable design, green practices, engaging employees in your sustainable mission, and more. There will also be sponsors on hand to offer eco-friendly, green productsand services relevant to the hospitality industry.

For more information visit: http://www.eventbrite.com/contact-organizer?eid=160690630

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

So, if there are people or things in your life that are dragging you down, or you know someone in need of a little encouragement, perhaps watch the video that was posted to YouTube and your/their cares and woes may very well be put into perspective and make for a more inspired outlook on life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0DRk8dFjI

Food Network Grilling Special...Act Fast

According to a recent promotional flyer, the Food Network is doing a special on grilling and is accepting video questions. So if you or your students want a shot at appearing on the Network to ask a question on grilling, here is the essence of the press release:

Itching for new ideas for your grill? Tired of burning your bbq? Never fear, Food Network is here! Your favorite Food Network chefs are standing by to answer all your questions on Dear Food Network: Grilling. Ask your favorite Food Network star a grilling question about seafood, grilled desserts, American classics (burgers, ribs, bbq chicken) or global flavors such as Mexican, Indian, Italian, Korean, Greek, Brazilian, etc.

We’re looking for fun, creative 20-second video questions (DVD or MiniDV) to incorporate into the show. For video guidelines please contact us at foodnetworkseries@gmail.com. The best videos will be aired on the show!

Deadline is Monday December 8th so act fast!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle...

As many of you know, taking an international trip produces lots of "seat time" in airports, planes, train stations, trains, etc., en route to one's chosen destination. I do not dread those long trips as they provide a great chance to get to read the many books I have stockpiled for just such an occasion.

On my most recent trip to Wales, I took along the New York Times Bestseller (paperback edition) of Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. I highly recommend the book for anyone wanting to learn more about life on the farm and what is involved in rasiing plant and animal life to live on instead of using the local mega-mart. The author catalogues the decision made by her family to move from Arizona to southern Appalachia and all the trials and tribulations that happened during the first year of becoming self-sufficient. The book is well-written and easy to read and packed with interesting facts on raising and eating many forms of plant and animal life. It also has plenty of troubling facts about the sad state of the planet based on our lack of respect for it, such as:

• About a third of all our calories now come from what is known, by community consent, as junk food.
• Purchasing that banana from Ecuador does not so much help the farmer, who makes $6/day as much as the CEO of Dole, who is worth $1.4 billion, because so much money is made in the global reshuffling of food that benefit the processors, brokers, shippers, supermarkets and oil companies. (Oh, yeah, "We do it all for you!)
• Of the 400 million turkeys consumed each year, more than 99% of them are a single breed: the Broad-Breasted White, a quick fattening monster bred specificially for industrial-scale setting...if one were to somehow escape slaughter it would not live past one-year because it would collapse under its own weight, which means it cannot breed and makes for an easy meal because it cannot protect itself from predators that fancy turkey meat!

All in all, the book was an interesting read for anyone interested in learning more about what one can do to turn back the tide of industrialized and globalized food by growing more plants and animals for personal consumption (or sharing with others) and supporting local farmers.

Seasonality in the UK

I have been in Wales, UK, this past week working on some sustainable tourism research that I started during my sabbatical for spring semester. I will be sharing the results of that research in future blogs and the member's area.

People often say that the British are not famous for being good cooks but I have found the opposite to be true whether it is in the corner pub, someone's home, or anywhere else I have enjoyed a meal. Take for example the fish and chips I had the other night here in the town of Penarth, where I am staying on my current visit. The shop owner uses nothing but fresh cod, that he batters himself just before frying; he also hand cuts and fries fresh potatoes to make his chips. Talk about delicious and a real bargain; you get a huge piece of fresh cod and more chips (fried potatoes) than you could possibly eat for 2.50 Sterling (or $4.00 at current exchange with the dollar).

The other thing I notice here that I do not see happening in the states, apart from Thanksgiving perhaps, is that when I have a meal in someone's home they are using only seasonal vegetables, which are lovely when roasted whole in the oven, perhaps coated with a small bit of goose fat. I went to dinner at a friend's home and the dinner consisted of roast lamb (with homemade mint sauce and gravy) along with the following roasted veggies: sweet potato, whole onion, potato, swede, and miniature pumpkins (yes, the ones we Americans use to decorate at Halloween). It was marvelous! It was also eye-opening because too many people I know back home (including restaurants) are still trying to serve vegetables that were in season in spring or summer and satisfy their unrealistic cravings from purveyors or markets that ship them in from parts unknown around the world, which of course contributes to global warming when shipped by land, sea, and air. It is a shame, really, because it means too many Americans are less tied to the land and change of seasons that exist outside our door keeping us in harmony with our natural surroundings and opt instead to live an artificial existence from the neighborhood "super" market.

When all is said and done, I guess the message for today is that we need to teach our students how to be more seasonal and ultimately provide their customers with a more rich and rewarding experience when dining out in any given locale. Not only will the customer experience something new but it will tie them closer to the natural world of which we tend to forget we are an integral part!

Today's the Day

Greetings from the UK. I am amazed at the number of people I have met here in Wales on my current visit who want to talk about today's election. To avoid being too political, I will not share who it is they hope gets into office (and it is unanimous) after all the votes have been counted but am truly amazed as to how informed they are on the credentials and positions of both candidates -- which is sadly more than I can say about many I talk to back home -- and they are not even voting in today's election but understand the implications for the UK.

So what does this have to do with culinary arts and hospitality education? It has everything to do with it. It suggests we need to do all we can to inspire our students to become lifelong learners and take the time to do keep up with WORLD NEWS & EVENTS to make informed choices that effect their lives and careers whether it is the decision on who to vote for in a national election, or what new item to put on the menu. Our students should leave us with a craving for learning that rivals their passion for cooking to make them equally successful citizens and hospitality professionals. Afterall, are we not the ones who constantly scan the media to make sure we are up to date on the events in the world that impact what we are teaching in the classroom, laboratory, or field to make us better teachers? If so, then we have got to pass that along to our students for the sake of the communities of which they will one day be a part and our profession.

Guest Speaker Series, P IV

These are the remaining tips on what do do before, during and after the speaker visits class to mazimize the quality of the visit.

Prior

• Be sure the speaker is on board with his her role in the class for that day.
  Meet the speaker in the main office and walk him or her to your office to go over presentation or to the classroom to get set up. If you are unable to do this get a student volunteer from the class. I have yet to meet a guest speaker who was not interested in talking to students.
• Remind speaker of how long the class meets and the signal that will be used when it is time to bring the presentation to a close, Q&A, etc.

During

• Do an energetic and meaningfully brief intro of the speaker once class starts.
• Remain in the class for the presentation; what message is being sent students if you do not care to stay and hear presentation?
• Monitor students and make sure they are all paying attention, text messaging, etc.

After

• If possible take the speaker to lunch or coffee or dinner depending on time of presentation.
  Have someone escort the speaker to their car or make sure they have proper directions to not only remember where they parked but how to get back home.
• Debrief the presentation with the students to see if they have further questions, comments about what was presented, etc.
• If the speaker was good add them to your database to invite back to class to speak on the same or possibly different topic.
• I like to send a handwritten thank you note, with my business card in it.
• Ask the students if the speaker should be invited back to speak to another class.

I hope these tips have helped shape high quality presentations of future guest speakers. If you have tips of your own and would like to share please add to this post, or send to me at Mlalopa@fooded.org and I will share in a future post.

Guest Speaker Series, P III

Now that the decision has been made and plans in place with the speaker ahead of his or her visit, the next thing to do is proplery prepare students so they will get as much out of it as possible. Students can be prepared in the following ways:

• To have the students get the most out of the presentation they have to be held accountable to it so they will pay close attention. You might decide to put key points on the next quiz so they will take notes (which speakers like to see). I have students write a reflection paper in response to five key questions relating to the presentation that is graded.
• I tell my students that if it turns out that the speaker is the most boring person they ever heard in their life they are to sit up straight in their chairs and make it seem as though it the person is the best speaker ever to respect them taking the time to visit the class.
• I have quite a few speakers speak in my HR class. At the beginning of the semester I have the kids brainstorm questions that could be asked of the speaker. I type them up on a sheet of paper and then we do a voting process to come up with the six to eight questions to ask of each speaker. We then rotate who asks the questions from speaker to speaker to get them all involved. We then compare the answers from speaker to speaker to see how similar or different on issues such as advancement potential, training, etc. Besides, it is usually the case that when the speaker leaves time for questions it is often the case that students do not have any for fear of “asking a dumb question in front of their peers.”
• Remind the students to give a great round of applause when the speaker is done to show their appreciation for the speaker and the time they took to spend with students.
  A small token of your appreciation is a great way to thank the speaker because everyone loves a gift now and then no matter how big or small!

Guest Speaker Series, Part II

Now that the decision has been made to bring in a speaker, there are lots of things to do in preparation for the visit, such as the following:

• Most agree that it is a good idea to send the speaker a copy of the related readings that the students will have done in preparation for the class the day they are to present. They also think it wise to send the speaker an outline of the key points you would like covered so there will be no unpleasant surprises.
• It is important to let the guest speaker know your teaching style. If you primarily lecture it might be awkward if the guest speaker wants to lead a class wide discussion on the topic he or she was brought in to cover if the students are not used to it.
• Try to meet with the person face-to-face or over the phone to review materials you may have sent them and address questions they may have about the class, etc.
  Obtain a brief bio of the speaker to use to introduce them to the class. If the speaker sends his or her life story be sure to edit it down to highlight key accomplishments or those relevant to the topic they are presenting.
• Determine all of the AV needs the speaker. Some like to bring their own laptop but will they be able to use it to make the presentation in the class they are speaking? Will they bring their own projector or will you need to provide one? Is there a PC in the classroom and is the software they intend to use compatible with it? Will the PC accommodate files stored on a CD, floppy, Zip drive, or memory stick? Should they instead send their presentation ahead of time to be ready to go at the start of class and save time? What if they want to show a VHS or DVD? Will they want Internet connection? What about audio needs if want to play a cassette tape or CD? What if they have transparencies? How about a flip chart? Will they need a microphone if presenting in large lecture class? Will they need a microphone? The AV needs need to be clearly identified to avoid last minute search and rescue missions to enable the speaker to make the presentation.
• Will the speaker have handouts? If so, will they bring enough copies for the students or will you be asked to make the copies? If asked to make copies you might request to preview them to determine if worth handing out otherwise a few copies could be scanned and put online or housed in the library.
• Make sure the speaker writes down the time and date of the presentation and has good directions for getting to campus, meeting with you, and/or heading to the classroom if pressed for time. Maps and parking passes may be necessary.
• Make sure the speaker knows the audience. Is it a class of first year students with limited knowledge of the industry? You do not want the speaker to talk over their heads. Is it an advanced class? The speaker needs to adjust accordingly.
• Is the room conducive to what the speaker wants to do with the class? It might be impossible to do team-based activities if the room has fixed seating or not enough room to allow students to spread out.
• Encourage the speaker to speak from personal experience. It is best that they speak to what they know best then the “if I were you” presentation which can be a real turn-off.
  Be very careful if asking the speaker to present on a controversial topic like childhood obesity, genetically modified foods, the ban on foie gras in Chicago, why their mother’s meatloaf was no good for them, and so forth.
• Depending upon the magnitude of the presentation, ask the speaker if he or she has a tape of a recent appearance. If the speaker does not have a tape ask for references, especially if the speaker is seeking an honorarium.
• Ask the speaker if they would not mind being taped so other students in other or future classes can go see it for themselves online or in the library. We have an archive of presentations mad by executives at the HTM Department website you are free to use in your classroom at: http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/htm/pages/industry/darden/
  Confirm all aspects of the presentation with the speaker a week or so prior to the agreed upon date. This will be appreciated by the speaker to help remind them what was agreed to because if managing restaurant they may forget.
• Always have a Plan B in the event the speaker simply forgets to show up, unavoidably detained, etc. While writing this article I had a key guest speaker cancel a scheduled high profile presentation in my large lecture class of 300 kids that is also open to all faculty and students in the department. Fortunately I have a back up plan of showing a prior presentation from some of the best speakers available on the HTM website.
• Agree upon a signal that can be given to the speaker if they start to run past their allotted time of if class is getting close to the end; that way you will not feel as though you have insulted the individual by interrupting their presentation.
• Be willing to send questions to the speaker in advance to put them at ease that they will not be asked something they do not know and look stupid in front of you and the students.

Guest Speakers: Four Part Series on Maximizing Their Visit

This post is the first in a three-part series on maximizing guest speakers in the classroom. As you may know, one of the best reasons to bring in a guest speaker is that it brings the workplace into the classroom and breathes life into the course materials. Guest speakers can also validate the teacher’s claim that what is being learned in the classroom, laboratory, or field will be valuable to them one day in the “real world.” This is especially true when bringing in guest speakers who are successful alums that can literally point to the chair they sat in when a student and describe how the class has helped them now in their careers. Believe it or not, bringing in guest speakers is also a great way for educators to stay in touch with the workplace they may have left behind to go into teaching or learn more if never worked in a hospitality business. Guest speakers are also a great way to supplement one’s teaching when you do not have expertise in a particular area and realize it is important for the students to get the correct information, techniques, etc.
Once the decision has been made to bring in a guest speaker(s) there are many, many things that need to be thought about before they enter the classroom or laboratory, such as:

1. It might be worthwhile to give the students and overview of the course materials at the beginning of the class to see if there topics they might like someone from the industry come in and speak to them about during class? Giving the students some ownership in the decision will put part of the responsibility on them to get something out of the presentation.
2. Does your course syllabus have some flexibility in it? What if you were to invite a guest speaker into the class and they had to reschedule or cancel at the last minute?
3. How many guest speakers should be invited to the class over the course of a semester or term? If you have never had one in the class you might start with one to see how it goes, learn from the experience, and expand the number invited. You might also keep in mind that I have heard students complain when teachers bring in too many guest speakers because it looks as though the teacher is slacking and not earning his/her pay!
4. Decide how long you want the speaker to present. Bear in mind that asking a speaker to do a 30 minute presentation in your class might not sound like a long time to you but is for those who do not speak for a living.
5. Do not settle for any person you can get to be a speaker. The person chosen not only has to be credible, they need to be able to communicate their message to your students.
6. If an upper class, perhaps you could turn this into a class project and have the students not only identify topics they might want covered from someone in industry but work to identify potential candidates for you to contact.

Exam Assignment for an Exam

I teach a class on Human Resource Management. I try to get the students actively involved in the learning process to apply what learning from the textbook (which they read cover to cover). For the second exam that was to cover chapters 5 thru 8, I had them draw upon the information from two of the chapters on training and performance management to suggest to me a way to test the students on the third exam covering chapters 9 thru 12.

As I explained to the students, there are certain "training techniques" that I use to teach them the various core practices and principles of human resource management that they read about in the training chapter. But, there is also the aspect of me being able to conduct some kind of performance evaluation (exam) to determine if they are learning the course materials we are discussing in class, etc. So for their second exam they were to draw upon what was learned from the chapters on training and performance management and formulate an exam that I could use to test the students on chapters 9 thru 12. In other words, the students were challenged to come up with a way for me (in the way of an exam worth 100 points) to determine what they learned from readings and discussion of the assigned chapters.

I have just now collected their exam 2 essays and will review each for their ability to meet the core requirement of drawing upon course materials to formulate and exam that I will use to test the class. That analysis will be their grade for exam 2. I will then take the best of the best and formulate exam 3 that will be administered to the students. In the weeks ahead I will share some of the better ones with you as almost certain the students will come up with some excellent ways to test their grasp of the materials.

National Standards for Menu Planning

Perhaps now is the time to make sure that a student can not only cost out the ingredients but calculate the calories in each recipe they are taught to prepare and serve the dining public. A recent front page story in the Nations' Restaurant News makes that abundantly clear with a headline like, "Senate considers national standards for menu labelling: Members introduce LEAN Act to record crowd of NRA Public Affairs Conference." The acronnymn LEAN stands for the Labelling Education and Nutrition Act. The bill would essentially extend the legislation that was passed in 1999, known as the Nutrition Labelling and Education Act requiring packaged foods to contain nutrition information on all labels or packaging. That is why this bill makes a great deal of sense especially when the goal of the legislation then and now is to help American consumers to eat the right foods.

I bring this subject up yet again because it is in the news a great deal considering the obesity crisis in the US. I also bring it up because I have dined in countless student-run culinary and hospitality programs and the one thing I can never find is the nutritional information of the dishes on the menu. I find that unacceptable especially when many community colleges and universities have a dietetics program on campus, or a registered dietician at the local hospital. So the time is now long overdue to teach students to calculate the calories of the dishes they are going to serve to the public. Sadly we did not do it a long time ago because it was the right thing to do but will be encouraged to do so when it becomes the law of the land.

If your program is already doing it please add to the post and share your approach with others. If you are offended by the tone of this post then provide a response to it and defend not doing it. Lastly, I encourage us all to look around inside our programs and weed out the rest of the stupid things we are teaching students in lieu of those that we should be teaching to truly prepare them to live a life AND have a career. Go for it.

The Sales Blitz Experience

Through the wonders of modern technology I am able to do today's post from the Silversmith hotel in downtown Chicago. The reason I am in Chicago is that I brought a group of 8 students to participate in a sales blitz competition against students from Michigan State (coincidentally my alma mater). A member of the faculty at State and I coordinated this blitz and have created a "travelling trophy" to keep the spirit of competition alive and provide the students with an opportunity to get hands-on hotel sales experience, not to mention generate revenues for the participating hotel.

In case anyone is unfamiliar with a sales blitz, it is a tool used by hotels to connect with their customers (past, present, future) to market and sell their product service offerings to ultimately book new business. A sales blitz can be conducted in one of two ways, one way is by telemarketing (smile and dial) and the other is on foot (sales call). The blitz we are doing at the Silversmith will take both forms with today being devoted to sales calls and tomorrow doing telemarketing. Today's blitz will pit MSU versus Purdue students to compete for the travelling trophy; tomorrow's blitz will be conducted with hybrid teams to get the students a chance to work and meet others from another program.

I highly recommend partnering with the nearest hotel and doing one with your students. Hotels are always looking to get temporary help with their sales efforts and I am always looking for ways for my students to connect with the industry and get hands-on experience. The other great thing is that the hotel picks up all the travel expenses associated with the trip. As in the case of this blitz, the Silversmith is providing lodging and meals for students. In addition, they are having guest speakers come speak to the students about the industry, which will include key management personnel from the Chicago Convention and Tourism Burueau, Expedia, Southwest Airlines, and several from the hotel itself. The other extra benefit for students doing blitzes is that it is a great way for them to get internships and potential permanent placement because they can also use the time to sell themselves to the hotel and the group to which most belong in today's hotel business model.

There are more details that are too numerous to mention on a blog post, so if wanting to know more about putting one together please e-mail me at Mlalopa@fooded.org

Free Cooperative Learning Resource

A couple of years ago I ran across a resource on cooperative learning that the author, Alice Macpherson, at Kwantlen University College, elected to freely share with educators. The title of the resource is, Cooperative Learning Group Activities for College Courses: A Guide for Instructors. I have reviewed it and found it useful for anyone who is interested in trying or expanding their use of cooperative learning. I routinely use cooperative learning in my teaching and find it to be a great way to keep students engaged in the learning process.

For those that might not be familiar with cooperative learning, Alice defines it well as:
...part of a group of teaching/learning techniques where students interact with each other to acquire and practice the elements of a subject matter and to meet common learning goals. It is much more than just putting students into groups and hoping for the best. Cooperative Learning is a very formal way of structuring activities in a learning environment that includes specific elements intended to increase the potential for rich and deep learning by the participants. Cooperative Learning models include the following basic principles:
• Group tasks are designed to be suitable for group work.
• Positive interdependence is built in – cooperation is necessary for students to succeed.
• Attention and class time are given to interpersonal/cooperative skill building.
• Participants learn together in small (2-5 member) groups.
• Students are individually accountable for learning and participation.
• The instructor’s role changes from being the "sage on the stage" to the "guide on the side."

In other words, it is not a didactic pedagogy where the instructor stands before the students and showers them with information hoping it will seep in and stick. Rather, it is more like giving the students a lump of clay and asking them to work together and employ critical thinking to shape it into something that has meaning to them as it relates to the course materials that are being taught.

If interested in this free 202 page guide on cooperative learning that is in pdf format (438 KB) and filled with lots of great practical examples, please send an e-mail to me at Mlalopa@fooded.org and put in the subject line the following: "Please send cooperative learning book"

Halfway Point So Soon!?

Yikes, I just looked up from answering e-mails, voicemails, grading, prepping for class, being in class, giving workshops, serving on committees, and doing all the rest of what I do to deliver on teaching, research, and service to realize it is October 16; the veritable haflway point in the semester. Where did the time go for goodness sake? Does anyone reading this feel the same?!

What concerns me most about the fast-paced march of time that occurs from maintaining a busy work and family schedule occurred to me yesterday while attending the funeral services of my former boss, Ray Kavanaugh. I sat wondering if the time I spend on things is time well spent on that which matters to anyone, at any time, for any reason. There was no doubt in anyone's mind attending the funeral that Ray spent his time on things that mattered to the hospitality industry and the academic community because he had the awards to prove it. Once in a speech to a group of general managers he revealed part of the secret to his success. He said, "being a successful hospitality professional was no big thing, it was all the little things." I could not agree more.

So today as I raise the periscope at midsemester to look around and see where I am at this point in time in my career and life I will take a moment to cherish all the little things that I choose to do, and even those things that I have to do, knowing that they will add up and make a difference in my career and the future career of some student whose path has crossed with mine on life's journey of becoming what it is we were meant to be and enjoy a fulfilling life as a wonderful consequence. Take the time to do the same, it will be well worth the effort. Then get back work before the boss catches you "goofing off!"

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

I am one who is keen on the Scholarhship of Teaching Learning which has been defined by Lee Shulman as "a public account of the full act of teaching – vision, design, enactment, outcomes and analysis” and Ernest Boyer as being "based on the premise that the purpose of teaching is to advance student learning, and the purpose of SoTL is to improve the practice of teaching through scholarly inquiry into teaching and student learning.”

To that end, there is an online journal that is free to those who have an interest in doing research on your teaching or reading the research of others to get ideas for your classes or labs, known as the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. You can also submit articles that are based on the research you have done on your teaching to be reviewed for publication to this e-journal. According to their website, the journal "provides a forum for higher education faculty, staff, administrators, researchers, and students who are interested in improving post-secondary instruction. The IJTLHE provides broad coverage of higher education pedagogy and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) across diverse content areas, educational institutions, and levels of instructional expertise. The specific emphasis of IJTLHE is the dissemination of knowledge for improving higher education pedagogy. Electronic distribution of IJTLHE maximizes global availability."

You can access the Volume 19, Number 3 by visiting:
http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/current.cfm
One article you might find of particular use is, "What the Best College Teachers Do" by Laura Levi Altstaedter, from Virginia Tech, United States at:
http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE398.pdf