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

Purdue's HTM Program Mourns Loss of Ray Kavanaugh

For the past 11 years I had the privilege of working two doors down from Ray Kavanaugh, who was our department head in the Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University. I learned a great deal about what it takes to be a strong leader while working for Ray over the years because he was able to motivate and inspire people to reach goals they might not have once thought possible to make themselves and our department better off as a result.

Although we were a ranked program before he joined us, there is no doubt that Ray put us in the national spotlight because he brought with him all the contacts he had made in the industry, while working as director of human resources for Red Lobster, and the leadership positions he held at the American Hotel and Lodging Education Foundation, Educational Insititute of American Hotel and Lodging Association, and National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (as its chair at one point); not to mention all the academic contacts he had made through his leadership and service to the International Council of Hospitality Restaurant and Institutional Educators, where he at one point served as its President. That is also why it should come as no surprise to anyone that Ray's drive for excellence and achievement led to a decorated career with a tremendous amount of industry and academic accomplishments that culminated recently in the Michael E. Hurst Lifetime Achievement Award and the Anthony G. Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ray had a passion for education as evidenced by his insistence upon teaching a course with the incoming freshmen every year so he could get to know them, and vice-versa. He was always available to prospective students visiting with parents who wanted to learn about our program (which was uncommon during visits to other campuses and greatly appreciated according to those who visited). He also did his part to advise, mentor, educate, and counsel undergraduate and graduate students alike.

Ray also had a passion for sports, especially Purdue sports. I would have dared anyone to have a greater command of the names of the players and coaches as well as team stats when the season was underway. You could always find him at a home football or basketball game dressed in Purdue gear from head to toe. When he was out of town on business and could not attend a game he would always give the tickets away to faculty, staff, alums, or industry partners who might have liked to attend that particular game. He also found a way to get tickets for games that were in high demand and short supply for alums and industry contacts that were in town and wanted to see the game.

Ray's legacy also lives on in his two sons, Ryan and Quinn, who both developed a passion for the foodservice industry and now managing restaurants for fine dining chains today. His son Ryan graduated from the HTM department while Quinn graduated from Oklahoma State, where Ray was department head before joining Purdue. Ray is also survived by his wife, Judy Rechberger, who teaches in the English Department at Purdue.

Memorial services for Ray are this Wednesday at St. Thomas Aquinas Center, 403 Wood Street, West Lafayette, IN, at 4 pm (October 15). Memorials to Purdue Foundation in memory of Ray Kavanaugh for the Marriott Hall Building Fund can be made in the form of a check made payable to Purdue Foundation. You can also send condolences by visiting http://www.soller-baker.com/

Feel the Land

As more and more culinary schools pump out future cooks, chefs and arbiters of the trade, it is amazing how many culinarians have never worked on a farm, or for that matter have never been to a farm. Some like Michael Carmel, however, were lucky enough to live on a farm in Eastern Pennsylvania as a young boy where he milked cows by hand, pulled eggs from under the chickens, fed the pigs, and picked genuine farm-raised vegetables from the field and garden, which provide him with great childhood memories. Today, as a chef and culinary instructor, Michael believes that all culinary students and chefs should have the opportunity to spend time on a farm. In this way one can gain a better understanding and respect for what we prepare and cook as a part of our profession as well as our daily lives.

That is why Michael has put his money where his mouth is to change that. With the help of a passionate foodie, writer, and colleague, Marion Sullivan, he has developed a new class at the Culinary Institute of Charleston called, "Farm to Plate."

The class is unique in that he and the students get to work with some unbelievable products, cook with some of the best, most passionate chefs in the country, and experience a part of the living history of South Carolina. It is a pleasure to work side by side with chefs that share the same beliefs about food and the land because they approach every ingredient with reverence and respect, which translates into food that is served with integrity and the highest standards. There is also no better way for a student to appreciate and emulate a chef than to work with that chef on the land and cook food that is impeccable.

It translates to an education that money can’t buy, no lecture can explain, and no school can improve upon. It is perfect! To see food grown or raised with the ultimate goal that it be consumed at its peak of flavor gives a young culinary student respect for the very art of cooking. To work in that field or with that animal changes the way we approach every item we cook. I wish every culinary student could experience it.

If you have a similar story or class you want to share with our learning community, or questions on the class, please contact Michael Carmel Mcarmel@fooded.org

So, Let them Cheat!

Building on yesterday's post...I had a professor in a human resource management class when an undergraduate student at University of North Texas, which was North Texas State when I was attending. She was one tough cookie that delivered excellent, information packed, presentations and she also prepared killer exams to test us over the materials she presented in the class and also the required readings. The one thing that she did permit us to do was bring in an 8.5x11 "cheat sheet" that could have notes on the front and back to help us take the exam. We could cram all we wanted on to that sheet of paper to help us take the exam and that was it.

I always thought that system was genius on her part because it motivated myself and others to spend a great deal of time going over the tons of notes that were taken (back in the day before powerpoint) in her class to create that "cheat sheet" -- which was a great way to get us to study and synthesize the information for the exam. On the other hand, her tests were so difficult that having a cheat sheet only lulled us into a false sense of security -- because you had to know the materials cold before sitting down to take the exam. There was no chance to read a question, search the notes for an answer, answer it, go to the next question, etc., and get done before the end of the examination session. The cheat sheet was merely a great tool to have on hand for that occasional question where one might not be able to recall a date, figure, etc., to help complete a question that had an answer already in progress.

So, give it a go. Ramp up the difficulty of your tests and let the students bring in their cheat sheet to help them get bits or pieces of information that may have been forgotten but needed to complete a question already in progress.

Student Cheating

There is a listserv that I belong to that has had a short but productive thread on some videos posted to YouTube concerning student cheating. There are mixed reviews on their quality but after I reviewed them I thought the time was well spent reflecting on how students may be cheating in my classes on assignments in general -- especially my online exams although not covered specifically.

This video demonstrates the top ten ways students cheat alone or with help from others during an exam:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=EExPFAFeTX4&feature=related

This is another video that has similar cheating techniques and a couple new ones over the first:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=vnFlx1JTV9I&feature=related

Also note that when watching either video there is a box to the right of the one playing that has other videos on cheating that you can watch if you have time. Ten minutes of your time reflecting on student teaching will be well worth it.

A Principled Stand on Undergraduate Education

I just learned about a 5 minute vidoe on YouTube that showcases IUPUI's Six Principles of Undergraduate Learning from a thread on the POD Network listserv. The video is worth watching because it lists the principles and explains how it gives students, teachers, administrators and staff a shared vision and common goals that benefit all concerned. It is worth watching as it may provide insights on how we could do a better job faciliating student learning and program effectivenss at our respective programs. The video can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edUzEbCNsTE

Yum Learns from California

According to the Wall Street Journal, Yum brands took the initiative to start posting caloric information on their menus in company-owned restaurants across the US, which suggests franchisees will follow suit, bringing the whole chain into compliance. In effect, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, A&W, and Long John Silvers will lead the way to providing consumers with information intended to help them make better choices to control their diets if that is what they desire, and also allow those who may not have known the caloric content of their foods to re-think their order in the future. No doubt, the rest of the chains will not want to be outdone and move quickly to do the same which will be a big victory for the American consumer and I believe the foodservice industry in the long run.

I truly applaud Yum for leading the way on doing the right thing. All too often our industry does not conduct business with the health of their customers in mind because they have a singular focus on fattening their bottom line at the expense of fatter American bottoms, which has helped contribute to declining health of Americans. Having Yum take the lead on providing caloric information is refreshing and should be rewarded by our patronage. For more information about Yum visit: http://www.yum.com/default.asp

Schwarzenegger Gets Pumped Up Again!

According to Edwin Garcia, Mercury News Sacramento Bureau, California is poised to become the first state to require large chain restaurants to notify customers of the nutritional content of menu items, under legislation approved Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill was introduced in the attempt to help combat the growing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure in California.

I was not surprised when the "Terminator" signed this bill into law given that health and fitness has been his ticket to the governorship starting with repeatedly winning the title of Mr. Olympia, his movie “Pumping Iron,” and serving as one time “health and fitness czar” for the first President George Bush.

The new law will force restaurant chains with at least 20 locations to readily disclose the amount of calories, saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium of menu items beginning July 1. If they can post that information on the menu that is even better for now because they will soon be required to post caloric information on menus and indoor menu boards, and provide brochures, upon request, with nutritional content information at the drive-through.

Perhaps the best news about this legislation is that the California Restaurant Association had sued the Santa Clara County to block it but actually dropped the suit and supported the legislation. One reason give by the Restaurant Association to support the bill was that it would introduce a statewide standard for foodservice owners/operators to follow in California making it easier to comply with such laws for those operating multi-unit foodservice operations.

This is good legislation and a business practice that should be the norm in the United States. It should not take legislation to force our industry to do right by its customers and better inform them when purchasing food and beverages. As it turns out, similar legislation in New York City has been good for business and customers. Some customers are shying away from items they consumed in the past because they now know the true caloric content – so they are buying something else on the menu to fit in their diet. Some customers are even splurging more since knowing that what they thought was high in calories was not the case so increasing the order.

All in all, this kind of legislation will enable customers to trust that their interests and the interests of the foodservice are in sync with shrinking waistlines without compromising fatter operational bottom lines.

The 2nd Annual SoTL Commons Conference

For those of you who are interested in attending or presenting at conferences that focus on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) there has been a call for proposals for the 2nd annual SoTL Commons Conference: An International Conference for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning in Higher education on March 11-13, 2009 at Georgia Southern University (Statesboro, Georgia, USA). Keynote speakers will be Randy Bass (Georgetown University), Kathy Takayama (Brown University), and Laurie Richlin (Charles Drew University of Medicine and Health Science).

Early registration is open and the new deadline for the online submission of proposals is November 15, 2008. More information can be obtained by visiting:
http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/conference/2009/index.htm

Also, the deadline for submissions for the January 2009 issue of International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (IJ-SoTL) is November 15, 2008. The current issue of the journal can be read online at http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v2n2.html