The TVC culinary arts program offers one year certificates in gourmet cooking and/or gourmet baking and an associate’s degree in culinary arts. This program teaches the essential skills required to obtain employment in the culinary industry to include food service operations, principles, and theories. The purpose of the program is to prepare students for entry-level management, line and pre-cooks, and second and third-level apprentice bakers.
Generally, cooks and bakers learn the skills of their occupation by on-the-job training. However, good business skills and a proficiency in mathematics can prove invaluable to bakers, cooks, and especially chefs. This program offers sound basic training and an externship program with local food service employers so students "earn while they learn" and gain practical experience giving them a distinct advantage when seeking entry-level opportunities in the culinary field.
In addition to learning basic skills and methods used in the culinary field, our students directly apply them running the Borealis Bistro. The Borealis Bistro is an eatery that is run by the culinary arts students and located within the Hutchison Institute of Technology. Breakfast and lunch are available most days during the semester and the students provide catering services for special events. This gives our students real experience in both “the front and back of the house.”
The Alaska Department of Labor predicts that the service industries will be the fastest growing market by the year 2010. Positions within the culinary arts field are expected to be at the top of the “in demand” jobs in Alaska. The demand will be especially high in Fairbanks, where new hotels and restaurants offer many opportunities for employment. The culinary arts program at TVC traditionally has a 100 percent success rate for its graduates!
Employment is not limited to restaurants. Students from the program have gone on to careers working in kitchens in mining camps and on the North Slope or working and operating their own catering companies. Students bring the motivation and willingness to learn, and the instructors will supply them with the training and education they need for successful careers in the culinary arts industry.
Contact Information:
Michael T. Roddey, Program Coordinator
Culinary Arts
Phone 455-2903
Fax 455-2909
email mtr@alaska.edu.
Kathy Dixon, Administrative Assistant
Phone: 455-2902
Email: kldixon2@alaska.edu
General Culinary Program Email:
Email: fycah@uaf.edu