UC and Cincinnati State Cooking Up New Culinary Arts Program

The University of Cincinnati’s College of Applied Science (CAS) and Cincinnati State Technical and Community College will serve up a new option for students this fall:  a new baccalaureate degree in Culinary Arts and Science.

The new course – in which students will attend two years at Cincinnati State and then finish out the last two years at UC – was approved by the Ohio Board of Regents on Jan. 22.  This is the first culinary program of its kind in Ohio and only the third in the U.S.

Roderick G. W. Chu, OBR chancellor, said, “This arrangement provides students with a seamless pathway to completing a bachelor’s degree that begins as a student enters the program at Cincinnati State and continues through to degree completion at the University of Cincinnati.  We applaud the many faculty leaders and industry experts who worked collaboratively to develop such an innovative niche program.” 

According to Fritz Kryman, CAS associate professor of chemical technology, the new program will immerse students in the culinary arts and then broaden their education in the science of food.  “The culinary arts consist of the creativity exhibited by a chef in completing a meal, and that will be the focus for students in the first two years of the program at Cincinnati State, at which point a student would have an associate degree.  Then, students opting to come to UC to complete the baccalaureate program will focus on the science of food, its components and how they react to heat, cooling, storage and other variables,” he explained.

Kryman added that students coming through the complete baccalaureate program would have the necessary preparation to work not only as restaurant chefs but to work for the major food-industry corporations that produce almost all the food on grocers’ shelves. 

Those enrolled in the program will be considered students of both UC and Cincinnati State.  Even while working toward an associate’s degree at Cincinnati State, students will be able to live in UC residence halls.  According to Kryman, between 30 to 35 Cincinnati State students currently in that school’s culinary arts program are expected to enter UC this fall in order to complete the new baccalaureate option.

Cooperative education – the practice of alternating academic quarters spent in the classroom with periods of paid, professional work – will be an integral part of the new program.  While at Cincinnati State, associate-degree students will gain paid, professional experience in local and regional restaurants and other food-service operations.  During the last two years of their program, they’ll gain experience in food-product manufacturing, food development, and restaurant management and marketing. 

For more information about the new Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts and Science program, e-mail the coordinator at margaret.galvin@uc.edu or call 513-569-1627.