CTC culinary instructors earn certifications

Faculty members of the CTC Fort Hood campus Hospitality Programs Department recently earned several certifications at the International Food Service Executive Association (IFSEA) Symposium. David Lazarus, coordinator of the Fort Hood Hospitality Programs, and instructors Elke Jensen and Mark Murgia attended the four-day symposium which offered intensive training in various areas of food preparation, management and other areas of food and hospitality programs.

The symposium offered members the opportunity to highlight their education, knowledge and experience in the foodservice and hospitality field through a series of certification exams. Exam topics include cooking, menu development, human resources, purchasing, accounting and marketing. Each of the CTC instructors received three certifications. The first was as professional food managers. This certification exam covered a variety of topics including basic cooking, industry knowledge, menu development, human resource management, dining room set up and service, sanitation and purchasing.

Jensen, Lazarus and Murgia also became certified as hazard analysis critical point managers. This certification enables the holder to track food from the grower to the consumer. They also passed the toughest IFSEA exam to become master certified food executives. This certification required passing a 200-question exam on topics such as menu design and analysis, kitchen management and food production, marketing, beverage control, purchasing and inventory control and service management.

Of the 60 food professional attendees, Jensen finished at the top of the class while Murgia finished a close second.

IFSEA is a professional organization with more than 1,000 members world-wide from the food service and hospitality industry. Established in 1901, IFSEA is the industry's oldest professional association. It's mission is to enhance the careers of its members through professional and personal development by providing professional certification, educational opportunities, networking parties, mentoring and community service. Activities also include international conferences, culinary competitions, food service excellence awards, student development and food safety education.

The CTC Hospitality Program offers numerous hospitality-related courses and revolves around personalized hands-on training and traditional food management-related courses with a primary emphasis on receiving an Associate in Applied Science Degree. Students can choose between three career specific fields. First is: an Associate in Applied Science degree with an emphasis on either restaurant and culinary management, hotel management or food and beverage management. Several certificate of completion programs are also offered ranging from 23 to 40 credit hours. These are restaurant skills, culinary arts, property management advanced, travel and ticketing and rooms division.