Culinary Arts
Academic Program
The Culinary Arts program is an excellent place to expand your interest and knowledge in the culinary arts. Chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers prepare, season, and cook a wide variety of foods from soups and appetizers to entrees and desserts in the college kitchens.
The program, in cooperation with our academic partners, offers students a variety of foods and culinary classes that lead the student from an introduction to food through more advanced studies in professional cooking, dietetics, and baking. Area chefs are involved in teaching a variety of our foods and culinary courses.
Faculty
Lamae Koogler
Assistant Professor of Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM)
Hotel Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts
lkoogler@cofo.edu
Chef Robert Stricklin
Culinary Arts
Work Program Opportunities
The College Work Education program offers many opportunities to develop cooking and culinary skills with positions in the Dobyn’s dining kitchen and the College's Pearl Rogers Dining Center kitchens. Food preparation learning opportunities include everything from cooking vegetables in quantity for a banquet to preparing the entrée for an exclusive fine dining restaurant experience.
The Keeter Center
www.keetercenter.edu
Located at the main entrance of the College, the Keeter Center is the largest work area on campus. It utilizes student workers who apply their classroom learning in its operation as a restaurant, gift ship, bakery and 15-room lodge. These student workers serve as front desk reservationist, bell staff, housekeeping staff, wait staff, and cashiers; work in food preparation; and are responsible for the maintenance and care of the Keeter Center facility. The Keeter Center is home to the Hotel and Restaurant Management program and classrooms.
The Keeter Center intentionally integrates with and supports academic programs, including Business, Culinary Arts, Dietetics, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Music, Public Relations, and Theatre. Whether interacting directly with guests or serving behind the scenes, students who work at the Keeter Center are trained toward excellence in their professional skills. They are also encouraged toward a deeper Christian commitment, evidenced in the consistent demonstration of Christ-like character in a fast-paced professional setting.
Pearl Rogers Dining Center
Located in the College Center, the dining hall involves student workers in all phases of food preparation and serving of daily meals, as well as providing food services for various catered functions throughout the school year.