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                Briana Marizan says instructors consider the unique qualities each aspiring chef brings to the program.
taurants are hiring for some position.”
The fall enrollment numbers were encouraging, however, and
spring looks strong as well, perhaps because more students are hear- ing about the needs in a field where pay typically starts in the high teens per hour and can move quickly into the twenties as they move into higher responsibilities. “There is that ability to grow, so you’d think they’d be busting down the doors here.”
Degree programs at the center have been described as ‘stackable.’ Students can choose a one-year certificate program in culinary arts, and if they want to go further, they can enter the associate-degree pro- gram and essentially build on what they started.
With that associate degree, a student could transfer to, say, Johnson
& Wales, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), or any college that
offers a four-year program in the culinary field. But most of the time,
they don’t pursue more education,
because of the career opportunities
already open to them.
“Our students come here “Most of the time, they want to get
their degree and go to work. That’s
because they have a passion what we see,” Leigh explained. “The
question is always, are you getting
for cooking, and they want your money’s worth for this? Com-
pared to other four-year schools and
to grow that, and this is a culinary schools, community colleges
are inexpensive — a great value. And
good place to do that. And what we’re seeing is the students who
have the associate’s degree tend to
we wouldn’t continue to wind up in supervisory positions.
“The students who do the two-
work in the industry in semester certificate and stick with it
also end up moving fairly quickly, but
some capacity if we didn’t most of the supervisors out there who
love it as well.”
are alums have associate degrees,” he
went on. “That doesn’t mean if you
don’t have an associate degree, you
won’t get a supervisor’s job. Some of those have made it to some level
of supervision, absolutely.”
At a time when career stability is important to so many, enrolling in the Culinary Arts Institute is certainly an attractive option.
Heating Up
The institute represents a big step forward in the realm of workforce development within the culinary-arts field, both locally and region- ally, a segment of the economy that was already growing and now faces
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