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Kennedy-King College Now Offers Hospitality Management Degrees

By Wendell Hutson | August 25, 2014 7:36am
 Hospitality management courses will be available to students when fall classes begin at Kennedy-King College on Aug. 25, 2014.
Hospitality management courses will be available to students when fall classes begin at Kennedy-King College on Aug. 25, 2014.
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DNAInfo/Janet Rausa Fuller

ENGLEWOOD — When fall classes begin for Kennedy-King College students on Monday they will notice a name change for one of its best-known programs.

The Washburne Culinary Institute will now be known as the Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute. 

The change was made to highlight the fact the community college at 740 W. 63rd St. now offers associate degrees in hospitality management.

According to Roxanne Brown, a spokeswoman for Kennedy-King College, the name reflects the school's new emphasis on providing skills to help grads take advantage of one of the highest growth industries.

"With more than 24,000 jobs anticipated in Chicago alone over the next decade, the employment outlook for the hospitality industry is excellent," she said.

Students entering the culinary program will now have the option of receiving basic and advanced certificates and associate degrees in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts or hospitality management.

The associate of applied sciences degree in hospitality management, Brown said, will provide students with the necessary training to work in management at restaurants, hotels and entertainment facilities. 

Among the courses students must complete in the two-year program are management skills, financial management, restaurant and hotel operational management, kitchen methods and techniques, marketing principles and business planning. General education classes must also be completed to satisfy the degree requirements.

The curriculum for the new program was designed to be rigorous for a reason, said Kristopher Murray, executive director and dean of Washburne.

“Our programs have been developed with input from employers and industry leaders offering our students hands on learning experiences that set them up to seize the 24,000 hospitality and culinary jobs expected to come to the Chicago area alone over the next decade,” Murray said.

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