CULINARY INDUSTRY PRACTITIONERS AND EDUCATORS' PERCEPTIONS OF CORE COMPETENCIES FOR A FOUR-YEAR BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN THE CULINARY ARTS BY

The purpose of this study was twofold; to survey practitioners and educators to rank their perception of the importance of culinary manager trainee competencies that would prepare students for an entry-level managerial position in the culinary industry; and then to assess the curricula of the five highly-ranked culinary arts programs in the United States and determine whether competencies deemed essential by practitioners and educators are embedded within the curricula of the five highly-ranked Bachelor's degree programs in the culinary arts. Practitioners and educators considered the competencies pertaining to interpersonal skills to be the most important aptitudes for students pursuing a Bachelor's degree in the Culinary Arts, and considered the competencies pertaining to conceptual skills to be the least important. The curriculum assessment indicated that the highly-ranked culinary arts programs did integrate some, but not all of the core competencies identified by the educators and practitioners as being of moderate importance to essential. Aekmwlledgernents I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my mentor, Dr. Martin Finkelstein. Th