DEGREE-SEEKING FOOD SERVICE STUDENTS TO BENEFIT FROM COOPERATIVE INSTITUTIONAL EFFORT

(KINGSVILLE, July 19, 1996)-A new articulation agreement between Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Texas State Technical College (TSTC) Harlingen will lead to a four-year degree in restaurant and foodservice management from A&M-Kingsville.

The program, commonly referred to as "two plus two," is one of three such cooperative programs for the degree. Joint programs currently exist with Del Mar College in Corpus Christi and St. Phillip's College in San Antonio.

Under the agreement, TSTC students will complete basic food service technology courses that apply toward an associate of applied science degree at TSTC. They will then have the option to transfer course work to A&M-Kingsville and take upper-level nutrition and academic classes needed to obtain a four-year degree in restaurant and food service management.

The program was designed primarily to give food service students upward career mobility in the corporate arena.

"It provides students in the technical programs the opportunity to go on to a four-year degree if they choose," said Dr. Charles A. DeYoung Jr., Dean of the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences at A&M-Kingsville. "It is often important to them if they aspire to move up to management positions in companies."

The restaurant industry, he added, is one of the booming industries of the last few years and is likely to continue that trend in the foreseeable future.

The advantages of the cooperative effort between A&M-Kingsville and TSTC are several, according to DeYoung. The students benefit from the chance to complete their technical courses at a community college, coupled with an opportunity to obtain a four-year degree at A&M-Kingsville and enhance chances for career advancement.

The service itself, DeYoung said, is one performed to the region. The next closest four-year degree program in restaurant and foodservice management is offered in Houston. Another benefit of the program, added Dr. Anna McArthur, interim chair of A&M-Kingsville's Department of Human Sciences, is that it may also appeal to students who prefer to start out at a small school located closer to home before they transfer into a larger university environment.

The agreement between TSTC and A&M-Kingsville is very flexible, McArthur said. Students may transfer into the A&M-Kingsville curriculum at any level with the only stipulation food courses not offered at A&M-Kingsville be taken at TSTC prior to obtaining a four-year degree.

The four-year restaurant and foodservice management degree program was first offered at A&M-Kingsville in 1993.

-TAMUK-
-Mary McAdam