The National Restaurant Association has estimated that 75,000 people will be needed annually for jobs that do not exist today. It is estimated that 60,000 additional chefs will be needed each year in the United States. SMTC s Culinary Arts program offers instruction in food preparation and service to supply these demands. The program curriculum covers all aspects of basic food preparation including meats, poultry, fish, vegetable, sauces, soups, bread and pastry baking, desserts, short order, specialty cooking and many other areas. Related instruction gives emphasis to management techniques, including inventory control, personnel and business management, bookkeeping, accounting and menu planning.
General education rounds out training, with coursework in English, math and social science.
Both the associate degree and diploma options provide the same hands-on technical training. All related instruction and general education coursework in the degree option, however, is designed to be more rigorous and transferrable to many other degree-granting institutions. Opportunities for graduates are wide ranging in all areas of both direct food preparation and related management in the food service field. Associate Degree graduates can transfer a full two years of credits toward a Baccalaureate Degree in Industrial Technology or Technology Education at the University of Southern Maine. They may also transfer two years of credits toward a Baccalaureate Degree in Business Administration at Husson College.