- Travel & Dining Auction set for April 26
- Gregoire to present Shugart Lecture
- Announcing alumni gathering at NRA
- Stevens cooks with chemistry
- Changes in program leadership announced
- Students offered Costa Rican experience
- Researchers focus on food safety
- Who’s who in the department
- Making a difference
Category: Spring 2013
Travel & Dining auction set for April 26
Goals for the 17th annual Travel & Dining Auction, planned and implemented entirely by students, are 450 attendees and a net profit of $31,000.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, in Manhattan’s Conference Center adjacent to the new Hilton Garden Inn. It has outgrown three previous locations. Tickets are $25 in advance and $35 at the door.
Last year, the record-breaking auction featured more than 600 items donated by merchants, faculty, alumni and friends of the department.
Hard-working students who have a passion for event planning or think they want to be an event planner apply to take the three-hour credit auction course. “This major endeavor allows the students to see the nuts and bolts of event planning and all the details needed to make an event like this a success and then get their hands busy and produce the event,” said Nancy Hansen, instructor in hospitality management and dietetics who teaches the class.
The leaders of the coordinating team are usually past auction students who are taking the course for a second time to coordinate and lead one of the major areas of the auction. Those areas are front of house, marketing, food and beverage, and donations.
Students spend hours developing and planning the details of the event. “It takes a special student to be part of the action,” Hansen said. “They have to be very dedicated to be successful. Many hours outside the classroom are spent to gather donations, sell tickets, and work out the logistics of each area of the evening’s activities.”
National leader Mary Gregoire to give Shugart lecture
Mary B. Gregoire, PhD, RD, FADA, will present the 39th annual Grace M. Shugart Lecture at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union.
Her topic will be Sustainability: Leading Change and Opportunity.
Gregoire is director of Food and Nutrition Services at Rush University Medical Center, professor and chair of clinical nutrition at Rush University. She has served as chair of the Rush Green Team and has championed many sustainability initiatives at the university.
She earned a PhD in foodservice and hospitality management from K-State and received the College of Human Ecology Distinguished Research Award in 2007. Gregoire is a Charter Fellow of the American Dietetic Association.
At Rush Medical Center, she directs a $19 million food and nutrition services operation with 260 employees, including 50 professional staff. The staff prepares and serves more than 2 million meals a year to patients, staff, and visitors and manages an on-campus conference center and catering operation.
The Grace M. Shugart Lecture Series, sponsored by HMD, brings dietitians and food service and hospitality experts to K-State for the enrichment of student curricula and to provide continuing education for practitioners in the field.
HMD hosts first alumni event at NRA
For the first time, the department will host a Hospitality Management & Dietetics Alumni Event in conjunction with the National Restaurant Show in Chicago in May.
Alumni are invited to attend at 5 p.m. May 20 at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Restaurant, 720 North State Street, Chicago. RSVP to Jodi Smith at 785-532-3797 or jodis@found.ksu.edu.
K-State, with about a dozen HMD students, will host a booth at the national show. The annual four-day NRA show attracts more than 1,800 suppliers and tens of thousands of buyers who come together to shape the future of the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industry.
Molly Stevens talks chemistry as she cooks
Molly Stevens demonstrated how to make foods such as Zinfandel Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots & Fresh Sage and Brown Sugar Sour Cream Cheesecake at the 9th annual Culinary Enhancement Workshop on March 7.
But she also conducted a class in chemistry and flavor nuances, explaining the science behind why she uses Kosher salt and not table salt, why parchment is better than a silicone baking sheet, why the best roast chicken is butterflied.
“I’m somewhat of an academic at heart,” she said.
Her books on braising and roasting won the top cookbook awards in the country. “I wrote the books so I could go around the country and teach,” she told her audience. She also won a professional culinary teacher of the year award.
Stevens conducted a second Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics workshop, sponsored by Housing and Dining Services and the McCune Foundation, for students on March 8 at Derby Dining Center on campus.
Program leader changes announced
Kevin Roberts has been named director of the hospitality management program. The assistant professor has 12 years of restaurant experience and is director of the Center for Excellence for Food Safety Research in Child Nutrition Programs.
Amber Howells, a registered dietitian with 10 years clinical experience in acute and long-term care, has been hired as director of the coordinated program in dietetics.
Debra D. Canter, professor and registered dietitian, directs the didactic program in dietetics.
Pat Pesci, who led the hospitality management program since 1990, entered phased retirement this year.
Associate professor Betsy Barrett also began phased retirement.
Also new in the department are Kelly Whitehair, instructor, and Rebecca Dale, academic advisor.