OATdb Archive

2008 - 2009

Family And Consumer Sciences BA (Food Service Management)

Goal
Employer Satisfaction
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences will graduate Food Service Management students who perform well in positions of employment within the food service industry.

Objective
Demonstration Of Applied Professional Competence
The students will demonstrate professional competence and the ability to apply what they have learned (egs., appropriate product knowledge, knowledge of business procedures, knowledge of industry systems) in various aspects of food service management.

Indicator
Employer Evaluation Data
The supervisor evaluation form for food service management interns evaluates three skill areas (personal skills, interpersonal skills, and professional characteristics including appropriate use of knowledge from the program content). Both questions from this form used as indicators are essentially overall supervisor ratings of the intern. One of them rates the interns on a Likert-type scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest rating and 5 being the highest rating. The other is a "yes-no" indicator whether the employer would hire the intern in the company for an entry-level management position. Internship is a requirement for degree completion in this program, so all food service management students are evaluated in this way. The instrument, which includes the supervisor rating of the intern that will be extracted and reported, was developed by the department faculty as a whole. Instruments used by other family and consumer sciences/food service management colleges and departments were reviewed in the development of the instrument. The attached instrument was designed to be generic for all programs in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences that require this type of internship and is published in the Internship Handbook, which serves as the textbook for the internship courses (FCS 469). The other programs that use this same form are interior design, general family and consumer sciences (without a teaching certificate), and fashion merchandising.

Criterion
Employer Evaluation Data
80% of business supervisors of food service management interns will give the intern a rating of 3.5 or higher on a 5.0 scale and 80% of business supervisors will indicate that they would hire the intern given the availability of a suitable entry-level management position in the company.

Finding
Employer Evaluation Data
There were no graduates of this program for the 2008-2009 academic year; therefore, no findings were collected in connection with this goal.


Action
Employer Evaluation Information
Recruitment for this program is a priority for the department. While there were no graduates for this academic year, there are several students at the senior level who will be graduating in the coming academic year (2009-2010).


Goal
Student Knowledge Of Content Area
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences will graduate Food Service Management majors who have an in-depth knowledge of the content area of the major.

Objective
Demonstration Of Content-Area Knowledge And Skills
Students graduating from the food service management program will demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for entry-level management in food service/restaurant positions.
Associated Goals: Student Knowledge of Content Area

Indicator
Employer - Evaluation Data
The Exit Survey for food service management majors includes multiple-choice and short-answer sections that test retention of course material and a case study that applies directly to food service management; it is graded on a pass/fail basis. (Each program area has multiple-choice, short answer, and other questions that are specific to that program content.) To develop this instrument, faculty in the content area reviewed course and program objectives and chose questions from exams that reflected important concepts that students should retain. The test is used repetitively and the scoring is holistic but, we believe, consistent. For security reasons, the "test" portion (multiple-choice questions, short essay questions, and case study) is not attached. However, this document is available in the chair's office. For AY 2009-2010, a standardized grading rubric will be developed.

Criterion
Exit Survey Of Knowledge And Skills
80% of students who complete the food service management program's Exit Survey will score a grade of Pass or High Pass on the content portions of the exam. Exams are being graded holistically to this point, but for the next assessment period (AY 2009-2010), a standardized grading rubric will be developed.

Finding
Knowledge And Skills
There were no graduates of this program for the 2008-2009 academic year; therefore, no findings were collected in connection with this goal.


Action
Knowledge And Skills
Recruitment for this program is a priority for the department.  While there were no graduates for this academic year, there are several students at the senior level who will be graduating in the coming academic year (2009-2010).


Goal
Student Satisfaction
The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences will graduate students who are satisfied with a degree in food service management.

Objective
Student Evaluation Of Program Content, Networking And Professional Opportunities
Students will evaluate and express their satisfaction with degree program learning experiences such as program content provided in degree program course work, opportunities for networking, and participation in professional organizations provided by degree program activities. While student evaluation of program-related learning experiences is a performance outcome, rather than a student learning outcome, it does provide degree program faculty with very valuable feedback based upon students' abilities to reflect upon the value of their educational activities.

Indicator
Exit Survey - Student Evaluation Feedback By Major
The comprehensive Family and Consumer Sciences Exit Survey includes a student rating of the program content in the major and student rating of opportunities that were provided by the program to network and engage with professional organizations. Student ratings of these items will be extracted and analyzed to determine the level of student satisfaction with their learning experiences in these areas. A higher score indicates a higher level of satisfaction. The Exit Survey is a comprehensive instrument collaboratively developed, several years ago, by faculty of FCS degree programs, and also to test student knowledge in their program's content area. Although it is periodically reviewed for improvement by current faculty, most of the Exit Survey items remain stable from year to year. The Exit Survey is administered in paper form to students in several FCS Departmental degree programs. Student feedback pertaining to different degree program majors are differentiated and analyzed separately. A copy of the section of the Exit Survey which pertains to the student feedback has been attached.

Criterion
Exit Survey - Student Evaluation Ratings >3.0
80% of graduating seniors who complete an Exit Survey will rate the program content and opportunities for networking and professional organization participation in the major with a score of 3.0 or greater. A 4.0 point scale will be used for rating, where a higher score indicates a higher satisfaction rating.

Finding
Exit Survey - Student Evaluation Of Content, Networking, Professional Opportunities
There were no graduates of this program for the 2008-2009 academic year; therefore, no findings were collected in connection with this goal.


Action
Student Evaluation Of Content, Networking, Professional Opportunities
Recruitment for this program is a priority for the department.  While there were no graduates for this academic year, there are several students at the senior level who will be graduating in the coming academic year (2009-2010).



Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

Plan for continuous improvement The Food Service Management Program is the smallest program in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.  However, it is growing.  There are at least two-three students who are planning to complete this program and graduate during the coming academic year, but recruitment needs to be a priority in order to keep this program viable.  It should be noted that this program is what is referred to as a "free ride" -- in other words, no specific courses, no specific faculty member, and no specific resources are dedicated to this program.  It draws from the undergraduate Food Science and Nutrition, the Interior Design Program, and the undergraduate General Family and Consumer Sciences programs for the courses to fulfill program requirements.  At the same time, demand for graduates with this sort of background is high.  One student who will graduate in December was able to choose between two extremely good internship offerings in hospital settings in close proximity to one another and in this geographic region.  Especially for BA students with a background in Spanish, job demand is even greater.