EDUCATION NEWS

West Virginia selects Kenney as outstanding service provider
P. Brett Kenney, IFT Professional Member, was recognized by West Virginia University’s College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences as its outstanding service provider for the 1998–99 academic year.

Kenney, recently promoted to Associate Professor in the Division of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, has managed the university’s meats laboratory, enabling students to receive laboratory experience in meat processing. Kenney also provided extensive committee service at the Division and College level. He has consistently provided expertise in food safety, livestock, and livestock product evaluation to the American Meat Association, FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America), the West Virginia Cattlemen’s Association, 4-H, the West Virginia Beef Industry Council, and a variety of other county and state organizations. He is a valued source of information for the West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture and to WVU Extension Service county agents around the state.

Kenney holds a B.S. in animal science from West Virginia University. He earned his M.S. in food science from Oklahoma State University and his Ph.D. in meat science from Kansas State University.

Partnership between Penn State and restaurant industry offers on-line degree
In a first-of-its kind partnership, Pennsylvania State University’s School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Recreation Management in the College of Health and Human Development, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProMgmt^SM program, and Eat’n Park Restaurants, Inc., have joined forces to deliver an associate degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management via the Penn State World Campus.

The public-private partnership is designed to respond to the foodservice industry’s critical workforce needs for leaders and managers, according to a Penn State spokesman. The 66- to 68-credit associate degree program targets employees in commercial foodservice and other areas of the hospitality industry who are interested in increasing their management skills and preparing themselves for supervisory positions. Students can study and learn at their own pace and complete assignments in their workplace. They must be employed at least 15 hours a week in a commercial foodservice facility and are required to identify a mentor who will guide them in completing some of the course work. Eat’n Park currently mentors the program’s first five students, all employees of the company.

The Penn State World Campus, launched in 1998, extends some of Penn State’s academic programs and provides a new distance learning environment where students and faculty, separated by time zones and continents, can learn together through information technology. For more information about the associate degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, call the Penn State World Campus at 1-800-252-3592.