The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) has launched a first-of-its-kind course to raise the quality of food served at hospitals and other healthcare facilities nationwide. Foodservice Management in Health Care (MGMT 411) is an elective business-management course for second-semester CIA seniors. It is believed no other college course of this nature is being offered at this time.

With the aging American population, people are spending more time in hospitals, rehab centers, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Foodservice plays an important role in both the health and quality of life of patients and residents. At the same time, managing budgets is also important. The new CIA course introduces students to the challenges of running a healthcare foodservice operation and prepares them for management positions in that field.

The Board of Directors of the New England Culinary Institute announced in December the appointment of G. William Meckert, III, as the college's new president.

Meckert succeeds Fran Voigt, co-founder of the Montpelier, Vt.-based culinary institute. Voigt served as its president for the past 30 years and grew the school from seven students to the 650 who are enrolled in its various programs today. Voigt is the acknowledged visionary for the college, as well as its inspirational and institutional leader, and he will remain its chief executive officer.

Candy Wallace, founder and executive director of the American Personal & Private Chef Association (APPCA), has accepted the invitation to serve on the culinary Program Advisory Committee of The Art Institute of California-San Diego for a one-year term.

According to Laird Livingston, CEC, CCE, AAC, The Art Institute of California-San Diego’s academic director of culinary arts, the program’s Professional Advisory Committee is a sounding board for the industry, ensuring that the program follows industry standards and teaches relevant curriculum with industry-utilized kitchens and certified chefs meeting the American Culinary Federation’s (ACF) standards of excellence for accreditation.

Wallace bring nearly 40 years of dedication to the foodservice industry—the last 17 as the foremost authority on personal chefs in the United States—to her role at The Art Institute. She founded the American Personal Chef Association in 1996 as the first significant national effort to recognize the impact of personal chefs on Americans’ evolving lifestyles and to provide career and management training to those who aspire to become personal chefs with their own businesses. She led the positioning of personal chefs as culinary professionals, culminating in 2002 with a formal partnership with the ACF to award certification to qualified personal chefs. In 2006, Wallace embraced the professional-development needs of private chefs by restructuring her organization to become the American Personal & Private Chef Association.

The International Culinary Center, home of the world-renowned French Culinary Institute and The Italian Culinary Academy, is pleased to announce it will assume ownership and operation of The Professional Culinary Institute in Campbell, Calif., creating a new branch campus for the New York-based culinary institution. As a result of this agreement, the new branch campus will be known as The French Culinary Institute of The International Culinary Center in California.

The Culinary Trust, the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ (IACP) philanthropic foundation for 26 years, will accept scholarship applications for formal culinary education and independent study now through March 1, 2011. The 23 scholarships offer an assortment of funding opportunities from accredited culinary schools and organizations worldwide, including two grants named in honor of founding trustee Julia Child.

The Culinary Trust has awarded more than $1 million since 1992, improving the careers of students and professionals alike. Chef Tessa Lieberman says, “Everyone is amazed, as I was, that there are even grants for chefs!”

Culinary Nutrition Publishing, LLC, has released Essentials of Nutrition for Chefs, a ground-breaking textbook designed for use in culinary programs and by food writers. Co-authors Catharine Powers, MS, RD, LD, and Mary Abbott Hess, LHD, MS, RD, LDN, FADA, are well respected educators known for their commitment to bridging the gap between culinary art and nutrition science.

Essentials of Nutrition for Chefs (416 pages, $65.00), which presents a unique look at nutrition through the lens of food, is designed to help chefs prepare food that is as healthful as it is delicious. In addition to providing practical applications of nutrition principles, the book showcases working chefs around the country and real-life scenarios from a variety of operational perspectives, including schools, healthcare, restaurants, and business and industry. The book features advice, charts, best-practice tips and guidance from 65 food and nutrition experts.