Western Culinary Institute
Encyclopedia
The Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Portland, formerly the Western Culinary Institute (WCI), is a private culinary school
Cooking school
A cooking school or culinary school is an institution devoted to education in the art and science of food preparation. It also awards degrees which indicate that a student has undergone a particular curriculum and therefore displays a certain level of competency...

 located in downtown Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The school is owned by the Career Education Corporation
Career Education Corporation
Career Education Corporation , founded in 1994, is a postsecondary education provider with campus-based and online curricula. On July 1, 2003, Career Education Corporation merged with competitor Whitman Education Group, Inc., gaining control over the latter's Sanford-Brown Colleges, Ultrasound...

 and it is also a partner with the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 culinary institute Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu is the world's largest hospitality education institution, with 35 schools on five continents serving 20,000 students annually. Its primary education focus is on hospitality management and the culinary arts...

. As of 2006, the school had an enrollment of 805 students. The school became affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu in 1999 and changed its name from the Western Culinary Institute to the current name in January 2010.

History

Western Culinary Institute was established in 1983, by two local businessmen, Horst Mager and Donald Waldbauer, as the Horst Mager Culinary Institute. In 1986, it adopted the name, Western Culinary Institute. The school was purchased by the Career Education Corporation
Career Education Corporation
Career Education Corporation , founded in 1994, is a postsecondary education provider with campus-based and online curricula. On July 1, 2003, Career Education Corporation merged with competitor Whitman Education Group, Inc., gaining control over the latter's Sanford-Brown Colleges, Ultrasound...

 in 1996. In 1999, WCI partnered with Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu is the world's largest hospitality education institution, with 35 schools on five continents serving 20,000 students annually. Its primary education focus is on hospitality management and the culinary arts...

 so that their graduating students could get a Le Cordon Bleu dîplome along with a specialized associate degree in culinary arts, hospitality and restaurant management
Hospitality management studies
Hospitality management is the academic study of the hospitality industry. A degree in Hospitality management is often conferred from either a university college dedicated to the studies of hospitality management or a business school with a department in hospitality management studies...

, or pâtisserie and baking. In 2000, WCI was the first school to offer the Le Cordon Bleu Restaurant Management Diploma, although as of 2008, it does not have a restaurant management program. A lawsuit started in March 2008 against the school became a class action lawsuit in December 2009. The lawsuit claims Western Culinary and its parent company committed fraud with its recruitment practices.

Campus

The school is located in downtown Portland
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found....

, in the historic Galleria Building. The building, formerly the Olds, Wortman & King
Olds, Wortman & King
Olds, Wortman & King, also known as Olds & King, was a department store in Portland, Oregon, United States, established under a different name in 1851 and becoming Olds & King in 1878, on its third change of ownership. The store was renamed Olds, Wortman & King in 1901; Olds & King again in 1944;...

 department store, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. The campus includes classrooms, labs, kitchens, a computer lab, a library/resource center and a student-staffed fine dining restaurant.

Academics and associations

The curriculum offers two programs, in which students can earn a diploma or an Associate of Occupational Studies
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...

 (AOS) in either culinary art
Culinary art
Culinary art is the art of preparing and cooking foods. The word "culinary" is defined as something related to, or connected with, cooking. A culinarion is a person working in the culinary arts. A culinarian working in restaurants is commonly known as a cook or a chef. Culinary artists are...

s or pâtisserie and baking
Pâtisserie
A pâtisserie is the type of French or Belgian bakery that specializes in pastries and sweets. In both countries it is a legally controlled title that may only be used by bakeries that employ a licensed maître pâtissier ....

. Students also earn a Le Cordon Blue diplôme (Diplôme de Cuisine or Diplôme de Pâtisserie). The diploma programs last 30 to 36 weeks, and the AOS program lasts 60 weeks.

Western Culinary Institute has been a title sponsor of the ProStart Knowledge Bowl in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The ProStart State High School Culinary Championships are hosted by the Oregon Restaurant Education Foundation and include different culinary and hospitality-focused events. Over 200 students from 34 Oregon high schools competed in the 2008 contest.

The institute is an affiliate with many culinary and educational associations and organizations, including the American Culinary Federation
American Culinary Federation
The American Culinary Federation was established in 1929 and is the largest professional chefs' organization in North America.ACF, which was the progeny of the combined visions of three chefs' associations in New York, comprises more than 22,000 members in 230 chapters across the United States,...

.

Accreditation

Western Culinary Institute is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).

Legal issues

Two women filed a class-action lawsuit against Western Culinary Institute and its corporate parent in March 2008, alleging the private trade school misleads students with its sales pitches and leaves them ill-prepared to pay off their large student loans. According to the complaint, the school failed to warn students that their tuition would exceed their ability, upon graduation, to pay off their federal loans. It alleges the school also misrepresented its job-placement rate and failed to disclose that students would "not obtain material benefit" from the course of study.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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