Professor Elizabeth Harman, Vice Chancellor, Victoria University (VU) and Monsieur André Cointreau, President and CEO of Le Cordon Bleu International, signed an exciting agreement on Monday 30 March that will see new internationally recognised culinary courses available in Melbourne.
Professor Harman said: "Our partnership with Le Cordon Bleu will enable us to deliver high quality, internationally recognised culinary training - developing executive chefs and culinary managers for employment in Australia and across the Asia Pacific region."
"A qualification enhanced by Le Cordon Bleu's involvement will appeal to the more prestigious end of the market, the elite hotel chains, five star establishments and fine dining restaurants. Jobs in these organisations do not just require high end culinary skills, but talent and flair, and good business, communication and interpersonal skills. The industry has indicated that demand for these skills is the primary area of current skills shortage and every indicator points to that demand being robust and continuing in the foreseeable future."
"The VU/Le Cordon Bleu qualifications will become highly valued badges in the Melbourne culinary market place and their graduates will be welcomed. Given Le Cordon Bleu's worldwide reputation, the potential employment market for graduates is not only Australia wide, but global."
"The initial qualification, an Associate Degree in Culinary Management, also exemplifies the power of a multi-sector university to provide courses that really do develop both practical skills and conceptual knowledge."
In this case, it is the Certificate III in Commercial Cookery, which is the accepted standard entry qualification for a cook and is embedded within the Associate Degree in Culinary Management. This in turn fully articulates into a Bachelor of Business (Culinary Management). The program will use the strengths of the University's multi-sector capability: students will learn from our experienced TAFE chefs as well as academic staff in the Faculty of Business and Law."
"The whole program will provide learners with 25 per cent of their assessment in the workplace through a graduated program of placements in a variety of hospitality industry venues. We are also looking at ways of including international work placements as options."
The program will be innovative and unlike anything else in Australia in its seamless provision of Vocation Education and Training and Higher Education learning. The design of the VU Associate Degree in Culinary Management ensures that the students are studying both HE and VE content from day one right through to the end of their Associate Degree. This ensures that the students are concurrently learning underlying theory and front line practical skills from the respective experts in each field. As a result of this deep integration, a student will be able to successfully undertake the Associate Degree and articulate onto and complete our Bachelor of Business (Culinary Management) in the same time as it takes a direct entry student into any other Bachelor of Business course to complete their studies."
