This certificate provides a full and comprehensive overview of institution food service management. Emphasis is placed on the application of facility design, menu planning, food procurement, inventory control, food safety principles, human resource and financial management and food production. Upon completion, students should be able to work in a health care environment under the supervision of a registered dietitian and be eligible to sit for the national certified dietary managers’ examination.
Employment opportunities include hospitals, correctional centers, nursing homes, public health agencies, schools, retirement centers, hospices, home care agencies, and commercial food service systems.
Course work includes content related to foodservice management, nutrition, and medical nutrition therapy, human resources, and food safety/sanitation.
The certificate program is one semester (16 weeks). There are two components to the certificate program: 1) internet-based learning and 2) supervised practice.
The internet-based learning includes a minimum of 120 hours of online classroom instruction, backed up by 192 hours of hands-on supervised practice. Gaston College offers students within a two-hour travel proximity to complete the supervised practice at Gaston College and facilities in the surrounding communities with Gaston College faculty. Supervised practices completed under the supervision of someone other than Gaston College faculty must meet credentialing agencies requirements.
Students are eligible for student Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals (ANFP) membership. Upon completion of the required course work and 192 hours of supervised practice experience the graduate is eligible for the credentialing exam and active ANFP membership. For this purpose, student names/addresses will be sent to ANFP headquarters when students enroll in the program. A graduate list will be sent to ANFP headquarters within two weeks of graduation.
Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates will:
- Communicate and perform effectively as a dietary manager to a diverse population.
- Incorporate and apply the dietary guidelines in the provision of services to the general population.
- Demonstrate knowledge of management principles required to deliver food and nutrition services.
- Apply basic food preparation skills.
- Develop basic menus for conditions such as hypertension, obesity and cardiac.
- Perform nutrition screening for at-risk population.
- Gather basic nutrition assessment information to assist the registered dietitian.
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