Respectfully, Mr. President, You're Wrong

John Cornyn, FCSI

John Cornyn, FCSI, writes an open letter response to Obama's remarks about college dining programs serving "fancy food" and causing financial trouble for students -

"Dear President Obama:

I am a foodservice management and operations consultant who has been involved with higher education foodservice since I was admitted to Oklahoma State University's hotel and restaurant administration program in 1963. Over that time period, I have watched college and university foodservice evolve from what you at Occidental College and the vast majority of students on other campuses during that time frame experienced..."  Full Letter  

Student Chapter Initiative and Student Competition Underway

The Board of Trustees approved two initiatives led by the ICON Committee aimed at raising awareness among young people about FCSI and Foodservice Consulting as a profession. FCSI will support student chapters throughout the Americas at most any college, university and culinary school. To help in this effort, we are also kicking off a student competition where the winner will win $5000! The competition is set around developing an innovative project related to the hospitality industry, hotel business or catering industry. Submissions are in the form of a business plan. Learn more 

The ICON Committee (Inspiring Consultants through Opportunity and Networking) promotes the participation of new and emerging members of FCSI-TA.  

Robert W. Baird & Co. recently released its semiannual Foodservice Industry Survey. The survey is intended to provide multiple perspectives on Foodservice Industry equipment and capital investment trends, with two main components: the operators' viewpoint (primarily restaurant operators), and suppliers' viewpoint (equipment manufacturers, distributors and service providers).This survey is meant to give investors and participants a general indication of current market trends. Individual responses have been edited to protect participants' anonymity.

The survey encompasses the viewpoints of restaurant operators generating aggregate annualized revenues of nearly $6 billion and suppliers with combined annual revenues of ~$900 million.

If you have any questions or comments, please email Senior Analyst Mircea (Mig) Dobre, Senior Analyst Timothy Wojs, Research Analysts Joe Grabowski, Joshua Chan or Brian Brophy.

John Turenne, FCSI

A New Industry Knowledge Exam

By John Turenne, FCSI, CPSTA Leader

In order to continue FCSI's reputation for setting a high bar for standards of membership, our organization's Council for Professional Standards - The Americas (CPSTA) has recently enhanced our Professional Membership qualification process.

The Industry Knowledge Exam (IKE) has stood as a reputable measurement for the level of industry knowledge and competencies our organization expects from its members.  In order to maintain its quality and relevance, improvements have been made in the written exam. The following is a summary of the upgrades in the 2015 IKE.  CPSTA has:

Added more questions on current industry context. These include:

• Environment (energy conservation, sustainability, recycling, etc.)
• Information Systems
• Labor functions and processes
• Regulatory Agencies (USDA, EPA, etc.)

Added glossary terms such as "gluten-free cooking" and "fast casual restaurants" in order to maintain relevance of material.

Reviewed all terms in the Glossary and definitions for Governmental Agencies, etc. in order to ensure accuracy.

Updated all Body of Knowledge (BOK) sources to the most current edition.

Added two BOK sources to add relevant information on Information Systems in the foodservice industry.

Lengthened the test in order to include these additional items. The revised test will have 100 questions in place of the previous 73.

Increased the time allotted to take the test from two hours to three hours.

Ensured statistical validation that the exam differentiates between those candidates who know the body of knowledge which the exam tests and those who do not.

A note on timing: The old IKE (2010) will still be offered as an option through the rest of this current 2015 calendar year to current Senior Associates.  The new version (2015) will also be offered as an option until January 2016.  Beginning January 2016, the 2015 IKE will be the only exam offered.

As I transition into the CPSTA team leader role for outgoing leader Doug Huber, I offer my and our council's resources to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

The Council for Professional Standards - The Americas (CPSTA) sets standards of performance for professional FCSI-TA consultants, administers core competencies set by FCSI WW, and measures performance for core competencies.

John Turenne, FCSI - Sustainable Food Systems, LLC - Incoming Team Leader

Douglas Huber, CFA, CFSP, FCSI - Foodservice Consultants Studio - Outgoing Team Leader
Barbara Piper, MS, RD, SNS, FCSI, FAND - An Apple a Day, LLC - Board Liaison to CPSTA
Albert da Costa, FFCSI (PP), MA, OSD - Socius Consulting
Edmeston U. Bernard, CET, CFE, FCSI - Cini Little International, Inc.
Char Norton, MS, RDN, LD, FADA, FAND, FFCSI - The Norton Group, Inc.
Michael H. Redlin, FCSI and Professor Emeritus - Cornell University
Connie Dickson, FCSI - Robert Rippe & Associates, Inc.
Kip Serfozo, FCSI, LEED, AP ID+C - Camacho USA