The Associate Degree in Restaurant and Food Service Management provides the education, experience and skills needed to begin a successful management career in the hospitality industry. Graduates are well prepared to enter as a supervisor or management candidate in restaurants, hotel food and beverage departments or commercial/contract food service operations including positions such as kitchen managers, dining room managers, banquet managers, purchasing agents, and restaurant/food service managers. Coursework includes an emphasis on management and supervision, menu planning, purchasing, cost control, marketing, entrepreneurship, beverage management, and human resources training. The curriculum also includes skill training, business and management techniques, critical thinking, decision-making, customer service, communication and cultural awareness skills. In addition to classroom instruction, students get hands-on restaurant management experience in both the kitchen and dining rooms of our student-run restaurant as well as practical industry experience.
Program contact: Learn more
This degree program contains one or more embedded certificates which will be automatically awarded when the certificate requirements are completed. If you do not want to receive the embedded certificate(s), please notify the Office of the Registrar at RegistrarOffice@tri-c.edu.
Learn more about how certificate credits apply to the related degree.
Related Degrees and Certificates
- Hospitality Management (Hotel, Destination, and Event Management), Associate of Applied Business
- Hospitality Management (Culinary Art), Associate of Applied Business
- Event Planning, Short-Term Certificate
- Food and Beverage Operations, Certificate of Proficiency
- Lodging Rooms Division, Certificate of Proficiency
- Personal Chef, Certificate of Proficiency
- Professional Baking, Certificate of Proficiency
- Professional Culinarian/Cook, Certificate of Proficiency
Program Learning Outcomes
This program is designed to prepare students to demonstrate the following learning outcomes:
- Obtain an entry-level skill position in the food service industry.
- Apply proper sanitation principles to meet industry standards and government regulations, and successfully complete ServSafe Certification Exam.
- Utilize the principles of purchasing and inventory control.
- Apply standard HR principles in regards to recruiting, retaining, and developing staff.
- Demonstrate an understanding of basic culinary competencies.
- Utilize time management and decision-making skills and display effective customer service, teamwork and communication in a day-to-day restaurant/foodservice establishment.
- Achieve appropriate management goals in a restaurant/foodservice operation.
- Demonstrate understanding of the principles of safe and responsible alcohol service and successfully complete ServSafe Alcohol certification exam.
- Demonstrate principles of the production and service of standard alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for a restaurant/foodservice beverage program.
- Develop an original restaurant/foodservice concept including facilities design, menu development, business plan and pro forma income statements.
- Apply standard principles of restaurant/foodservice marketing.
Suggested Semester Sequence
| First Semester | Credit Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| HOSP-1010 | Introduction to the Hospitality Industry | 2 |
| HOSP-1020 | Sanitation and Safety | 2 |
| HOSP-1031 | Fundamentals of Culinary Arts | 3 |
| HOSP-1040 | Customer Service | 2 |
| HOSP-1360 | Fundamentals of Restaurant/Food Service Management | 3 |
| HOSP-1552 | Introduction to Baking & Pastries | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Second Semester | ||
| HOSP-1451 | Contemporary Cuisine | 4 |
| HOSP-1680 | Beverage Management | 2 |
| HOSP-2400 | Hospitality Management and Supervision | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| College Composition I | ||
| Honors College Composition I | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Computer Applications | ||
| Honors Computer Applications | ||
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Summer Session | ||
| HOSP-1950 | Restaurant/Food Service Management Field Experience | 1 |
| MATH-1190 | Algebraic and Quantitative Reasoning (or higher Approved Ohio Transfer 36 Mathematics course) 1 | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 4 | |
| Third Semester | ||
| ACCT-1311 | Financial Accounting | 3 |
| HOSP-1650 | Dining Room Operations | 2 |
| HOSP-2350 | Restaurant Operations | 3 |
| HOSP-2700 | Hospitality Purchasing | 2 |
| Arts and Humanities Requirements | 3 | |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| College Composition II | ||
| Honors College Composition II | ||
| Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Fourth Semester | ||
| HOSP-2371 | Restaurant/Foodservice Entrepreneurship | 2 |
| HOSP-2500 | Hospitality Cost Control | 3 |
| HOSP-2360 | Restaurant Marketing | 2 |
| HOSP-2871 | Food and Beverage Management Experience | 2 |
| Social and Behavioral OR Natural and Physical Science Requirement | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 12 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 62 | |
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MATH-1240 Contemporary Mathematics taken prior to Fall 2024 will be accepted to meet Mathematics requirements for this program.
MATH-1140, MATH-1141, MATH-1200, MATH-1270, and MATH-1280 can no longer count towards fulfilling the college-level mathematics requirement. These courses were re-classified as developmental mathematics by the state of Ohio in 2016. Tri-C established a 5-year transitioning window for students who had completed these courses prior to 2016 to apply them towards meeting graduation requirements, which expired in Summer 2021. It is highly recommended to see a counselor to determine the appropriate math required for your current major.