EDUCATION
The American Culinary Federation
Education Foundation (ACFEF)
Apprenticeship Program is in the second
year of the U.S. Department of Labor
grant it received to bring its apprenticeship
program into the 21st century. Reaching
this midway point seemed unimaginable
and, at times, overwhelming.
ACFEF Apprenticeship:
Building on a Great
Foundation
By Nick Weber
programs into the apprenticeship fold. The
ARTs will also help to accomplish this goal
by traveling the country and meeting with
interested groups.
ACFEF online learning portal home page
( www.culinaryprofessionals.org)
A lot has changed since October 2009.
The ACFEF now has a fully functional
Online Learning Portal. Our four pilot-site
programs—Johnson County Community
College, Overland Park, Kan.; Westmoreland
Community College, Westmoreland, Pa.;
Indian River State College, Fort Pierce,
Fla., and Keystone Resort, Keystone,
Colo.—which represent the four regions of
ACF jurisdiction, have almost completed the
initial period of the online apprentice portal
website implementation. We have sent the
ACFEF apprenticeship logbook through
a rigorous industry validation process. We
have recruited, trained and implemented
eight apprenticeship regional trainers
(ARTs) to help market and implement
the new ACFEF Apprenticeship Program
across the country.
will look at all levels of the apprenticeship
universe for deserving recipients.
To complement the online portal website
and its modern conveniences, the ACFEF
has begun to make the application process
for both apprentices and new programs
almost paperless. Gone are the days
of out-of-date forms and long delays in
communication. From start to graduation,
ACFEF apprenticeship has been revised to
make everyone’s time more efficient.
Another initiative for the coming year will
be sustainability. The ACFEF has already
incorporated a sustainability proficiency
section in each station of the ACFEF
logbook. We have also gathered a multitude
of online sustainability resources and made
them available to registered portal users.
This coming year we will unveil our Leaders
in Sustainability program. This initiative is
designed to recognize and reward ACFEF
apprenticeship programs and participants
for outstanding work and achievements
in the area of culinary sustainability. We
In addition to these initiatives, the ACFEF is in
the beginning stages of producing a series of
videos that will focus on the different stations
of the ACFEF apprenticeship logbook, with
a special concentration on sustainability.
These videos will be housed on the portal and
made available to registered portal users. The
ACFEF hopes to offer the videos as a series of
educational aids and supplementary learning
modules to be used by ACFEF apprenticeship
supervisors and apprentices alike.
As exciting as the last year has been, the
best is yet to come. The first of the new
initiatives involves expanding the scope
of ACFEF apprenticeship. The foundation
laid by the pilot sites will allow the ACFEF
to bring an entirely new generation of
The past year has seen a massive amount of
advancement in the ACFEF Apprenticeship
Program. The coming year promises to be
even better. If interested in becoming an
ACFEF Apprenticeship Program or adding
the portal to an existing program, inquire at
apprenticeship@acfchefs.net.
Nick Weber can be reached at nweber@
acfchefs.net or (904) 484-0221.
