Technical Standards

The mission of The Culinary Institute of America is to teach students the general knowledge and specific skills necessary to grow into professional positions of influence and leadership in the food and hospitality industry. Contemporary culinary, baking and pastry, and hospitality education requires that the acquisition and utilization of professional knowledge be accompanied by a necessary set of skills and professional attitudes. The CIA requires that all students meet certain functions and technical standards that are essential for successful completion of all phases of the education programs, and that reflect industry requirements and standards.

To participate in and successfully complete the CIA's degree, certificate, and/or non-credit programs, each student, with or without reasonable accommodations, must be able to:

1. Have the ability to sufficiently perform kitchen, externship, dining room, café, and classroom activities and procedures. Examples of relevant activities include, but are not limited to, the ability to:
   1. Work in a refrigerated classroom.
   2. Lift and transport food, including hot food, as well as other culinary or baking product, equipment, small wares, and utensils.
   3. Lift and transport trays with plated foods, small wares, and other items, and serve and clear tables where guests are seated.
   4. Safely pour and serve liquids and beverages, including hot liquids.
   5. Safely handle hot foods such as pulled sugar or other items coming out of a heat source.
   6. Safely use knives for food preparation as well as other commercial cooking, baking, or serving utensils.
   7. Perform repetitive motion skills required in the kitchen and the food industry, such as whisking, dicing, or piping.
   8. Follow and maintain the National Restaurant Association's ServSafe^® sanitation standards for safe food handling.
   9. Safely and effectively operate standard commercial cooking and foodservice equipment.
   10. Participate and/or work in an environment where commercial microwaves and convection ovens are being used continuously.
   11. Test and evaluate food and beverage products.
   12. Produce food products within the time parameters designated by a course objective within a class or for a hands-on cooking or baking practical exam.
   13. Handle and cook different varieties of fish, seafood, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, venison, or other meats, vegetables, and fruit products.
   14. Handle and bake/cook using different flours—including all grains—as well as chocolate, fruits, and nuts.
        
2. Attend and actively participate in all classroom courses.
3. Attend and actively participate in production kitchen classes; instructional kitchen classes; dining room, café, and/or laboratory classes; and externship, for a minimum of seven consecutive hours per session, noting that those sessions may start at different hours of the day.
4. Communicate effectively and professionally when interacting with peers, faculty, staff, other college personnel, guests, and employers. Examples of relevant communication activity include, but are not limited to:
   1. Use of effective verbal and/or nonverbal communication skills
   2. Effective utilization of the English language
   3. Ability to interpret communication from other people and respond in a professional fashion
5. Have the ability to meet and perform sufficiently all course objectives that are essential in all classroom, laboratory, dining room, café, externship, and kitchen courses. Examples of relevant cognitive ability include, but are not limited to, the ability to:
   1. Learn and benefit from the college's curriculum.
   2. Follow directions.
   3. Reason and perform independently.
   4. Process information accurately and thoroughly and prioritize tasks.
   5. Demonstrate skills of recall using both long- and short-term memory.
   6. Apply knowledge.
   7. Perform mathematical computations.
   8. Write essays, reports, and research projects as well as complete other college-level writing assignments.
   9. Demonstrate the conceptual, integrative, and analytical skills necessary for problem solving and critical thinking.
6. Have the emotional stability, as well as the behavioral and social attributes, required to work individually and in teams within classrooms, laboratories, dining rooms, cafés, kitchen environments, and at externship locations. Examples of relevant activities include, but are not limited to, the ability to:
   1. Develop professional working relationships with classmates, instructors, guests, employers, and others.
   2. Function effectively under stress and regulate one's own emotional reaction.
   3. Adapt to multiple situations and perform multiple tasks.
   4. Adhere to the college's Student Code of Conduct.
   5. Exercise sound judgment.
   6. Focus and maintain attention on tasks.
   7. Self-manage medical or emotional conditions.
7. Have the ability to sufficiently maintain the safety and well-being of fellow students without posing a safety threat to others in all environments on campus, and during externship and other college-sponsored trips.