Educators – Questions and Answers

• What is it that separates the FDRP programs from other programs?
• What kind of recognition/benefit will FDRP Credentials provide me and my students?
• What is the foundation of FDRP’s standards of service?
• Who already uses FDRP certification?
• How do I implement certification in my school?
• What is the International Business & Gourmet Standard of Hospitality (IBGS) and where is it taught?

Q. What is it that separates the FDRP programs from other programs?

A. Flexibility, Support, Longevity and Credentials

• Flexibility: With different materials to accommodate different needs, FDRP programs give you maximum flexibility:
  • Supplemental material: Our core curriculum is simple and integrates into any existing program. In addition to the core material, each lesson comes with a supplemental section so you can enrich and grow the curriculum to fit any type of hospitality concept you wish.
  • Curriculum options: FDRP offers different programs to accommodate various pupil populations and educational levels–from Vocational High School and Technical Institutes to Universities. You don’t wear the same shoes for every activity, why should you be using the same book for different objectives?
  • Adaptable program content: You can pick and choose from a program’s many teaching assets so you don’t have to give up your existing course-guide or need to overhaul your class! Some teachers use all material in a program, from lesson plans to online courses, student handbooks and examinations, while other instructors use only the certification examination as an outcome assessment piece and turn their class into an additional credential on their graduates’ resumes!
  • Material downloads: With the ability to optionally download materials – from student handbooks to Instructor’s guides and visual aids – anywhere, anytime via the Internet, FDRP programs add the maximum amount of flexibility to your class schedules and locations while reducing your overall educational costs.
• Support: FDRP means more than some automated telephone system or a couple of downloadable files on an out-of-date website:
  • At FDRP, an actual person will answer the phone. We will assist you to quickly resolve any issue or question, whether technical or curriculum based. We also take the time to lead you through the product via a webinar to help you choose which program, lesson or tool will work best for you.
  • Support also means that our lesson plans truly are lesson plans. Each curriculum is divided into set lessons, each of which has learning objectives, measurable standards of performance, written test questions, practical exercises, all the media to present the information, checklist of class equipment requirements by lesson, and even a blueprint based on Bloom’s taxonomy for all the questions of the entire program.
  • StaffNET™ gives you an up to the minute staff/student reporting and an instant mass-messaging communication tool to save you time.
  • Alternative testing methods are available to accommodate students with documented learning disabilities.
  • And . . . no-cost support doesn’t end after a few months following purchased of the program . . . just ask any of our customers.
• Longevity: Because we believe you do NOT want to be required to revamp your program or class once a new version is available.
  • FDRP doesn’t think on a “Book-Basis” but on a “Program-Basis”. What that means is that when you use our material, you receive a three year free upgrade. If we change anything, upgrade anything, adjust anything, we automatically send you the replacement content.
  • Your lesson plan always matches your student’s handbook and/or online lessons.
  • FDRP is a company built by hospitality professional in support of hospitality professional. Out company has been creating programs for 14 years, and you can count on us to be here in the future. There are many new software companies around touting online courses. But who better to provide you materials than those that are in the industry and have taught at the Culinary Institute of America?
• Credentials: Because no one gets a job strictly because of their grade in class. FDRP is the only organization to offer such a wide variety of internationally-recognized, hospitality-oriented professional development programs that can culminate in certification for you and your students. Regardless of the program you choose, once the individual receives certification, they are part of a program that is the only one in the United States to bear the endorsement of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), the International Sommelier Guild (ISG) and to include reciprocity with the Canadian government for the Professional and Master certification levels.

Q. What kind of recognition/benefit will FDRP Credentials provide me and my students?

A.FDRP credentials–from Apprentice to Master levels–translate into concrete benefits for their bearers. Here are some examples:

• The Associate Certification is used at the J&W university level as the ‘Culminant examination’ of a 3-credit course.
• The Dining Room Master Certification equals the same number of points as a Certified Executive Chef when it comes to promotion evaluations at Johnson & Wales University. Customers are always interested in meeting Certified Masters, and if you plan on teaching one day, this credential will not go unnoticed.
• Through Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), high school Apprentice graduates have attained employment in top New York City restaurants. Even at the earliest levels of certification, the benefits have returned an increased capacity to earn an income as well as a professional status for these youngsters.
• Through the reciprocity agreement with the Canadian Tourism and Human Resource Council (CTHRC), work visas are expedited for immigration into Canada.

Q. What is the foundation of FDRP’s standards of service?

A. FDRP recognizes that there are a lot of different books often times containing different interpretations of identical service techniques that have caused significant confusion in the industry. To remedy this problem, the standard of service adopted by the FDRP and presented in all its books and certification programs is the International Business & Gourmet Standard of Hospitality (IBGS). FDRP’s entire program utilizes the IBGS techniques and standards, which are also in agreement with the world-renown gastronomic dictionary, The Larousse Gastronomique.

Q. Who already uses FDRP certification?

A. FDRP programs are taught in restaurants, high schools, culinary trade schools and prominent institutions. A few of the educational facilities using our programs includes:

• Johnson and Wales University
• Kendall College
• SUNY Cobelskill
• Cuyahoga Community College
• Jacksonville Art Institute
• First Coast Technical College
• Here’s what two of our partners say about our solutions:
  • Johnson and Wales University, which was one of the first universities to include FDRP certification into its curriculum, has made FDRP certification a requirement of the freshman class. By 2005, Johnson & Wales alone will be graduating an average of 2000 Certified Dining Room Associates annually into the industry. Edward Korry, Department Chairman for Johnson & Wales, states, “The Certified Dining Room Associate program supports our mission to provide students with a well-rounded overview of professional dining room service. By offering a certification regulated by a recognized and independent organization that validates what it is we teach, restaurants that hire our graduates can feel comfortable with their level of training.”
  • Mr. Jeff Bell, Vice President of Human Resources and Training Development for Hillstone’s Restaurant Group. “Currently, Houston’s restaurants are in the process of certifying all of their Service Managers as Dining Room Professionals. Once all of the Service Managers are certified, we plan on expanding the education to include General Managers. Our long term goal is for General Managers to be certified as Dining Room Masters and servers to be certified as Dining Room Associates.”

Q. How do I implement certification in my school?

A. Implementation is simple and is usually accomplished in one of two ways:

• 1. For those with access to the Internet: Utilize the FrontSUMMIT® online training and testing facility:
  • The self-study Apprentice or Associate programs (which provides dual certification for service and wine basics) enables trainees to study when and where they desire.
  • The option of downloading manuals for each student and the Instructor’s Toolkit™ is also available.
  • Your school is provided an access code for your students to access the Internet Testing facility. If online testing is not convenient, FDRP can provide you with hard copy tests so you can administer the test. For this, your trainer will have to complete the Certified Dining Room Professional™ test and application.
  • For the Professionals level of certification (Certified Dining Room Professional™ through Certified Hospitality Grand Master™), all the materials and examinations are available online.
• 2. For those without access to the Internet: Purchase hard-copy trainers’ Toolkit, Student manuals, or Professional kits:
  • Use the Apprentice or Associate Trainer’s Toolkit, which includes all that a trainer needs to present, paired with trainee manuals that follow the information presented in the trainer’s toolkit page-by-page. The trainer selects the session information he/she wants to teach during the training sessions, versus what will be assigned for home study.
  • At completion of the training, the students take hard copy tests the administrator monitors. For this, your trainer will have to complete the Certified Dining Room Professional™ test and application.
  • For the Professionals level of certification (Certified Dining Room Professional™ through Certified Hospitality Grand Master™), these certification kits are Self Study. The trainer simply plays a mentoring role to ensure that the trainees progress through the program at an acceptable pace for your investment.

Q. What is the International Business & Gourmet Standard of Hospitality (IBGS) and where is it taught?

A. The International Business & Gourmet Standard of Hospitality (IBGS) was derived from the classic European standard taught in culinary schools throughout Europe as well as in Canada, South America and elite United States schools. Merged with the International Standard of Business Etiquette, which is also taught worldwide, the IBGS model of service standard can be found in literally every educational book published throughout Europe, including the French “Travaux Pratiques de Restaurants” courses that are taught for all three degrees of their Service Restaurant program. Relating that program to the United States’ degree acronyms, the bottom degree is equivalent to a Culinary AOS degree and the top level equates to a University Bachelor degree. Service is a living art, so the IBGS has evolved to meet the needs of the modern clientele and was adapted to the current constraints that restaurants must abide.