CFS-275 -- Restaurant Management -- Spring 2009


Instructor: Dr. Rich Patterson, R.D.
Office: Academic Complex, 209C
E-Mail: rich.patterson@wku.edu
Homepage: http://www.wku.edu/~hrtm
Office Phone: 270-745-4031 -- FAX: 270-745-3999
Department Secretary: 270-745-4352

Office Hours

Monday/Wednesday 12:30 - 3:30 and Tuesday/Thursday 9:30 - 11:30 (office). It is always best to make an appointment to assure I will be in the office and/or online since office hours are sometimes interrupted by meetings etc. To make an appointment, you can send an E-mail or call my office.

Course Description

Identifies the crucial elements involved in the successful operation of a restaurant and how they interrelate. Students are taken through the process of creating a concept, developing a menu, budgeting and controlling costs, staffing the restaurant, purchasing food and equipment, bar and beverage management, daily operations and developing a marketing plan. Includes online "virtual field trips". (3 credit hours)

Prerequisites

CFS-171, or permission from the instructor

Required Text

Ninemeier, Jack, Planning and Control for Food and Beverage Operations. The Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Sixth Edition, 2004. (ISBN: 0-86612-212-1)

Course Objectives

Terminal Performance Objective: At the completion of this course, students will understand the full range of operational procedures necessary to plan, control, and operate an effective food service operation.

  1. Identify the differences and similarities between commercial and noncommercial food service operations.

  2. Describe the steps required to implement a resource control system.

  3. Discuss the development of food and beverage standards and the control systems necessary to implement and monitor those standards.

  4. Describe the importance and function of an operating budget as a planning and control tool.

  5. Describe the role of the menu as the foundation for control in a food service operation.

  6. Describe control systems necessary to monitor the purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, production and service functions in a food service operation.

  7. Describe the interpretation of cost control and financial data and corrective actions necessary to manage an effective food service operation.

  8. Describe revenue control and theft prevention procedures.

  9. Discuss labor cost control procedures.

  10. Describe the human resource management issues that are involved in operating a restaurant.

  11. Identify customer service and guest relations policies that must be in place for the successful operation of a restaurant.

  12. Discuss the role of marketing for the success of a food service operation.

Method of Instruction

  1. Class discussions
  2. Guest speakers
  3. Case Studies
  4. Homework problems
  5. Assigned Readings
  6. Instructor presentations
  7. Role Plays and Simulations

Course Requirements

  1. This class will be web assisted which means that part of the material will be delivered via the internet and part in the classroom. Each student will complete all reading assignments to include the textbook, supplemental readings, and industry news; and all homework assignments as indicated in class and/or on the course website.

  2. On randomly selected class days, pop quizzes over assigned readings and/or calculations will be given. Students who have unexcused absences on those days will receive a zero for the quiz -- there are no make-ups for quizzes.

  3. Students are expected to attend all classes except in very extenuating circumstances as defined under Attendance Policy below. Students are also expected to actively participate in class as described in Class Participation below.

  4. Late assignments to include homework, papers, exams etc. will automatically lose points for every day or part of a day they are late according to the following schedule: 1 day late -- 10 points off grade; 2 days late -- 30 points off grade; 3 days late -- 70 points off grade. After three days, unsubmitted assignments will receive a grade of "zero". This policy is in effect for all aspects of this course.

  5. The use of electronic devices to include, but not limited to, cell phones, iPods, PDA's, portable computers, etc., except in emergency situations, is not permitted in the classroom. All electronic devices should be turned off before entering the classroom. Students who disregard this policy will lose points off their professionalism score.

  6. All course requirements must be completed -- they are not optional. Students who do not complete all requirements will receive an "incomplete" until all work is satisfactorily completed or a grade of "F", at the discretion of the instructor . Please note that an incomplete automatically becomes an "F" after a certain period of time. If you receive an incomplete, consult the university bulletin or the office of the registrar for more information on how and when to clear an incomplete.

  7. Students are required to check the email account they are using for this course at least once per day. Instructions, clarifications and other guidance is often provided via email. If you have an email account with a spam guard or other spam protection, be sure to configure it so that messages from the course email address [rich.patterson@wku.edu] will be delivered to your inbox. Also, if you have a web account such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail etc. you will have a "Junk Mail" or "Bulk Mail" folder. You will need to check these folders to be sure a message from the course email address didn't get routed to the "Bulk/Junk Mail" folder by mistake. Since I typically send email messages to everyone in the class (all in one message), they are sometimes mistaken for spam. If this should happen, be sure to configure your email account so it doesn't happen again.

    If your account goes over the limit, all email sent to your account will be returned to the sender. If a message from me gets returned because you are "over quota" I will attempt to send it one more time the next day. If the second message is returned, I will not attempt to send it again. It is the responsibility of the student to make sure that s/he keeps their email account in good working order. Also, if you have an email account that has a setting that blocks all email from addresses not in your address book [such as AOL and Hotmail], be sure to put the course email address in your address book (or on the approved list) so you will receive email from me.

    8. If you typically use an email address other than your WKU account as your primary [preferred] email address, you should configure your WKU account so that it automatically forwards all email messages to your preferred account. All official messages from WKU and WKU faculty will go to your WKU email address by default so it is to your advantage to have all messages forwarded from your WKU email account to your preferred email address. Also, be sure to have the messages automatically deleted from your WKU account after they are forwarded so you don't accidentally go over-quota on your WKU account. If you go over-quota on your WKU account, all messages sent to that account will be bounced back to the sender.

Class Participation, Professionalism and Attention to Detail

  1. This course requires that you participate in class discussions, in-class case studies, and role plays/simulations. This means that you contribute to class discussions by relating your experiences, asking questions, making comments appropriate to the topics being discussed and participating in role plays/simulations. Students will be assigned readings in the textbook as well as case studies which will be discussed during a given class period. In order for the discussions to be meaningful, each student must come to class fully prepared to discuss the assigned reading and to make meaningful comments. Since participation plays a role in your final grade, it is essential that you have not only read the assignment, but have drawn your own conclusions from the reading(s). You will present those conclusions during class discussions.

  2. Please note that merely showing up for class is not sufficient for this class. Unless you make a conscientious effort to attend every class and actively participate in discussions, you will receive few, if any, class participation points.

  3. All students are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Unprofessional behavior such as, but not limited to, repeated disruption of class including habitually walking in after class has started, sleeping in class, frequent side conversations with other students, reading newspapers or other course materials, the use of foul language, ringing or texting with cell phones, the use of any electronic devices and/or rudeness toward ANY person will be considered a serious violation of this standard and will lower your grade accordingly. Please turn off all cell phones before entering the classroom.

  4. Attention to detail means being prepared for class. This would include, but is not limited to; having a Scantron, pencil, etc. for exams; remembering dates for exams and due dates; reading and following the course syllabus, etc. The hospitality industry is a very detail oriented industry, so it begins here.

  5. Your class participation grade is tied to your attendance since you can't participate in class discussions if you are not in class. Class discussions and in-class exercises can't be duplicated so if you are not in class, you miss out on the experience. The following in-class experiences will be graded and you will receive a zero for the day if you miss class that day. There will be no make-up opportunities for these experiences including but not limited to: any in-class exercises/discussions, videos, quizzes, guest speakers, role plays, simulations, etc.

  6. The class participation/professionalism grade will be based on your performance in class, conduct in class, participation in class discussions, overall attendance as well as grades on pop quizzes, in-class exercises, and case studies.

Attendance Policy

  1. Attendance in all classes is required. There are no exceptions to this policy except in very extenuating circumstances (sickness of such severity that it prevents the student from attending classes, serious illness or death in the family). Please note: Merely having an appointment scheduled during class time is not considered an excused absence. For example, dental appointments are not excused unless it was an emergency. Athletes and students who accompany athletic teams (for official purposes) will also be excused for documented games/matches/tournaments etc. which are scheduled out of Bowling Green. It is incumbent on the student to provide acceptable documentation to substantiate all excusable absences or the absence will be considered unexcused. Acceptable documentation for excused absences must be provided no later than one week following the student's return to school. Documentation submitted after this time will not be considered. It is incumbent on the student to provide the documentation; the instructor will not ask for it.

  2. Roll will be called in the very beginning of each class. If you arrive after roll has been called, it is incumbent on you, the student, to indicate at the end of class that you were late but present for class. Do not assume that the instructor saw you come in and marked you present. Statements such as "I was late for class last Monday but forgot to tell you" will not change the absence.

  3. You will receive two points for each class you attend (approximately 72 attendance points -- depending on the number of class periods we meet). For each unexcused absence, you will receive zero points and for each time you are late or leave class early, you will only receive one point. Your "attendance grade" will be a percentage determined by dividing the number of points you have at the end of the semester by 80 (or whatever the total number comes out to be).

  4. For snow and inclement weather, if Western is open, this class will meet at the scheduled time. If you commute to school, you have to decide if you can safely make it to class or not based on the road conditions in your area.

Exams

  1. There will be four examinations. Each exam will cover designated material from:

    • The textbook
    • Supplemental reading assignments
    • Class notes
    • Class discussions
    • Homework
    • Industry news

  2. Exams in this course are typically multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and calculation questions. However, there is the possibility of having essay/short answer questions as well. You must bring a calculator to all exams since there will be calculation questions on each exams. You may not use your cell phone as a calculator -- you must have a separate calculator for the exam. The exams will cover only the material since the previous exam and/or as indicated by the instructor.

  3. Exam dates are as follows:*

    • Exam 1-- Feb 16, 2009 -- Chapters 1, 2, 3
    • Exam 2-- March 18, 2009 -- Chapters 4, 5, 6
    • Exam 3-- April 13, 2009 -- Chapters 7, 8, 9,10
    • Exam 4-- Thursday, May 14, 2009 -- 8:00 am -- Chapters 11, 12,13,14
      *Exams dates are subject to change

Evaluation and Determining Course Grade