WSU Tech on Wednesday unveiled the name and logo of its new downtown culinary and hospitality school, along with a partnership with Envision for a "first-of-its-kind" kitchen and culinary education opportunity for those who are blind or visually impaired.
The school, called the National Institute of Culinary and Hospitality Education, is targeted to open in August 2022 in the old Henry's building at Broadway and William Street.
“NICHE will further build upon the momentum generated in recent years in our community and will create a synergy between our students and applied learning opportunities," WSU Tech president Sheree Utash said in a news release. "Many of the spaces will be open to the public, and it is our hope that NICHE will become one of the top food destinations in the Wichita region.”
The building renovation will add commercial kitchens, classrooms, demonstration kitchen, an open-to-the-public food hall and student-run café. A rooftop event center will be available for rent and catered by WSU Tech students in the culinary program, with event support from students in the hospitality and events management program.
NICHE is one of four redevelopment projects taking shape downtown by Sudha Tokala's Douglas Market Development LLC, including the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine across Broadway from the culinary school, an AC Hotel in the Broadway Plaza building and student housing in the Sutton Place building.
The new logo for NICHE was designed locally by Gardner Design.
WSU Tech says the partnership with Envision, a local nonprofit, aims to tackle the limited training available for basic kitchen skills and nutrition within the blind and visually impaired (BVI) community. The program at NICHE will offer courses that will teach students how to plan and prepare meals and operate kitchen equipment, with courses in food safety, nutrition, hospitality and baking and pastry skills.
"The goal of this partnership is to set the new standard for post-secondary BVI culinary arts education,” said John Michael, director of the culinary and hospitality programs at WSU Tech, in a statement. “We look forward to breaking down preexisting barriers and creating opportunities for this underserved community of budding culinarians."
The Envision BVI Innovation Kitchen is planned for the first floor of the building, along with a BVI Bistro, which will be open to the public.
“This is a fulfillment of our goal at Envision to make these areas more accessible and inclusive," said Michael Monteferrante, the nonprofit's president and CEO, in the news release. "In addition to being prepared for careers in the industry, students can learn how to cook at home and the vital importance of nutrition. We are honored to be on the leading-edge of this initiative.”
WSU Tech already started teaching classes in the hospitality and events management program last fall. Classes focus on customer service, foundational skills in food and beverage operations as well as hospitality finance and human resource management.
Students can earn an associate's degree in one or two years, or a technical certificate option. There's also an internship course which allows students to apply classroom and lab experience in the field.
The college's first culinary classes will begin this fall, temporarily located at WSU Tech South and at the Boston Rec Center until the Henry's building renovation is complete. It's also a one- to two-year program that covers topics from artisanal breads and pastries to global cuisine.
"It does so many things — it puts students in downtown Wichita," Utash said about the school late last year, "and it's another way of diversifying the different academic programs that we have."
