NAIT has expanded its one-year Baking Certificate program to a two-year Baking and Pastry Arts Diploma Program.
Chair of Baking, Alan Dumonceaux, explains that upgrading the Baking Certificate program to a diploma has been the goal for several years.
“There’s many post secondary institutions in Canada that have the diploma [program] now, so it’s really just bringing us into alignment with other post secondary institutions in Canada,” said Dumonceaux
Although lab sizes limit the intake to 27 students per year, the two-year diploma allows the program to double its intake to 54. The yearly tuition costs remain the same.
The faculty has hired two new instructors and added additional courses to the second year of the curriculum, which includes implementing additional equipment and tools, as well as giving students the opportunity for hands-on experience.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to show students a wider variety of products. Certainly a higher skill level of expectation will be required in the second year and we have a lot more projects,” said Dumonceaux.
“One of the major things is now our students will have a real life experience where they will be making desserts and pastries for Ernest’s Dining Room.”
With two new instructions, and more applicants than before, Dumonceaux says there could be future growth for the Baking Program.
“I think with the capital expansion program there’s the opportunity for the Baking Program to grow,” he said. “We’ve had a really big increase in applications. Our actual number of applications is the highest it’s ever been now with the new diploma.”
Students who have already received the Baking Certificate are eligible to return for the second year to complete the Diploma Program.
- Shawna Bannerman
