Above is aview of newly renovated

Culinology® dining room. Alumni

might recall seeing the early HRA

Dining Room in this space, and post-

fire students would remember it as the

location of the temporary Snack Bar.

The SMSU Culinology® Program

stays busy in their new kitchens and

beyond. Inset photos: (clockwise from

top left) students participated in the

catering effort for Avera Cancer

Institute “Building for Hope” Gala; all

hands are needed to prep for the

SMSU Dinner Theatre meal; a

student working hands-on in the lab;

the array of stainless steel and silicone

utensils at the ready; students serving

at the University Gala in the Mission

District of San Francisco station; and a

tray of seasoned meats await their turn

in the ovens.

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3FOCUS

The Culinology® kitchens at SMSU underwent a complete

makeover during the summer of 2010. Today, they rival anything in

the country.

“The students love it; I love it,” said Culinology® Director

Michael Cheng. “It has brought the program into the 21st century,

and beyond. We now have facilities that no one else has.”

The renovation work resulted in a total of five kitchens. One, the

Ecolab Skills Kitchen, was named after Ecolab, the St. Paul-based

company that is a world leader in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety

and infection control products and services.

The company presented the Culinology® program a $100,000 gift

to help with the renovation project. SMSU alumna Kris Taylor

(1987), the Vice President of Community Relations and Ecolab

Foundation, helped facilitate the gift. She is a past chairperson of

the Culinology® Advisory Board, and sits on the board today.

“The Ecolab kitchen is where every student begins his or her

Culinology® training. It’s where they learn the basics,” said Cheng.

Other kitchens include the baking and demonstration kitchen,

where hands-on demonstrations of skills occur and where guest

chefs work; the restaurant kitchen, which supports the green Bistro

restaurant; and the Culinology® kitchen, used primarily as a research

and development kitchen.

Culinology® students have many hands-on opportunities

throughout the year. Cheng and 25 students from his Menu Design

and Service Management class helped with the Avera Cancer

Institute’s Building Hope Gala in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Oct. 23.

The SMSU contingent helped cater the event for 3,000 guests

and keynote speaker Lance Armstrong. “It was quite a challenge and

a wonderful opportunity,” said Cheng. “We’ve done small-scale

events in the

past, 15 people

up to 300 at the

U n i v e r s i t y

Gala, so this

was an

experience we

don’t get every

day. I was very

proud of

them.”

S M S U

students helped

prep, cook and

serve the food,

and helped

clean up

afterward.

Culinology®

has grown in

popularity as a major since being introduced in fall semester 2006.

“We primarily get our students from Minnesota and surrounding

states, though we do have students from the East (coast),” said

Cheng. “We have been getting more and more from Illinois. I

think our presence each year at the National Restaurant Association

show in Chicago has helped that.”

The renovations mean that the state-of-the-art program now has

state-of-the-art facilities to support the educational goals of the

students.

Culinology® Program Goes State-of-the-Art

Students (and alumni) from across the country can now take a

tour of SMSU no matter there they live.

SMSU has partnered with YourCampus360 to create the tour.

YourCampus360 is a New York-based company that uses the latest

technology to present virtual walking tours of campuses on websites,

as well as utilizing popular social media and mobile devices.

The virtual tour is accessible on the SMSU website:

www.SMSU.edu. It includes academic buildings, the Student

Center/Conference Center, athletic facilities, residence halls and

other areas. Each stop along the tour includes photographs and 360-

degree views. There are even some videos.

In fall, a YourCampus360 photographer captured images of more

than 45 areas on campus. With the use of a wide-angle lens and

by ‘stitching’ photos, virtual images showing the 360-degree views

of much of the campus were created.

The virtual tour allow prospective students from anywhere in the

world to get a feel of the SMSU campus, its facilities and spirit. The

content of SMSU’s tour can be easily updated, so as the campus

grows and changes, so will the tour.

The tour guide is Elise Kazmerzak, a sophomore from Lake

Preston, S.D. Her avatar-like features are shown during the tour as

she gives the viewer a description at each tour stop.

The tour is available via Facebook and mobile devices such as the

Android and the iPad. Students at home or on the go have access

to SMSU wherever they have access to the internet.

“Students today begin their college search on the internet. Giving

students access to SMSU through this virtual tour lets them see the

university without taking time out of their schedules to come to the

campus itself. The YourCampus360 tour also answers many of the

basic questions that both students and parents have about college,”

said Andrew Hlubek, SMSU Director of Admissions.

“We think this is a unique addition to our website, as we are

attracting more students from longer distances, and this will

encourage them to come to campus for a personal visit,” he said.

Virtual Tour of Campus Now Online