The UTM's BSc in Culinary Arts Management Programme (formerly known as Bachelor of Arts in Culinary Arts Management Programme) is designed with the modern hospitality professional in mind. The first cohort of students joined the 4-year course in September 2011 and graduated in 2015, and many are now fully engaged in the industry.
Since its introduction and induction into the academic structure of the UTM, the programme has gained vast momentum and has been one of the most sought-after programmes in tertiary education from local prospects and regional and international applicants. Limitations of acceptance into the programme provide students with tailored and close guidance and mentorship from experienced and dedicated faculty. The programme has introduced an additional intake as of August 2021 to facilitate the overwhelming demand, where both will be the graduating class of 2025.
For incoming students, whether they intend to pursue a career as a master chef, a front-of-house manager, or an all-around culinary professional, the 4-year course draws on a broad experiential base of proven teaching staff. With worldwide experience ranging from 3, 4, and 5-star hotels to Michelin restaurants to event venues and the like, the UTM draws on this vast knowledge base to deliver a well-rounded broad-based foundation from which the students can flourish.
The UTM also promotes links with the industry to cultivate much-needed professionals with the potential to promote culinary excellence in some of the finest establishments around the world – and indeed, many UTM alumni are doing just that.
Lastly, the comprehensive teaching culinary arts skills set taught in this programme by itself would be of little use without a complete complimentary teaching package that incorporated such essentials as languages; culinary vocabulary; financial planning; management theory; culinary culture; trends in gastronomy; human resources and organisational behaviour; as well as such things as environmental considerations and sustainability issues; legislation; marketing and entrepreneurship.
In this regard, the UTM's four-year culinary arts degree course is dedicated to providing students with unparallelled up-to-date skillsets that mark the UTM as a beacon of educational excellence both within the pan-Asian region and beyond.
Year 1 is an intensive programme full of theory and practical tuition. Students take various courses, from introducing gastronomy to valuable accounting techniques to food safety and nutrition. Looking at the food and beverage operations from a theoretical stance, students are introduced to the kitchen, where they begin to practice all of this training. All the while, languages feature heavily as any international career will require competency in specific common languages.
The first semester takes students through the basics of soups, vegetables, and starches, while the second concentrates on meat, poultry, and seafood.
Soups, vegetables, and starches is an introductory look at kitchen fundamentals with basic knife skills, vocabulary, and an understanding of the importance of stocks and sauces.
Meat, poultry, and seafood is another introductory course that aims to provide students with the foundational knowledge and practical techniques of a modern - Western-oriented sauce chef (Saucier). The emphasis within these modules is the holistic nature of cooking. As our starting point, we take whole animal carcasses; whether beef, lamb, pork, or poultry, the students first learn the fundamentals of meat and fish. The students can better understand the various cooking processes and which meat or fish is best utilised.
This year, students are taught more in kitchen practicals with higher level skills in order to strengthen the essential skills that they have learned in Year 1. At the same time, further education is gained within the language fields, and management principles and industry practices within the volume catering world will be examined.
The first semester concentrates on the Garde Manger, while the second focuses on pastry and baking work. Garde Manger focuses on the various techniques of the modern cold kitchen larder. From salads to condiments, from pates and terrines to buffet work, the cold kitchen is a valuable second step to the CA degree. The practicals are peppered with complementary teaching methods, including simulated real-life restaurants, outings to local hotels, work experience, and trips to food markets.
Pastry and baking focus on the various techniques of the modern pastry chef. Students will learn about everything sweet and delicious, from homemade ice creams to chocolate work, mousses, gateaus, pralines, and the like.
Year 3 kicks off with an entire semester of International Cuisine - an exciting module that takes 13 Major Cuisines worldwide. Additionally, we will invite specialists from the industry to give guided demonstrations to the students. The students, in turn, follow this with their practical, aiming to emulate the chefs' creations.
The second semester is a 6-month internship programme in which the students are given hands-on training on a rotational basis throughout their selected hotels or restaurants. Mentored by chefs who often have accumulated comprehensive experiential skill sets that make them highly competitive and employable, the interns seek guidance in honing the theoretical and practical skills we have taught them thus far.
Students are expected to have a broader, more complete understanding of the industry as a whole. Hopefully, with this experience, they will gain enough exposure and training to help them into their final year.
The 4th year is an programme with the theory of management skills and projects that pull on these newly acquired resources. On top of this, students are exposed to the broader social issues of food, whether via Contemporary Issues in Culinary Arts or Capstone Project / Thesis.
They are equally divided between practical restaurant-based events, menu development, and management theory. The practical utilizes complementary teaching methods, including simulated real-life restaurants, outings to local hotels, work experience, and trips to food markets.
By the end of this year's study, the UTM's Culinary Arts Management Degree students will have a fully rounded view of the hospitality industry at local and international levels. The graduates will be well educated and proficient in practical cooking methods and management theory, cost analysis, and share an awareness of the industry's culinary and management issues.
As a student of UTM, CAM students will be exposed to numerous opportunities to gain real-world experience and recognition through competitions on local, regional and international platforms. Through such prospective events, students can further enhance their maturity and excellence as culinary professionals. Such events are but are not limited to the following competitions:
The Internship Programme aims to provide our students the opportunity to consolidate their theoretical foundation through practical experience. A significant component of this experience is the formation of a professional attitude. The students are expected to develop their personality and capacity to adapt to and handle challenging situations in the real business world. Through the internship programme, the students should acquire transferable skills such as communications, interpersonal, technical, teamwork, management, and problem-solving skills. Last but not least, the students can explore their interest in future career development.
The Internship Programme is required for all bachelor's degree students. Each daytime degree programme student is expected to complete six consecutive months of internship during which he/she must work for a minimum of 800 hours. While evening degree programme students can choose to undertake 800 working hours of internship over a maximum period of two years counting from the commencement of his/her internship or six consecutive months and complete a minimum total of 800 working hours. Each student is expected to be supervised by a mentor throughout the internship. The student will need to fill in a monthly report to report his/her progress during the internship, whereas the mentor will need to give an appraisal to the student monthly. Please click to see the local or global internship providers.
For more information on the Internship Programme, please contact the Practicum and Internship Team at intern@utm.edu.mo or (853) 8598-3050 / 8598-1256 / 8598-1520.
To enrich the cultural experience of our students, UTM started receiving exchange students in the academic year 1996/97. Since then, UTM has received almost 800 students! The photos below highlight their study at UTM and life in Macao. Please click here to know more about our incoming exchange programme.
UTM students realise that there is nothing better than emerging in a foreign setting to experience cultural challenges personally. Since the first pioneers set their footsteps overseas in the academic year 2000/01, our students have pursued valuable overseas study experiences in Australia, Austria, Canada, Chinese Taiwan, Denmark, Japan, Finland, France, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States of America and more. Please click here to know more about our outgoing exchange programme.