News

The culinary arts associate degree program at The Culinary Institute of Michigan (CIM) at Baker College of Muskegon has been granted renewed accreditation with Exemplary status by the American Culinary Federation (ACF) Education Foundation Accrediting Commission (EFAC). Approximately 2 percent of ACF-accredited programs receive exemplary status. The renewed accreditation is valid for seven years.

“Exemplary accreditation status is an incredible accomplishment for our campus and the culinary arts department,” said Mary Ann Herbst, Ph.D., Baker College of Muskegon president. “Achieving Exemplary status required an enormous amount of hard work and dedication, and dean Robb White, and the entire CIM faculty and staff, deserve our heartfelt thanks and congratulations for making this happen.”

According to ACF, a program is considered Exemplary if that program has had an on-site visit and the team has found no areas of noncompliance to the established ACFEFAC Standards at the time of the site visit.

“It is unbelievably tough to get through a site visit and have the evaluators find your program flawless,” said Robb White, dean of culinary, The Culinary Institute of Michigan at Baker College of Muskegon. “The evaluators described our program as the ‘model’ for all culinary programs in the United States, and said we set the standard to which all others should aspire.”

At a special ceremony during the recent ACF National Conference in Anaheim, CIM was recognized for achieving Exemplary status. White accepted the renewed accreditation and Exemplary status certificates on behalf of The Culinary Institute of Michigan at Baker College of Muskegon.

“This accomplishment puts CIM in the spotlight as one of the finest ACF-accredited culinary programs in the United States,” said White. “Our students can be assured that our faculty, curriculum, teaching methods, facility and placement rate upon graduation far exceed the requirements set forth by the ACFEFAC.”