Butler Unveils New Certifications for Redler Institute of Culinary Arts

The Butler Community College Board of Trustees and the Kansas Board of Regents recently approved an update to the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts curriculum, which includes a new group of certificate pathways aimed at refining the educational process for tomorrow’s top chefs.

In addition to the standard associate degree in culinary arts, the Redler Institute will now offer one, two and four semester certifications which give students the option to take a variety of courses related to event management, food truck entrepreneurship and pastry arts.

“The new curriculum is much more streamlined and offers more flexibility,” said Derek Foust, associate dean of Butler’s career and technical education department. “Students who don't want to commit to a full degree can come for a semester and earn a certificate. Then if they want to keep going, they can seamlessly earn a certificate the next semester and [another] the semester after that.”

One anticipated highlight of the new pathways is the Food Truck Entrepreneurship courses, which will allow the Redler Institute’s food truck, the Grizzly Grub, to be used as a working kitchen and mobile teaching tool. In these courses, students will learn how to own and operate a food truck through hands-on experience and skill development.

Director of the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts Les Padzensky plans to be heavily involved in the literal rollout of the new food truck classes. “I plan on bringing in guest speakers from the food truck world with firsthand knowledge of the life of a food trucker, [but] I am most looking forward to is bringing the food truck to life [by] planning and executing events hosted by students around campus,” said Padzensky.

The new certificate pathways will start with the upcoming fall semester. The Redler Institute of Culinary Arts building is at 622 Cloud Avenue in Andover, Kansas.