Kitchens in National Cooperation will be hosting chats every two weeks.  The chats will take place at 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.  To participate in the session, log on to kitchensinc.org, select chat room, enter your user name and join the session.  It helps if you enter your name and location so that everyone will know who is participating.

 

1. August 28, 2003 Assessment.  How do you assess men and women interested in enrolling in your program?  What tools do you rely on (interviews, tests of educational levels, tests of employment readiness, etc)?  I would like to start a dialogue that works towards establishing best practices.

2. September 11, 2003 Culinary Curriculum.  Do you use a text book for teaching culinary skills?  What text book do you use?  How do you pay for the books?  Do you give a book to each student to keep?  Does anyone teach a culinary curriculum in Spanish or any other language? I would like to share information to find the best texts at the most economic prices.

3. September 25, 2003 The Workforce Investment Act.  Are you receiving Workforce Investment Board funding?  What barriers have you experienced to accessing this money?  Are you able to manage the reporting responsibilities?

4. October 9, 2003 Revenue Generation.  Do you believe in social enterprise as a part of the nonprofit experience?  Do you incorporate revenue generation as part of your program?  Do you have plans to in the future?  What sort of revenue generation program do you conduct?

5. October 23, 2003 Job Retention.  Do you follow up with your students following graduation?  How long do you follow up?  What tools do you use?

6. November 6, 2003 Volunteers.  How do you incorporate volunteers into your program?  What techniques do you use to maintain an actively and effectively involved volunteer effort?

7. November 20, 2003 Drug Testing.  Do you conduct drug tests as a part of your intake process?  Do you randomly drug test through out your program?  Do you believe in a no tolerance policy?  How do you pay for your drug testing program?

8. December 4, 2003 Preparing meals for "Special Needs" clients.  Are you currently preparing nutritionally balanced meals for people with special needs?  This could be working with the USDA to provide meals for children, providing meals for seniors, or working with those with health problems such as diabetes, etc.  Is this kind of effort part of your future planning?  What are the challenges that must be overcome to meet these needs?

9. December 18, 2003 Stipends.  Do you pay your students stipends?  What is your system for paying stipends?  If you don't, does that affect the ability of students to participate in your program?  Or do you believe that paying stipends causes people to sign up for your program for the wrong reasons?

10. January 8, 2004 Partnerships.  Do you partner with Technical Colleges in your program?  Social Service agencies?  Nonprofit organizations or other groups?  What are the most unique partnerships that you have formed?  What are the pros and cons of a partnership relationship?

11. January 22, 2004 Special Events.  Do you currently host a food/fund/awareness raising event for your program?  What do you do and what are some of the most unique ideas that you have come across.  What are the planning pitfalls to be avoided to ensure success?

12. February 5, 2004 Using Existing Resources.  Do you use existing resources as fully as possible to control costs and create the most efficient program?  Share your innovative ideas and tips with us.