TTHTI a leader in culinary arts

It is the first and only tertiary institution in the region offering a bachelor’s degree in culinary management, and the first educational institution to obtain ISO Certification, 2010, Butcher said at the TTHTI’s recent anniversary interfaith service and awards ceremony held on September 1 at the institute’s Hilltop Lane, Chaguaramas location.

Thanking God for the strength and endurance that enabled her team to work tirelessly to develop it so that hundreds of graduates were able to pursue their dreams, she said, TTHTI was the first institution to be named a “Leader in Tertiary Education” in TT in 2008.

It was also the first to offer an associate degree in sport tourism - introduced in 2001 when many stadiums were under construction by the then government, and the first local institution to introduce a short course in event management and subsequently a diploma.

While all secondary and tertiary institutions must be registered by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) to be recognised, Butcher said, TTHTI was one of the first five institutions to be registered with ACTT accreditation in June 2008 and re-registered in June 2010.

Reflecting on the past 20 years, she said that from helping 20 students to complete their associates degrees in 1996, TTHTI now has over 700 full-time students being rivalled by part-time students in almost similar numbers.

Over the years, she said, TTHTI attracted students from all over the world - including 20 Dominican students who received Dominica government scholarships - Malawi, Pakistan, Canada, Venezuela, Jamaica and other Caribbean islands.

Butcher, whose name is synonymous with the TTHTI, and who was interviewed for the job on her birthday, recalled the first day she went to the “Old Hotel School” where it was in a dilapidated state amidst overgrown bush, and wanted to turn back.

Together with “Peter Popplewell of RBTT, William Aguiton, our chairman, Trevor Harewood of the Ministry of Education, Clive Alexander, resident architect, and of course, board members past and present who supported me,” Butcher said, “we built this place window by window, block by block, brick by brick over the past 20 years.” The building process over the years cost over $31 million. It saw the construction of new facilities and upgrade and expansion of many others, including the conversion of the car park under the main building to offices, a new dining room, and the purchase of a shuttle bus.

The TT Hospitality Training Institute which was run by the Ministry of Education was closed by the government, and the new TTHTI began under the aegis of the then Trinidad and Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association (TTHTA) with an Inter-American Development Bank grant of US$2 million obtained through its Multilateral Investment Fund with a Government of TT counterpart funding of US$1.314 million.

Its mandate was to develop an industry-driven education and training system for the hospitality and tourism sector that include institutional strengthening and transfer of know-how to the then TTHTA, and the development of a system of competency standards for the industry.

Butcher said, the TTHTI has succeeded in this area.

The IDB-GovTT project, which ran from 1996 to 2001 achieved all objectives with 86 percent of the funds disbursed, Butcher said.

“We were able to convince the IDB to use the balance of the funds to purchase gym equipment, and we started the Hilltop Fitness Gym in 2002, which is now a revenue earner for TT HTI,” she said.

Challenges between hotel and tour operators in Trinidad and Tobago saw the TT HTA splitting, and the Trinidad Hotel, Restaurants and Tourism Association which was born, Butcher said, now provides oversight to the TT HTI Trinidad campus at Chaguaramas.

To develop the institution initially, she said that study tours were undertaken to Nova Scotia in Canada, Columbus in Ohio and Chicago, USA, and in Jamaica to see the workings of similar institutions in other parts of the world.

Stakeholders of the industry, academia, government agencies and an IDB consultant contributed to the development of the institute’s first strategic plan that included policies and procedures for start-up.

TT HTI partnership with the National Training Agency (NTA ) in 1999 to develop occupational standards for the industry, and later working with the Tourism Development Company in various communities in food preparation and food sanitation/safety gave the institute the opportunity to visit and know better, local tourism sites and attractions.

An early achievement for the school, Butcher said, was in 1999 when TT HTI was contracted to prepare meals for the Miss Universe Pageant, and for the ball that followed at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre. Students served as wait staff.

“It was a wonderful and unforgettable experience for them including students from Assiniboine College in Canada who stayed at TT HTI during that period on an exchange programme,” she said.

Recalling other milestones, Butcher said that in 2000, TT HTI was selected to provide trained personnel for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. “They gave us equipment and supporting material for training. Students were hired on graduation.

Some of our staff were also trained by them to meet their requirements,” she said.

At present, the TT HTI, Butcher said, was seeking to reintroduce the Walt Disney, oneyear management trainee programme.

From 1999 graduates were exposed to the programme, but it was cut after the deadly September 11 terrorist attack on the New York twin towers.

Students, graduates and staff have benefitted from programmes and scholarships from the Culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales University, Protocol School of Washington, Italian Food Style Education Culinary Institute, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA). The AHLA has enabled 18 TT HTI faculty members become Certified Hospitality Educators (2008 and 2012).

In addition, she said the TT HTI has articulation agreements with ten foreign universities, enabling the transfer of students’ credits to these institutions to pursue further studies.

The institute also has articulations with Servol, Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme, and the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus.

Meanwhile, TT HTI’s annual scholarship fund-raiser, “Taste of Carnival” now in its 19th year, Butcher said, continues to be a most sought-after function for a mainly mature crowd of locals, returning residents and visitors on Carnival Friday.

Butcher was in high praise for the many leading hotels and restaurants that seek graduates from the TT HTI, and the many outstanding graduates that have leading businesses in the food and beverages sector and among others in the tourism and hospitality industries.