HYDE PARK N.Y. The administration and faculty of the Culinary Institute of America are locked in a heated dispute over internal policy issues that has spilled out into the consumer media.
Last month the CIA's teachers' union passed a resolution by a vote of 85 to 9 voicing "no confidence" in president Timothy Ryan, who has led the school since 2001. In a 13-item bill of particulars presented to the administration, the teachers maintained that, among other things, Ryan is responsible for lowering academic standards while fostering a repressive climate among its 125-member faculty.
Some students of the culinary school also have criticized the administration, asserting in Internet postings that the school is packing too many people into classes and that work-experience requirements have been eased. The editor of the CIA student newspaper resigned after reportedly being blocked from running editorials that faulted the administration. The school later reversed itself and apologized for interfering with editorial matters, a turn of events that was covered in a regional newspaper.
Calling the publicity surrounding the dispute "unfortunate," Ryan said: "We have some differing opinions on how we go about realizing the school's vision for the future. But there's nothing that we're facing that can't be worked out."
Faculty members, on the other hand, say they want more input into guiding policy for the school and claim that Ryan has suppressed their participation.
"There is a lack of faculty governance, which encompasses many things, such as the admission criteria, curriculum, faculty promotion and faculty development," said Marjorie Livingston, assistant professor of nutrition. "And we need to have a vital say in those areas. Our knowledge and expertise should be the guiding forces in decisions made."
In addition, instructors claim in the bill of particulars that Ryan is forcing them to work with substandard equipment and conducting a re-ranking of faculty based on a newly introduced set of criteria. There have also been criticisms of the uniforms that students are required to wear.
"The truth of the matter is those things -- equipment and uniforms -- are a symptom of a larger ailment," said Peter Greweling, professor of baking and pastry arts and a 17-year employee of the CIA. "So addressing those does not get to the real problem." He characterized it as more of a "management-style concern," the result of a "top-down unilateral style of management."
Stephan Hengst, senior communications manager for the school, called the issue "a very complicated one," adding that the administration is working through some of the issues with the faculty. He said the administration so far has met twice with the union and that more meetings are planned.
He noted that several of the complaints are not new and surfaced last year during the school's protracted contract negotiations with the union. The negotiations resulted in an annual average salary increase of 4.5 percent across the board for the faculty over the next four years, and the continuation of 100-percent medical coverage.
The faculty also criticized Ryan for lowering the school's minimum grade point average from 3.0 to 2.0, enabling underperforming students to progress from the school's two-year associate in occupational studies degree program into its four-year bachelor of professional studies program. Ryan maintains, however, that the reduction -- which was enacted four years ago -- reflected the standards held by many universities.
Ryan said he believes that some of the faculty anxiety stems from the fact that the school is in the process of shifting from its 30-year-old Progressive Learning Year, or PLY, system -- which divides the year into academic sections of three weeks each -- to a more traditional semester structure, which would allow for more electives and specialization.
"Logistics have not been thoroughly worked out. Much of the faculty are concerned," Greweling said.
Amid the public strife, the culinary school's board of trustees issued a statement expressing support for Ryan.
"While the CIA Board of Trustees admires the fine work of the CIA's extraordinary faculty, we support the vision and initiatives of President Ryan," board president William C. Anton said in a statement.
While newspapers like The New York Times and the Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal have published stories about the quarrel, one former CIA instructor who asked to remain anonymous, observed that this type of administration-faculty dispute is not out of the ordinary.
"It's happened before," he said.
Pamela Parseghian contributed to this article. Both Frumkin and Parseghian are graduates of the Culinary Institute of America.
