While Flathead Valley Community College administrators gave considerable thought to putting a moratorium on the culinary arts program, ultimately they backed away from that plan.

The decision to spare the program comes after the resignation of FVCC chef instructor Hillary Ginepra in late May and student complaints about executive chef Howard Karp, the adviser for the Culinary Institute of Montana.

College President Jane Karas said the culinary program will continue.

“It was actually very seriously considered,” she said of the moratorium. “But there were quite a few students already registered and we determined it was in the best interest of our students to continue with planned classes.”

Ginepra, who had been working at FVCC since 2006, was vague about her resignation.

“It was an extremely difficult decision,” she said. “But I resigned my position with FVCC to pursue other career opportunities.”

Other culinary students are taking courses this summer, so events such as Thursday’s “Big Night” — a fundraiser for FVCC’s Venice study abroad program — will not be impacted, Karas said.

Karp will remain as head of the Culinary Institute of Montana.

In April, more than 10 students signed a letter of complaint about the program. Several went public with the letter. Much of the information in this letter came from a strongly worded critique by Oregon chef Tina Powers.

Powers, who was invited to FVCC to look at the culinary program and evaluate what would be needed to get a certain academic accreditation from the American Culinary Federation, wrote a scathing critique of the program.

Much of that document has since been disavowed by Powers, however, and several of the students using it as the basis for their letter of complaint have retracted their signatures or left the culinary program. 

Information presented in the report, according to Karas, was well beyond what Powers was called to the college to review. Both Powers and Karas told the Inter Lake that parts of the report were in error.

Leslie Thomas, a culinary student who spearheaded the complaints and has since left the program, had questioned Karp’s kitchen behavior and how he deals with students. Tafford Oltz, another former student in the program, left due to what he claims were inconsistent grading guidelines and rampant favoritism.

Other students such as Taylor Baer never were approached to sign the letter, however, and defended Karp.

“Lots of things were small incidents [the letter signers] blew out of proportion,” Baer said. “I’ve never had a problem with Chef Karp. He can be severe and tell you that you are wrong, but he is preparing us for the real world.”

Another complaint, that students were being overworked for events, was similarly dismissed by Baer.

“At the start of the program they sat us down and made it very clear we would be working a lot,” she said. “This is a very intense program. Frankly, I’m just kind of disgusted with the letter.”

Karp declined to comment, but Karas was more than willing to defend his credentials, pointing to his extensive resume and the satisfaction of current students such as Baer as testaments to his capabilities as instructor.

Karas said that with Ginepra’s resignation, the college would make a decision on whether to hire a new instructor in the near future, but the culinary program would not suffer in quality during the transition.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.