Meat + Poultry - May 2004 - 36

Education

the course. The completed course work is sent to professors
here at the university and we tell them what they did right and
what they did wrong."
Students have the opportunity to ask professors specific
questions as they advance through the course work. "We have
video of us lecturing about the different HACCP principles," says
Brashears. "Then the students go through the sample lessons.
They pick which process
they want to learn from,
develop flow charts and
HACCP plans. We have
trained people on staff
who assess the work and
provide feedback."
Brashears notes one of
the benefits of an online
HACCP course is students
can work at their own pace
and apply what they are
learning to their facility.
"They can go into their plant, look at their processes and compare it to what they are learning," she says. "We don't offer training for every type of process, but there are areas where comparisons can be made."
Texas Tech's online HACCP course is available in English or

Spanish and costs approximately $600. "Compared to the cost of
course registration, travel, lodging and meals to attend a workshop, the online cost is pretty reasonable," says Brashears.
Employee training, your way
During the Food Safety Summit, held this past March in
Washington, D.C., Silliker, Inc., Homewood, Ill., and EduNeering, Princeton, N.J., launched
a new, online learning program
for the food industry. The goal
of the program is to increase
employee job performance and
proficiency by offering food
companies customized training programs. The programs
can include online courses
on core topics and specific
company procedures, in-plant
training and a documentation
management system.
Companies can choose from a library of online courses that
draw from technical content developed for the Food and Drug Administration as well as additional food safety and quality courses
that also address U.S. Dept. of Agriculture regulated products.
The curriculum is available in English and Spanish for operations employees and covers the principles of HACCP, employee hygiene,
avoiding microbial cross-contamination, controlling food allergens and
sanitation.
"Food companies operating in
multiple locations struggle with the
challenge of delivering consistent
information and education programs
to multiple levels of employees," says
C.J. Reynolds, director of the education services division for Silliker. "This
solution is valuable to companies in
which large groups of employees and
contractors are required to demonstrate competence in areas critical
to business."
Both Silliker and EduNeering are
betting that in the future food companies will use online training. "We expect food companies will increasingly
turn to us to ensure their workforce is
trained, qualified and informed," says
Dr. Donald Deieso, president and
C.E.O. of EduNeering.

(Students) can go into
their plant, loot at
their processes and
compare it to what
they are learning.

Who is it right for?
There are advantages and disadvantages to online education

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Meat + Poultry - May 2004

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