Department of Hospitality Arts
Envision Your Career in the Global Hospitality Industry
Great careers in hospitality start at Kirkwood! Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management students receive extensive hands-on training that ensures they are experienced and job-ready when they graduate. Learn from passionate, experienced instructors who care about your success.
Hospitality Programs
Why Hospitality Arts?
A career in hospitality arts can provide you with rewarding local, regional, national or international opportunities. If you enjoy being creative, of service to others, or desire a dynamic and ever-changing business environment in which to thrive, then a hospitality career could be a good fit for you!
The Hospitality Arts department offices two AAS degree programs: Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. Both the AAS programs offer students hands-on lab experiences within The Hotel at Kirkwood Center.
Department Details
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
This world-class teaching hotel brings a new, real-world learning style to students in Kirkwood Community College's Hospitality Arts programs. Our program includes classroom education and hands-on learning in the hotel and conference center, where students gain remarkable, practical experience. This sets them apart from students in other hospitality programs. Come be a part of something exciting!
The Class Act Restaurant
Learning is delicious at The Class Act Restaurant. Located at The Kirkwood Center, The Class Act features breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Students integrate into restaurant operations under the guidance of professional staff. Our menu changes seasonally, ensuring the freshest quality ingredients and new and exciting choices for our guests.
Vision Statement
The Center for Hospitality Excellence will lead the world in educating and preparing the finest hospitality professionals that will impact the global community.
Mission Statement
To be the best place to learn, recruit and stay.
We will do this by teaching, developing and serving.
Job Retention*
2023 – 2024
98%
Graduation Rate
2022 – 2023
52%
ACF Certification**
2023 – 2024
0%
* % of surveyed graduates who have chosen to remain employed in the culinary field 9 months after graduation.
** American Culinary Federation Certification is a choice, not a requirement.
Hospitality Arts Faculty and Staff
| David Horsfield | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title: | Department Chair | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8772 | |||||
| Email: | david.horsfield@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Chef Horsfield began his culinary career with a 4-year apprenticeship at the full-service, Gold Coast International Hotel in Queensland, Australia, where he ultimately received trade certification as a trade-certified chef. It was during this time that he received training and guidance by chefs from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, England, Ireland, Japan, Hong Kong, India and Thailand, earning consecutive-year medals in the Gold Coast Salon Culinaire competition. During his formal training, Chef worked in fine dining, banquets, breakfast service, butchery, garde manger, and bakery operations. Chef Horsfield’s 13 years’ industry experience included work in boutique Australian Hotels as Commis, Demi, Chef de Partie, and Chef Garde Manager positions. Chef worked in corporate catering at a major Australian sporting stadium in Adelaide, South Australia, and was a 7-year owner of a successful restaurant. Relocating to the U.S.A. in late 2005, Chef Horsfield joined the instructional team at Kirkwood Community College in 2006 before becoming Department Chair of Hospitality Arts Programs in 2011. Chef Horsfield holds a Master of Strategic Leadership degree from Mount Mercy University, and both a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science Business Administration from Upper Iowa University. | |||||
| Dawn Noska | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title: | Department Assistant | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8770 | |||||
| Email: | dawn.noska@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Ms. Noska began her Kirkwood career in 2009 as an office coordinator for Skills to Employment's Iowa City location. Ms. Noska moved to Kirkwood's main campus in 2010 as the department assistant for Learning Services. It was within this role that Ms. Noska gained considerable experience working directly with students, as a major focus of that position was helping students with learning disabilities gain access to the assistance they needed in order to be successful in a college environment. Ms. Noska transitioned to department assistant for Hospitality Arts in 2014. In addition to her administrative experience, Ms. Noska also brings front-of-house food and beverage industry experience to her role within the department. | |||||
| Greg Krawiec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title: | Professor | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8775 | |||||
| Email: | greg.krawiec@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Dr. Greg Krawiec is Assistant Professor and Coordinator for the Hospitality Management program in the Hospitality Arts department. Dr. Krawiec is a graduate of the Academy of Culinary Arts, has acquired a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from Florida International University, a Master of Science in the same discipline from Iowa State University, and a Doctorate from Iowa State University. He is an American Hotel and Lodging Association Certified Hospitality Educator. Dr. Krawiec has worked in all facets of the hospitality profession and the gaming industry for more than 25 years, occupying various positions at the executive level as senior director/vice president of operations overseeing food and beverage, hotel, security, facilities, and design and construction. Former industry employers include organizations such as Harrah’s, Showboat, Caesar’s, Isle of Capri, and Sand’s. Additional industry experience was generated through a leadership role within the team responsible for opening the Star Casino in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Krawiec is a native of southern New Jersey and now resides in eastern Iowa. He previously served on the boards of Iowa Gaming Association and Iowa Restaurant Association. He is past president of the Iowa Association for Career and Technical Education and currently serves on the board. He's also a member of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education. | |||||
| Jeremy Ralph | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title: | Professor | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8773 | |||||
| Email: | jeremy.ralph@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Chef Ralph began his professional culinary career in 1995 at a hotel in northern Iowa. Upon graduation from the Kirkwood Community College culinary program in 2000, Chef worked in Fort Collins, Colorado and went on to hold an executive chef position at Givannis Italian Café in Iowa City. In 2005, Chef relocated to Berkeley, California, and worked as sous chef at a three-star seafood restaurant called Sea Salt, before working under Chef Duskie Estes at Zazu Restaurant in Sonoma County, California. Chef returned to Iowa City with his family in 2007 and worked as Chef de Cuisine for Taste Bistro on Melrose. Chef has been a Kirkwood Community College Culinary Arts faculty member since February of 2010. Chef Ralph’s BS Business Administration degree was awarded by Upper Iowa University. Chef Ralph attained Certified Executive Chef status and Certified Culinary Educator status with the American Culinary Federation in 2022.  |
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| Anthony Green | ||||||
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| Title: | Associate Professor | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8774 | |||||
| Email: | anthony.green@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Chef Green started his culinary career in his mother’s kitchen after being told that “if you’re going to eat the way you do, you will learn to cook.” So began a multi-national hospitality journey that allows Chef Green to bring considerable experience to his instructional role at The Kirkwood Center for Hospitality Arts. Prior to relocating to the USA in order to complete his Culinary Arts degree at Hocking Community College, Chef’s professional culinary experiences had been crafted in such prestigious Caribbean properties as the Ritz Carlton and Sandals Resorts. He gained valuable volume catering experience at the Ramada Inn, Nelsonville, Ohio and Chef Tournant experiences at the Naples Beach Club and Golf Resort in Naples, Florida. The completion of his Culinary Arts degree and the diversity of his various industry experiences led him toward the position of Banquet Chef at Hawks Cay Resort and Marina, FL. Along with an ever-growing passion for food and quality service that developed in line with his professional career, Chef Green also developed an equal passion for teaching and instruction that led him toward starting a Culinary Academy at the Marathon High School, Marathon Cay, FL. It was in this position that Chef earned his first formal instructional recognition as First Year Teacher of the Year. Relocating to Iowa in 2011, Chef Green joined The Hotel at Kirkwood as their Banquet Chef/Adjunct Instructor where he further refined the quality of volume food service within the AAA Four Diamond-rated full service hotel property that provides valuable practical training experience for hospitality students. After several years in that position Chef Green made the transition to full-time instructor where he continues to instruct a variety of both classroom and kitchen courses. | |||||
| Michael Barshis | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title: | Associate Professor | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8781 | |||||
| Email: | michael.barshis@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Chef Michael Barshis’ considerable industry and executive-level leadership experience spans multiple states and stems directly from time spent producing quality food and providing quality service at such upscale hospitality establishments as Skamania Lodge in the Columbia River Gorge near Portland, Oregon and the University Club of Portland. After initially recognizing a passion for food and foodservice that lured him towards the hospitality industry Chef Barshis' career got underway with a Mediterranean, tapas-style influence. It was in this environment where he learned the craft of wood oven cooking and the complexities of small-plate service. Chef Barshis continued in this style of foodservice while a completing his Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Iowa, before pursuing a similar culinary style in Santa Cruz, California. Chef Barshis’ skills related to seasonal menu writing, farm-to-table sourcing, beer and wine food pairing, fabrication, organizational cost control, global cuisine, and staff training and management evolved through his 20-plus years in industry, before ultimately being refined during his seven year tenure as executive chef at University Club of Portland. Chef Barshis' most recent industry experience, prior to joining the instructional team at The Kirkwood Center for Hospitality Arts, was as store chef at the upscale New Seasons Market in Beaverton, Oregon. | |||||
| Loughton Smith | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title: | Associate Professor | |||||
| Phone: | 319-848-8718 | |||||
| Email: | loughton.smith@kirkwood.edu | |||||
| Bio: | Chef Smith is the bakery chef instructor at Kirkwood Community College. Chef has been instructing in higher education institutions since 2005 and has a background of teaching, training and employee development within the hospitality industry. Chef Smith received his culinary training during 1984-85 from the Culinary School of Washington, in Washington, D.C., during which time he worked under Chef Jean Claude Zilanski as a commis, garde manger, and sauté cook, receiving a solid foundation in the fundamentals of French bistro cuisine. Moving to California Chef worked with several non-profit organizations, managing food service operations for Ability First, GSUSA, Episcopal Diocese of San Diego and Los Angeles, the Loch Leven Conference Center, and the Union for Reform Judaism’s facilities in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. After developing a passion for baking and pastry arts during his early career, Chef Smith relocated to New York in 2003 to pursue formal training at the Culinary Institute of America’s Hyde Park campus, further developing his skills and focusing his current interests in artisan bread, chocolate work, and special event cake creation. Chef Smith completed his externship with the prestigious Hotel DuPont under Chef Tom Hannum and Pastry Chef Michelle Mitchell in 2004, and earned an AOS degree in Baking and Pastry Arts Management in 2005. It is in higher education that Chef Smith has demonstrated his ongoing commitment to the culinary and pastry arts, vocational education, and student development. Chef Smith received his B.A. in Art Education from Humboldt State University in 1995 and earned his Master of Science in Higher Education in August 2010 from Drexel University, creating an instrument for measurement of graduation rates and continuing, post-graduation career involvement. | |||||
What is an Outstanding Hospitality Student?
An Outstanding Hospitality Student exhibits commitment, passion, dedication, and excellence throughout their educational experience. An Outstanding Hospitality Student embodies the Hospitality Spirit through being of service to others. An Outstanding Hospitality Student has demonstrated their willingness to encourage and support others. An Outstanding Hospitality Student is a source of inspiration for faculty, staff and fellow students!
Department of Hospitality Arts
The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
hospitalityarts@kirkwood.edu
Phone: 319-848-8770
Fax: 319-848-8751