Johnson and Wales University (JWU) - Part II

In January 2014, I visited the Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, which is celebrating its 100^th anniversary.  The university has two campuses in Providence: Harborside, with a view of the water and Downcity, in downtown Providence.  Both campuses have housing, dining, and sports facilities and there is free bus transportation between the campuses.  My tour guide Rain lived in campus housing at the Downcity campus, while attending class in the Harborside campus.

JWU is a good match for a student who knows what they want to study, wants to take classes in their major starting in their Freshman year, and wants practical, hands-on, experiential learning.  To learn more about Johnson and Wales University, see my December 2013 blog post.

Cuisinart Center for Culinary Arts

Harborside Campus -  The Harborside campus is the home of the College of Culinary Arts.  The Cuisinart Center for Culinary Arts, built in 2009, is the jewel of the campus.  This $38 million, LEED-certified four-story building is a unique facility filled with “labs” for culinary and baking students.  As you walk by each of the labs, you can watch the students cutting, cooking, baking, making chocolate, etc.

Baking Lab

During the 1^st two years at the culinary college, the students spend two trimesters a year in cooking or baking labs and 1 trimester a year in traditional classes.  The labs are 6 hour a day, 4 days a week.  The culinary students earn an associates degree after two years and can stay for two more years for a variety of Bachelors degrees. 

Dough sculpture made by JWU students

Sugar sculpture made by baking students

Decorated cakes on display

Wildcat Center - Gym facilities in Harborside Campus

The Harborside campus has most of the green grass, and has the sports playing fields.  Freshmen in Harborside live mostly in triples or quads.  There is apartment style housing available for upperclassmen.  Housing for juniors and seniors is very convenient; housing for Sophomores is a bit of a walk.  School cost includes knives and uniforms that the students wear in the lab.     

Downcity Campus -  The Downcity campus houses the College of Business, the School of Technology, the Hospitality College, and the School of Arts and Sciences.  The Hospitality College students run the Radisson Hotel in nearby Warwick, Rhode Island, where I stayed overnight.  Freshmen in Downcity live mostly in doubles.  There is also housing for upperclassmen.  The food at the Snowden Dining Hall where I ate was tasty and cooked by students.  JWU is building new facilities for the Physicians Assistant program and for additional parking in the Downcity campus.  JWU is planning to move the building that houses the School of Technology closer to the other Downcity campus buildings.