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     Georgia Southern University is using its facilities to give its restaurant management students a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience running a restaurant.
    The Spring 2009 Thursday Dinner and Friday Lunch series, run by GSU’s Hotel and Restaurant Management department, lets student test their skills in the kitchen while teaching them the importance of back-of-the-house management practices at the same time.
    Larry Stalcup, associate professor of Hotel and Restaurant Management, said the object is not to compete with local establishments but to give students a taste of operating a real restaurant.
    “We’re not a culinary program but we feel our students need the practical application to go along with their management, marketing, human resources and accounting courses,” Stalcup said. “Our goal is to give our students an experience.”
    Stephen Minton, an instructor in the Hospitality, Tourism, & Family & Consumer Sciences department, said that while the food is delicious and well prepared, kitchen management, not culinary skills, is the focus of the exercise.
    “Everyone assumes we have a culinary program but it’s not; we teach them to manage the meal process,” Minton said. “The ones that stay in the restaurant business, if they are good…will have the skills to manage and executive chef that been in the kitchen for 20 or 30 years.”
    There are four more dates on this semester’s schedule: April 2-3, 9-10. Dinner is served from 6 to 7:15 p.m. and seating for lunch is open from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Reservations are necessary for lunch, but not for dinner. For reservations, e-mail Stalcup at stalcup@georgiasouthern.edu or call 478-5975. The price for both meals is $8.