Johnson & Wales University: N. Miami campus
North Miami Campus
College review by Diane Forman
I had the opportunity to visit Johnson and Wales while spending a few days in Miami with my husband. The North Miami Campus is one of four locations for the university. The others are located in Providence, Charlotte and Denver. Although the academic offerings are the same at each campus, the local opportunities for internships and work experience are very different.
This is an important factor for the Miami campus since approximately 95% of the students work off campus, excluding the international students. The students in fashion merchandising and retail management as well as hospitality and culinary have an incredible smorgasbord to choose from.
The top designer and retail stores are located in South Beach Bal Harbour, and Aventura. There are major hotel chains, restaurants, boutique hotels and cruise ship ports surrounding the Miami campus. It was clear that the administration is well connected to the local businesses and students have great options for internships and jobs.
The campus is comprised of 3 main buildings and three dorms. A new hospitality building is being constructed and scheduled for completion for the 2013-2014 academic year. The new Wildcat Center was completed in 2011. In addition there is the University Center and the Academic Building.
Johnson and Wales offers an upside-down curriculum to get you started in your major right away. The College of Business’s most popular majors are Criminal Justice, Fashion Merchandising and Retail Marketing.
The College of Culinary Arts’ popular majors are Culinary Arts and Baking/Pastry. The Hospitality College’s popular majors are Sports Entertainment and Event Management.
We had a personal tour with two different tour guides. We were having so much interaction with staff and students on the way that the first tour guide had to leave and go to class. Professors smiled and waved as we walked by and one professor came out to talk to us. He was a chef and taught the meat carving class. He spoke with passion about his job and the students.
Our first tour guide was an international student from China and was majoring in Business. Our next tour guide was Hien, a Culinary Arts major and he wants to be a food service manager. He chose to do an internship in a restaurant in Dresden, Germany that he said was life changing.
The school is firm on having the students appear professional at all times. Students are required to follow a dress code and wear name tags. Each class wears a different color tag.
Culinary students wear white coats, chef hats, black shoes and are inspected before class to ensure they are in compliance with dress code and personal hygiene. The rest of the students are wearing business attire, shirt and tie for the men and women wearing slacks, skirts, and dresses.
Learning Support at Johnson and Wales *North Miami campus*
Center for Academic Support
Phone: 305-892-7046
Level of Support: Coordinated Services
Students who need accommodations must submit their documentation to the director of the Center for Academic Support. Some typical accommodations are:
- Extended time for testing
- Individualized testing
- Note-taking assistance
- Reduced course load
- Priority scheduling
- Scribes
Johnson and Wales is committed to helping students succeed academically. The Center for Academic Support is available for all students and offers:
Professional and peer tutors
- Individual and small group tutoring
- Study Strategy Remediation
- Skills workshops including time management, test-taking strategies and note taking
- Proofreading assistance
- Tutoring in course content across the curriculum
