The Oregon Coast Culinary Institute has hired another temporary instructor while its bakery and pastry arts director is on leave.

Tina Powers will join the institute at the beginning of the spring term, according to a Southwestern Oregon Community College press release. A chef instructor at Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Powers will share teaching responsibilities at first with Patty Curfman, who came to Coos Bay after Kevin Shaw requested time off from work.

Curfman is expected to return to her Salem business at some time during the spring term, though Southwestern Director of Communications Rick Osborn said Powers would stay on campus as long as she is needed.

Powers has been certified as an executive chef and culinary educator by the American Culinary Federation, as well as a master baker by the Retail Bakers of America. She has previously taught at Emily Griffith Opportunity School in Denver, Colo; Diablo Valley College Hotel and Restaurant Program in Pleasant Hill, Calif.; and the Institute for the Culinary Arts in Omaha, Neb.

Powers also has served as an executive chef and business owner in five states.

“Chef Powers’ credentials speak for themselves,” said Institute Executive Director Shawn Hanlin in a press release. “To have a certified master baker on our staff, even temporarily, is a huge honor.”

Shaw requested time off from his duties with the institute in January. According to Osborn, four students have left the program, citing Shaw’s absence.