HYDE PARK, N.Y. — The basketball team’s starting center missed the home opener because he had to work at Bocuse, the on-campus French restaurant. A 19-year-old woman was a frequent starter at striker for the men’s soccer team. And two years ago, the star of the women’s cross-country team missed out on a fourth straight conference championship because the school’s rolling enrollment schedule meant she graduated two weeks before her final meet.

All of these quirks and challenges, unheard-of at colleges like Alabama, Notre Dame and Stanford, are common at an unlikely athletic department: the one at the Culinary Institute of America, one of the country’s most prestigious cooking schools. In its zeal to remake itself into a true four-year college in recent years, the institute, in the Hudson Valley, has done more than expand its menu of bachelor’s degrees. It has also gotten serious about a longtime staple of campus life: intercollegiate sports.

“We want to set ourselves apart from other culinary school options; we do have that full-fledged campus life environment,” said David Whalen, the associate dean for student activities, recreation and athletics. “As our education has evolved, our hope is that we’ll advance further with more athletic experiences for our students.”