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Partnership results in on-line degree By Heather Chakiris
	Penn State’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management in the College of Health and Human Development, the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s ProMgmtSM program and Eat’n Park Restaurants Inc. have joined forces to deliver an associate degree in hotel, restaurant and institutional management through the Penn State World Campus. “The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management is pleased to work collaboratively with the National Restaurant Educational Foundation and the Eat’n Park Co. in the delivery of an innovative new hospitality associate degree offered through Penn State’s World Campus. This public-private partnership is the first of its kind designed to respond to the food service industry’s critical workforce needs for leaders and managers,” Dr. Sara Parks, associate dean for outreach, Cooperative Extension and international programs in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development, said. The 66– to 68–credit associate degree program targets practitioners in the hospitality industry who are interested in increasing their management skills and preparing themselves for supervisory positions. Students can study and learn at their own pace and complete assignments in their workplace. They must be employed and working at least 15 hours a week in a commercial food service facility, and they are required to identify a mentor who will guide them in completing some of the course work. Eat’n Park is mentoring the program’s first five students, all employees of the company. Founded in 1949, Eat’n Park is a family-style restaurant and bakery, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Consumer Reports ranked Eat’n Park as one of the top family restaurants in the nation, with the chain’s highest marks earned for “value for the money.” The Pittsburgh-based company operates more than 70 restaurants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and employs more than 7,500 people companywide. “We’re proud to be pioneering distance education in the hospitality industry along with Penn State and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation,” said Gail Ulrich, vice president of human resources for Eat’n Park Restaurants Inc. “This partnership helps us to fulfill our commitment both to promoting higher education, as well as providing Eat’n Park employees with excellent training and advancement opportunities. Many of our management and hourly employees have dreamed of going back to school to earn their degrees. The Penn State World Campus allows them to schedule their course work around their job and family commitments.” Stephen J. Caldeira, president and chief operating officer of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, said, “Increasing professionalism within the restaurant industry is one of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s top strategic initiatives. Our distance education partnership with Penn State and Eat’n Park helps strengthen the link between business and academia and encourages people to make careers in our great industry.” The Penn State World Campus, launched in 1998, creates a new distance learning environment where students and faculty, separated by time zones and continents, can learn together through information technology, providing access to the University’s finest academic resources. “I can think of no better way for adults who are employed in the hospitality industry—and located in all parts of the world—to advance in their careers,” said Dr. James A. Bardi, lead faculty member for the World Campus hotel, restaurant and institutional management associate degree program. “In addition to the cutting-edge curriculum, combining committed faculty and advisers, a work requirement and the presence of an on-site mentor is a good formula for developing hospitality managers. It’s an excellent way for owners of restaurants and hotels and directors of institutional food service to ‘grow their own managers.’ ”