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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2000: article | |
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Health and Human Development center and Continuing Education partner to benefit hospitality industry By Deborah A. Benedetti | ||||||
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At first glance, the U.S. Army and The Breakers Palm Beach might not seem to have much in common, but both operate lodging facilities. The Army operates hotels for its business travelers, while The Breakers is world famous as a Mobil Five-Star, AAA five diamond resort listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Both organizations also have something else in common. They share a link with Penn State’s Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management (HRRM). Ruth Ann Jackson, director of the Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research, was instrumental in establishing educational partnerships with both organizations. “These are truly collaborative projects,” she said. “Continuing Education is providing funding to the Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research to support both partnerships through Program Innovation Fund grants. Penn State Management Development Programs and Services is providing the template for program content using their competency-based framework for management development. This support is allowing me and other HRRM faculty to work with representatives of the Army and The Breakers to design, develop and promote a series of programs and application projects specifically suited to managers in the hospitality industry. The ability to develop industry-specific programs has been the key ingredient to the success of these partnerships. “I couldn’t have done it without our faculty in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management and the Division of Continuing Education. The hospitality market is a 24/7 [24 hours a day, seven days a week] market with unique concerns. It is important to involve our HRRM faculty in the program development and delivery, because of their expertise and understanding of this industry and their credibility with today’s hospitality managers,” Jackson added. She praised Continuing Education’s support for the Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research, noting, “Continuing Education has provided over-the-top service to my academic unit. This is really a model of cooperation and selflessness on the part of all involved. The hospitality market is difficult to tap into, because clients want to deal with someone who understands them and their market. It’s been an incredible experience for me to see all of these Penn State resources come together. I’ve got the best of Penn State to offer client organizations — highly skilled faculty in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management and the capabilities and experience of the Outreach and Cooperative Extension organization. I have found that I have a unique bundle of services to offer clients. There is no other university out there that can compete with us on that basis!” Penn State’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management is ranked by educators and industry executives as one of the top five in the country, and its doctoral program is ranked second nationally. Jackson has secured a five-year $750,000 grant from the U.S. Army for programs for managers of Army Lodging facilities. Five modules are being offered: Lodging Human Resources Management, Lodging Front Office Operations, Lodging Supervisors, Lodging Operation Strategic Financial Planning and Lodging Customer Service. As many as 125 Army personnel will participate in the Army Lodging programs, which for the first year of the contract were conducted at the U.S. Army MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) Academy in Falls Church, Va. The contract was recently modified so that the remainder of the programs will be held on the University Park campus at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. “I am very excited about this change in venue,” Jackson said. “It will give us a chance to showcase our School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management and Penn State Hospitality Services and to involve more faculty.” Penn State’s partnership with The Breakers involves a multiyear arrangement to offer an Advanced Leadership Certificate Program and Penn State World Campus opportunities to managers and employees of The Breakers as part of The Breakers/Penn State Virtual Center for Hospitality Education. The Breakers employs 1,500 people and is the third-largest employer in Palm Beach County. Currently, 25 managers, handpicked by the senior management of The Breakers, are enrolled in the first leadership certificate programs, which are being delivered on site at The Breakers. The modules included in the certificate are: Building Your Team, Promoting a Positive Work Climate, Operations Improvement, Managing with Information Technology, and Financial Management. Penn State’s partnership with The Breakers is the first such alliance in the hospitality industry. The partnership will enable resort employees to gain academic and professional development at the workplace. School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management faculty are joining with members of The Breakers’ executive team to co-facilitate the programs, giving students practical case studies that are relevant to the resort’s day-to-day operation, Jackson said. The Advanced Leadership Certificate Program was the first to be offered to resort managers. The second project, now in the kickoff phase, is an associate degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management that will be offered through the Penn State World Campus, she said. It all started when she noticed that The Breakers had signed up to recruit School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management students. Jackson has been interested in the resort for a long time and decided to set up a meeting with the recruiters. That led to a visit to Penn State by Atesh Chandra, vice president for administration at The Breakers. “Atesh Chandra took a broad view of this partnership from the start,” Jackson said. “He invited us to come up with a list of potential projects. Then he suggested we pick one and get started right away, so we didn’t lose our momentum.” The partnership with The Breakers is a winning situation for all involved, she added. “Managers at The Breakers are gaining knowledge and problem-solving skills, our faculty are gaining real-world examples and experiences they can share in their Penn State classrooms and incorporate into their research, and Penn State is enhancing its reputation within the hospitality industry,” she said. “The Breakers has peaked interest in the Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research with other high-end properties.” Managers at both The Breakers and U.S. Army Lodging facilities are developing their leadership potential. They receive a box of tools, such as flow-charting and fishbone analysis, to solve problems. These are problem-solving techniques they can use throughout their hospitality careers. Their comments on program evaluation forms are universally positive, Jackson noted. All give high marks to the faculty members and the content delivered. Comments from Army personnel who oversee the lodging managers are very supportive of the programs. “The students were really ‘pumped and challenged’ by this class,” Craig Smith of the Army Lodging Directorate said in an evaluation of the Lodging Operation Strategic Financial Planning program. “Most students said they wanted more exercises, more homework and a longer-duration class. Considering this was the inaugural financial management course, we should anticipate future sessions will be even better. Penn State has more than lived up to their reputation and our expectations.” Jim Thomas, director of Army Lodging, said, “Overall, the participants rated the quality of the course a 5.64 out of 6.0. The comments were very positive, as the participants clearly believe the instruction was a great investment of their time. Their biggest complaint was the course should be expanded from one week to two.” Jackson said this model of outreach, research and faculty development in partnership with the Army and The Breakers can be used to establish similar alliances with other companies. She brings to the Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research more than 20 years of industry experience as a senior financial analyst and assistant director of investor relations at Sunoco, director of trade show production at the Houston Astrodome and manager of hospitality sales at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. Prior to becoming director of the Center for Hospitality, Recreation and Tourism Outreach and Research, she was manager of customer relations for Penn State Executive Programs in The Mary Jean and Frank P. Smeal College of Business Administration. “These partnerships are an example of the powerful payoff when organizations with common missions work together,” Jackson said. | |||||
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© 2002 Outreach Communications, Outreach & Cooperative Extension, The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108, fax: (814) 863-2765, e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu |
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