Introduction in the fall
A new program for hospitality and tourism which was in the planning stage got approved and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley now wants to launch it. Previously the university had a test run in which it offered the program to selected students. Now the university is planning to launch a full-fledged degree program in the winter of 2019.
The bachelor’s degree of hospitality and tourism management will be part of the curriculum of the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Management. To help the college to prepare the detailed blueprint for the program A.J. Singh who is the founding director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management program went there in 2018.
Sing said, “The soft launch was meant to gauge how many students were interested in the program.” The soft launch saw mere seven students take interest and enroll for the program but the number has increased to 33 since then. The course teaches the basic concept of the profession and provides students the better knowledge about the specialty they want to pursue further.
A.J. Singh has combined the experience of 40 years in both hospitality and academics at Michigan State University. He told me that the program has a 21-hour credit called “business core” which will have initial preparatory classes in hospitality and tourism along with regular courses before getting into the main program. The students will learn about the aspect of food and beverages in the sector of hospitality and tourism.
Students will learn the delicate procedures from the experts
Singh said, “Essentially all our classes will be built on a business core, which is one of the strengths of the program.” The college will also offer some basic degrees in microeconomics, business statistics, and financial accounting. The courses will be taught in a traditional manner but there will be special classes from the leaders of the industry to teach the students the practical skills that are required in the real job.
There are four certification courses that a student can choose from including Healthcare Hospitality, Restaurant Entrepreneurship & Management, Event & destination management, and Lodging Asset Ownership & management
The university in talk with other players to get a hotel facility that can train students will add immensely to the program but nothing yet finalized.
