Hospitality school aims to find students’ passion in tourism

(CNS Business): Marc Langevin, the GM of the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman and a member of the School of Hospitality Studies Advisory Council, said he was very confident that a student who goes through the new hospitality programme and establishes relationships within the industry and demonstrates they have the right character will have no problem finding a job. “Everybody is going to fight for that student,” he said.

Langevin, who was invited onto the Council when it formed two and a half years ago, said it became clear early on that it was not the bricks and mortar of a school that was needed but a programme, using existing resources. He said the Council, which is made up of a wide cross section of industry stakeholders and representatives from relevant government departments, felt that that because there was such support from the community there were enough facilities – for example at the Ritz there are kitchens, a front desk, rooms – so it was not necessary to develop a building.

From the start, he said, the Council made sure that they were “really thinking with the end in mind – the end user – which is the industry”. And they found that there are a lot of programmes already: within the industry there are lot of internships, the Department of Tourism has programmes, and there are various educational programmes for different levels. “But there was no cohesion,” Langevin noted.

The Council had discussions with all the stakeholders, looked at existing programmes and visited various facilities. “We had a lot of meetings just to figure out what would be the ideal programme,” he said, and the result was a very clear document that included every facet, including marketing, recruitment, a budget and the development of a curriculum.

The programme will introduce students to many aspects of the industry. “The intention is that at some point they find a passion,” Langevin said, noting that there are a lot of different avenues to be successful in the hospitality industry, “but the catch is to really find what people like.”

There must be a certain level of education for any job in the industry, such as the ability to speak and write English and use some basic computer and mathematic skills, and Langevin said the support of UCCI is instrumental in the programme because they already have the curriculums to support these academic requirements. However, in the end the character of the student will be more important than their academic skills, he said.

Another key element that will make the programme successful is the mentoring aspect, and every student will be assigned a mentor who is working in the industry. This guidance will be very important, especially as they start to move into the next phase and get a little bit more involved and begin developing their skills, he said.

If a student decides to join the industry after the first year, Langevin said, “at that point I am very confident that a student that has established that relationship and has … demonstrated they have character will have no problem finding a job,” he said. “Obviously if we have spent all that time and investment, we want that student – everybody is going to fight for that student. That is our goal.”

However, they believe that around 80% of the students who enter the programme for the first year will want to pursue further education, and build on the curriculum developed in the first year.

“The main goal is to show that we can incorporate more people into the industry and certainly support anyone who want to further their education,” Langevin said.

Related article: Hospitality school graduates will be job ready

Friday 8 August is the deadline to apply for a place at the SHS for the September 2013 start of the programme. Anyone interested is encouraged to act as quickly as possible by submitting a completed application form, a police record and a medical form (though it may be possible to submit this later), which can be dropped off at UCCI or sent via the website or by email to shs@ucci.edu.ky

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