Five things professors want you to know about (hospitality) internships

Five things professors wish intern supervisors knew about (hospitality) internships:

Photo: www.office.microsoft.com

1. Internships take planning: The most successful internships for both you and the intern take time and planning. An internship should be much more than stuffing envelopes and answering phones. This is an opportunity for you to gain insight and new ideas and it is a time for the intern to stretch their wings and put their academic knowledge to work. Everyone in your organization should clearly understand the role of the intern. The supervisor should make it clear that the intern is a part of the team (even if it is for a brief time).

2. Internships happen year-round: Many students opt to take summer classes and do their internship in the fall or spring semester. When you are planning for an intern, think about times when your organization is the busiest and in need of extra hands. Usually colllege courses are over by early May (Spring), Mid-August (summer) and early December (Fall). An intern may wait to do their internship at the end of their college career or sometime during their junior or senior year. Some students are seeking multiple internships to prepare them for their careers or to aid in career exploration.

3. Interns don’t always have to be paid, but perks help: Some students (especially meeting planners and those in tourism) aren’t expecting to be paid. Think about what you can offer the intern. Can you offer housing? Can you offer to let the intern work from home and check in via email? How about offering a stipend or honorarium at the end of a successful internship. Even small things like free food coupons, hotel vouchers or attraction vouchers can be meaningful rewards for a job well done.

4. Internships aren’t one size fits all: If you really like potential intern, capitalize on their strengths. Maybe you have an intern candidate who is a strong writer. Use them to assist in your PR campaigns. If you have an intern that is a technology whiz, use their skills to beef up your social media offerings. It’s great to give your intern a variety of opportunities in your organization, but you may find that they have specific strengths that really help you out. It’s always good to create a basic job description for your internship, but don’t be afraid to modify it.

5. When in doubt, ask us: Often intern supervisors have questions about students (work habits, personality, etc), but are afraid to ask. Usually professors have a pretty good idea if an internship is going to be a good fit. It is also good to find out what the specific requirements of the internship will be from the academic side. These vary from school to school and program to program.

 

SFA Hospitality in Switzerland

Greetings from Switzerland! Seventeen SFA students, many of them in the Hospitality program are touring Switzerland and France during the Maymester. We arrived today - Carol Bradley and myself, Chay Runnels, are supervising this group.

Highlights of today:

An impromptu visit to Zurich. Described by the students as a small New York City, Zurich is situated on a lake with a beautiful clear river running through it. Carol Bradley and I climbed up to the top of the Grossmunster church and then visited the Chagall windows at the Fraumunster chuch. The students sampled Turkish food, visited a butchershop and took in the high end stores that Zurich has to offer. The afternoon rain storm didn't dampen anyone's spirits.

• We arrived in Engelberg around 3 p.m. We will be here for a week. We took a walking tour of this Alpine city and had a lovely dinner and reception in our hotel. The dinner included a fresh appetizer of cheese and bread, lasagna with fresh creamy ricotta cheese and creme brulee. As a surpirse the students celebrated my birthday along with the birthday of another student on the trip with a decadent chocolate ganache torte.


• Tomorrow we will tour a monastary, see a cheese factory and visit a casino in Lucerne. We are having a great time!

Hospitality Update

It's been a long time since this blog has been updated, but the SFA hospitality program has certainly not been idle!

In November, students under the direction of Dr. Carl Pfaffenberg planned and produced the first ever Pineapple Awards event. The event honored Bruce White of White Lodging and featured a dinner at the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA Campus. The students did a great job and raised over $5000 for the hospitality administration program.

We continue to see enrollment increase in the hospitality program. Right now we have over 160 hospitality majors and are busting at the seams! Dr. Wittenbach's quantity foods class is the largest ever, and the students will soon be having functions on both Tuesdays and Thursdays. The students do a fantastic job with their quantity functions. Tickets are open to the public, and are just $10. The schedule for the remaining functions are:

March 26—Cajun
April 2—Indian
April 16—50’s
April 23—Cuban
April 30—Titanic
May 7—French

Email Dr. Wittenbach swittenbach@sfasu.edu, if you are interested in attending. Remember, space is limited to 32 guest for each function!

HMS 220 Demo

Look how easy it is! Anyone can do it!

The Five Myths of Tourism

We are so excited to host Paul Serff, President and CEO of the Texas Travel Industry Association here at SFA on Wednesday, February 26. Mr. Serff will be speaking to hospitality students and tourism professionals at 1 p.m. in the McKibben Education Building on campus. Following Paul's talk, the Hospitality Administration Society will host a meet and greet reception in the Dean's Conference Room.

All of our alumni, friends and partners are welcome to attend Paul's talk. I'm particularly exicted about it, because we've had several students win the TTIA scholarship in the past two years. This visit just strengthens our relationship with TTIA, which is the statewide association for travel and tourism organizations and corporations.

October Update

Wow! The semester is cruising by. I can't believe we are already to the mid-way point. It's already been busy and we have some highlights to report. First, Dr. Wittenbach and I had a very successful trip to Houston to the Texas Travel Industry Association's Annual Meeting. We were treated to lunch and deluxe accomodations from Michael Blum, Advisory Board Member, White Lodging Guru, and Very Important Friend of the Program. Michael has a brand-spanking new hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Galleria. Our own Chad Colston, HADM senior is completing his internship at the property, and SFA alum Leandro Godoy is also learning the ropes at the property as Housekeeping Manger.

The TTIA meeting was good, but the very best part was the recognition of Scott Clanton, HADM Sophomore. Scott received the TTIA scholarship, and SFA College of Education Dean John Jacobson was in the audience to cheer Scott on.

Speaking of Scholarships... our current student are out there and getting them!

Taylor Garrett and Leigh Ann Cherry were both awarded $1500 from the American Hotel and Lodging Association Scholarship fund for 2008. Taylor is hoping to become an event/meeting planner while Leigh Ann is planning on becoming a sales representative for a major hotel company.

Victoria Colla was awarded $2000 from the Hyatt Minority Scholarship program for 2008. Victoria is planning to enter the lodging field upon graduation.

Samantha Mora won the Texas Cattlewoman’s 2007 award of $1000. Sam works part time at the Nacogdoches CVB and hopes to follow up with a meeting planning career.

Congrats to all of these students!

One final note, HADM Alumnae and Advisory Board Member Sarah O'Brien is the new Media Relations coordinator for the Nacogdoches CVB. Before returning to Nacogdoches, Sarah was the director of the Cleburne Convention and Visitor's Bureau in North Texas. We are excited to have Sarah back in Nac!