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Funding to San Diego State University's Hospitality and Tourism Management Program |
October 4, 2001 - Although tourism has declined in recent weeks, the need for management talent in the industry will persist, according to Carl Winston, director of the new hospitality and tourism management program at San Diego State University. �SDSU is redefining the traditional hotel and restaurant school,� noted Winston, adding, �Hospitality is much broader than just hotels and restaurants.� �San Diego is an incredible living laboratory,� Winston added. �Our
curriculum will reflect the depth and breadth of the industry. We have
high rise hotels, luxury resorts, attractions like Sea World and the Zoo,
and industries that support tourism such as shuttles and parking services.
Not to mention airlines and even the military, which houses and feeds thousands
of people daily.�
The curriculum complements academics with practical experience. Students first take business courses such as accounting, marketing, business law, human resources, finance, organizational development, and business communication. Students then select a concentration in one of four career fields: hotel operations and management; restaurant operations and management; attractions, events and convention management; or global tourism. They also complete an internship working for a full-service hotel as well as a senior project internship related to their field of interest. Industry leaders also have supported the program with funding. A $1.1 million gift in 1999 from SDSU alumnus L. Robert Payne provided the seed money to launch the program and propel a $10 million, five-year campaign to fund it. Payne, principal owner of the San Diego Mission Valley Hilton and Hanalei Hotels, said his contribution would challenge others in the industry to step forward and �ensure we are building a nationally competitive program, one that will respond to our need for management talent.� That challenge has already paid off. Payne paved the way for a gift
from another SDSU alumnus, Norman Brinker. Brinker, who now lives in Dallas,
just pledged $1 million to endow an executive-in-residence program for
HTM.
Other major donors to the HTM program include the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Town & Country Resort Hotel, California Restaurant Association, Anheuser-Busch Foundation, Delaware North Companies, Inc., and San Diego Convention & Visitor�s Bureau. �Private funding will help us make HTM one of the country�s top programs,� said Winston. Not only will we produce future leaders in hospitality and tourism, the industry will be able to take advantage of our research, consulting, seminars and executive education.� Winston most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Trigild Corp., a property management company with a variety of hospitality businesses, mainly hotels and restaurants. His experience in hospitality goes back much further, however, as he literally grew up in the restaurant business. �My mother managed Ondine restaurant in Sausalito and I started out washing dishes when I just a kid,� Winston said. He continued to wait tables in other restaurants as he worked his way through college, which resulted in a bachelor�s degree from the University of California, San Diego, and a master�s degree in hotel administration from Cornell University. Winston has worked in nearly every aspect of the visitor industry while operating hotels, restaurants, and amusement parks. He brings a passion for the industry to his new position at SDSU, where he will grow a program that has already taken root in the community.
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Shelley Herron Director of Communications College of Business Administration San Diego State University San Diego, California 92182-8230 (619) 594-4501 / Fax: (619) 594-1573 www.sdsu.edu/business [email protected] |
Also See | New Profit Center Potential for Colleges and Universities - the Development of Hotels and Conference Centers on Campus / Pinnacle Advisory Group / July 2001 |
TIM School Newsletter - University of Hawai�i School of Travel Industry Management / July 2001 |