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Hospitality Conversations™ Different Approaches Deliver Success In Hospitality Internships
publication date: May 23, 2011
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author/source: Dr. John Hogan CHA CHE CMHS
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Hospitality
ConversationsTM
Many of
our earlier Hospitality
ConversationsTM
columns that have examined
internships have been at major universities with traditional four
year academic programs. Several of these programs have international
components that may include global internships and/or students from
around the globe.We decided to take a dramatically different approach in this column and had a marvelous interview with Professor Mark Newton, Ed. D. Program Director at Gwinnett Technical College in the greater Atlanta, Georgia (USA) area. Newton is also a Hospitality Consultant in his role as President at Newton's LAW and a Professional Speaker at Crossroads Career Networking Group.  Part of the reason this interaction was so motivating and positive for me was Newton's enthusiasm and excitement in his voice as he spoke about the students in the program he has been affiliated with since 1987. Readers here will see what I mean in his answers. Question 1 : How did your career path take you from the corporate world to the teaching load at a community college? Answer: My undergraduate degree was from the hotel school at Cornell. After graduation, I spent about five years in restaurant management with a very strong chain at the time , Victoria Station Restaurants. From there, I was recruited to become the Director of Restaurant Training at Days Inns of America where I spent the next four years. At that time, Days Inns were heavily involved in accommodations, retail shops, fuel and food service, There were many corporate owned and/or managed properties at the time and this was an excellent opportunity in a growth company. When the company was sold after the death of founder Cecil Day, I spent two years with Pannell Kerr Foster and conducted market and feasibility studies for hotels, restaurants and office buildings, as well as consulting assignments for the hospitality industry. The position became available at Gwinnett in 1987 and I was enthused to tackle this different kind of assignment. Question 2: Community Colleges are known to have heavy teaching loads. Tell us about your teaching load, the other faculty involved and about the students. Answer: That is more than one question! To respond, though:
Answer: It gave me a great head start on all of the above. For example, we have been able to establish internships with four different Hilton brands. They have different ownership structures, differing levels of service and this gives our students exposure to a wide range of options. We work with both full service properties (Doubletree and Hilton), as well as rooms only hotels with Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites. Interested students apply and go through the interviewing process. If they are accepted, the students work in various positions in the hotel including front desk, housekeeping, engineering and sales. They work for 10 hours per week for 10 weeks without pay. They receive course credit. Because they work without pay, their schedule is fairly flexible. Students have to pass the administered OnQ certification tests. It is important to remember that the students are shadowing and learning the hotel positions. They are not taking the place of any employees; however, upon completion of the program they receive a certificate of completion from Hilton. Students can also include the working experience on their resumes, including the OnQ Certificate we have arranged with Hilton The hotel managers also gain an advantage - they have the opportunities to see students in action while in the internships and they hire the best. Several of my students have already been hired by their hotels as paid employees. Question 4: How else do you interact with industry? Answer: Atlanta as a major city has great hospitality offerings. We have had guest lectures and presentations from:
Our students also have had the chance to see the "real world" of business, including the sad reality of seeing restaurants as they were closing. For the last year or so, we have had a bus tour of the city with fixed appointments where students and potential employers get to see each other. We are expanding to additional brands in the internships. We have also had field trips to Gaylord Properties via Affordable Meetings and some of our students have been involved in learning trips to Europe. Question 5: What would you say is the one special program that has the most impact on students? Answer: There are two programs that have significant impact and are valued by both industry and students:
Question 6: I am impressed by the depth of your work! Any closing thoughts or recommendations for students and/or industry professionals? Answer: It would be what I tell every class: Success means getting out of your seat! Dr. Mark Newton is the Director of the Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Program at Gwinnett Technical College in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Some of classes he teaches include Introduction to Hospitality, Employee Leadership Training, Hotel Operations, Food and Beverage Management, Hospitality Engineering, Food and Beverage Cost Control, Hospitality Law and Hospitality marketing. mnewton@gwinnetttech.edu Mark is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and has worked over twenty years in various management jobs in the hospitality industry. Dr. Newton returned to school and earned his Masters and Doctoral Degrees from the University of Georgia. He has taught at Gwinnett Tech for over twenty-three years and has earned sevenn"teacher of the year" awards. Dr. Newton is the 2002 member of the year in the National Speakers Association - Georgia Chapter. He is the Chairman of the Gwinnett County Alcohol Board, as well as an active member of Georgia Meeting Professionals International and Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association-Georgia Chapter. Dr. Newton can be found speaking and consulting for clients such as Marriott Hotels, Day's Inns of America, International Society of Special Events, Wallis Oil Company, and Certified Oil Company. He has written several published articles such as Employee Retention Strategies, Winning the Recruiting War, Finding Great People, and Managing Your Career. Hospitality
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Many of our earlier Hospitality Conversations™ columns that have examined internships have been at major universities with traditional four year academic programs. Several of these programs have international components that may include global internships and/or students from around the globe. We decided to take a dramatically different approach in this column and had a marvelous interview with Professor Mark Newton, Ed. D. Program Director at Gwinnett Technical College in the greater Atlanta, Georgia (USA) area. Newton is also a Hospitality Consultant in his role as President at Newton's LAW and a Professional Speaker at Crossroads Career Networking Group. Part of the reason this interaction was so motivating and positive for me was Newton's enthusiasm and excitement in his voice as he spoke about the students in the program he has been affiliated with since 1987. Readers here will see what I mean in his answers. |  |