News for the Hospitality Executive |
University Park, PA, November
29, 2010 -Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management has
launched a
national search for a director following an announcement that Dr. Bert
Van Hoof
will step down as director in June 2011. Van Hoof plans to remain an
active
part of the Penn State faculty as professor. Penn State is eager to continue the growth
for which Van
Hoof was responsible. During his six years of leadership, Van Hoof
helped expand
the hospitality management program’s focus to include international
study and
research collaborations, social responsibility and sustainability, and
gaming/casino management. “Dr. Van Hoof’s tenure as director has
brought many
important changes to the School of Hospitality Management, and we are
very
appreciative of his contributions to the continued growth and vitality
of this
important part of the College of Health and Human Development,” says
Dr. Nan
Crouter, the Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of
Health
and Human Development. Under Van Hoof’s leadership, the school
dramatically
increased its international study offerings. Today, undergraduate
students can study
abroad through nine different programs that take them to countries
including
Puerto Rico, Peru, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and
Greece. These
programs range in length, from several weeks to a full year of study.
Van Hoof
also supported the development of the innovative Global Hospitality
Management Program,
which allows students from Penn State, the Chinese University of Hong
Kong
(CUHK), and the Hotel Management School Maastricht (the Netherlands) to
study
together, one semester at each university. This program was established
by Dr.
Karthik Namasivayam, associate professor of hospitality management,
Penn State;
Dr. Elisa Tse, professor, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, CUHK;
and Dr.
Aad van Mourik, professor, Hotelschool Maastricht An advocate of collaborative research, Van
Hoof helped
create a new partnership between Penn State and the Breda University of
Applied
Sciences (the Netherlands). Through this, faculty and graduate students
share
expertise on tourism and hospitality research projects. Van Hoof helped institute a new
undergraduate focus on
gaming and casino management, which prepares students for management
and
executive roles in the casino industry. In 2008, the school hired
Steven
Durham, instructor in hospitality management, who created five courses
that teach
students about casino history and math, the social impact of casinos,
and casino
marketing. Students also complete a hands-on internship with a casino,
and the
school also hosts several educational and professional development
trips for
students—once annually to Atlantic City and twice annually to Las Vegas
(including one trip to the Global Gaming Expo). The program now has
roughly
fifty students and six alumni. In the past several years, the school has
seen growth in the
undergraduate curriculum in the areas of sustainability and corporate
responsibility. A new course introduced by Dr. Vivienne Wildes,
assistant
professor of hospitality management, explores human rights as it
relates to
hospitality. Students track commodities back to their sources to
understand how
those commodities came into existence. Van Hoof also supported the
school’s
“green” initiative, led by David Cranage, associate professor of
hospitality
management, which successfully cut back on waste and introduced
composting into
Café Laura, the school’s on-campus teaching restaurant. As part
of this
initiative, the school also set up gardens to grow produce locally,
which gives
students an unparalleled learning opportunity. For more information about Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management, please see contact information below: |
Contact: Brian A. Black Director of Hospitality Industry Relations School of Hospitality Management Penn State University 201-A Mateer Building University Park, PA 16802 814-865-6728 [email protected]
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