Meeting & Agendas

Board Members met on the first floor of HLC 2000.  From there Liz took them to the Make it Center for a tour of the new space as well as the CHT section of the Make it Center.  Following the tour the group returned to 1402 and Delores Crum joined via zoom.  The group went around and introduced themselves as there were a few new members.

appreciate you and value your input.  During this meeting I would like to go over a few things with you and get your opinions. I would also love to hear what you all are needing/looking for.  We would love to get a pulse on the industry and see how things are bouncing back after the pandemic.

I gave you a packet that will explain what we are currently looking like.  The snapshot shows the number of students. The pandemic really did hurt these numbers and we are slowly building back up.  There is also a sheet that reviews our demographics.  There are a few others like graduation rates, completion rates, and awards.  ACC is really pushing the completion rates. We are doing a much better job of getting students to complete.

Cindy: Do students that transfer count as completion?

Liz: Yes, we do receive credit for students that end up transferring, but they need to complete the degree.  If they transfer to say U of H and still have 2 classes left on their degree here, it does not count. I just wanted to share these with you all so that you have just some updated stats on our programs.  The next paper is a blue one and it has an excel sheet. It is a listing of all of our classes.  It shows them which semester classes are offered and the format they are offered.  We advise every single student in our program and all of our departmental classes are here at Highland. We have been changing up the formats of our classes post pandemic to see what is the best fit for the class as all the formats do not work in every type of delivery.  The school would like to see a lot of our classes online, but with our classes we feel like they are really hands-on and need to be in person.  They need to be able to network, learn from each other, and participate in hands-on activities.  We do a lot of things and being online you can’t always deliver the same experiences. 

Morgan: Are they looking for more classes to be online for all programs?

Liz: Yes, overall the school is really looking for more classes to be offered in an online format. Some programs can definitely make this happen, but hospitality really is in person. It cannot be done from home.

Cindy: We cannot run a restaurant, event or hotel if we are all working from home.

Liz: Agreed!  We really do believe this and we do try to offer online options when it makes sense. We are trying to adapt. 

The last one is a mockup of a Beverage Management Degree and Certificate.  There has been a suggestion that we offer a beverage program. Hotels, restaurants have beverage programs and I feel like the events could benefit from some of these classes. At some point they would like to build a production brewery here.  We currently offer some of these classes, but are looking to expand it into a degree program. So the certificate is just a few specific beverage courses and then the AAS degree would include those classes and general education courses.There is also a class that would cover TIPS.  My question to yall is do you find that this would be enough to break out from hospitality management or would you rather see someone with a hospitality degree and then the beverage courses we offer as extras?  At the end of the day, do you as the industry think that a separate degree would make a big impact?

Cindy: I would love to hear what the hotel and restaurant people have to say as I think it is a bit outside my wheelhouse.

Joe: You know, I think it certainly adds value, but would it demand a higher priority over highing at an entry level position ... .no.

Liz: So if you were interviewing someone and they had some beverage background and a degree in hospitality, that would take president over someone with a Beverage Management certificate or degree? Would it matter to you if they took Beverage degree?

Joe: In this particular situation, for a beverage manager, it might, but overall I would typically look for a hospitality degree as it is much more rounded. I would look for a hospitality degree first though and getting just a beverage degree would really limit where they could go or grow within the industry.

Dawn: I think from working in events at the Wildflower center that beverages do play a big part of our industry and success. Titos is one of our main sponsors. I think it is because I know their goals as well and what their struggles are. So finding professionalism within the beverage industry, I am all about it as this is something that is really lacking in the beverage portion of the industry.  Also to understand TACB would be extremely beneficial.

Joe: There is also the dichotomy of the main bartender of my hotel.  He will always make a lot more than our bar manager or supervisor. They are always going to always make less than the people they are supervising. It is just the reality of the position.  So that is something to really keep in mind. Are people going to be able to or want to invest in the degree?

Cindy: We work with a lot of beverage companies and do see a lack of overall professionalism.

Liz: We also have people interested in beverage sales. Not just specifically someone wanting to manage hotel bars or bars in general.

Jenn: I do think that this would be beneficial. We have a lot of beverage programs and they account for 30% of our sales and 40% of event sales. It is a huge upside.  If you are going to have a culinary program, I do think that beverages should have a focus.  I think it would be smart to partner with some of the testings Somm, etc and offer some type of reimbursement, they could get certified along the way.  Our company offers a 100% reimbursement to our employees that complete these certificates.  Just this degree plan alone, for us, would not be enough. If it was paired with higher education, I think that would be key and a go for our restaurants. It would show me that they are really passionate about it and have dedication.  Not just someone checking off educational requirements.

Joe: You can go with more marketing and entrepreneurship to make it a bit more.

Liz: Well we could always add the beverage classes that we currently offer to our entrepreneurship degree that we already have. Make it have more of a beverage focus.

Joe: I would bet that would be a much more popular option.

Liz: I agree, we really need to make sure we have enough interest to ensure that these classes make.  Maybe a certificate that can roll into our entrepreneurial degree.  We will keep working through it and see what we can come up with.

Cindy: My thoughts are if you do decide to do this, really try to partner with all the high end restaurants in the area and the new up and coming breweries to really make this “the certificate” to show your dedication to the craft. They would then encourage all of their managers and supervisors to buy in and complete the training.

Liz: I would be happy to come on site and talk to managers, supervisors and employees about our programs and the different degrees and certificates that we offer. I know that we used to come out on benefit days and have tables.

Joe: We have not had them since the pandemic.

Jackie: Same.  We have not had one either.

Nichole: I would be happy to provide you all with flyers that you can put up in break rooms, etc for the employees.

Megan: Sorry, and how many students are currently enrolled?

Liz: According to the data from last year there are just under 200.

Delores: And that includes culinary?

Nichole: No, this is strictly hospitality and meeting & event planning students.

Liz: Correct, the culinary department is considered a completely different department.

Jenn: I am just so surprised that there are not more students.

Cindy: Most of that is the staff I have been hiring.  58% of the industry is new.  So again, they need education.  I have been encouraging my new staff that if they want to speed things up to at least take one of the certificate programs.   We can’t cover 100% of the tuition but we cover a portion.

Megan: What colleges locally also offer hospitality?

Liz: In Austin, we are the only one and it is only a 2 year degree. If you want a 4 year degree U of H, Texas Tech and North Texas State and Stephen F Austin are all options. A&M has a travel program.

Cindy: I think that since Morgan and Stacey are both alumni that you should really capitalize on showcasing the alumni and letting students know some of the amazing careers people have gone on to have. See this is a testament to our programs and especially at the time where people are starting to pivot careers.  The certificate and degree are so attainable and you can do it while still working.

Joe: And the price is so much lower than other colleges.  It is such a great deal.

Cindy: I know that ACC has scholarships available too.  So the question is how to get students back and how to get them to complete the process?

Nichole: Our programs took a huge hit during the pandemic and it is a slow rebuild for multiple reasons. The industry took a huge hit so I think it scared a lot of students off.  They started questioning if this would be a long term fit for them.  I think a lot had a hard time continuing to commit when so many were left jobless.  Now on the flipside, the industry is rebuilding and with many openings, many of the students are working in industry and are filling in the gaps, which leave them with little time for school, even though they are going to cap out and really need that official education to proceed.  It is a catch - 22. They are thinking short term. 

Liz: I think these reasons have been around forever.  I honestly think that the real issue comes down to no real marketing.  There is no real way to promote.  We do it through site visits, guest speakers, but that is really the students we have. Getting outside of that is something that I really need to think about and spend more time focusing on. Maybe it will require hiring someone on a contract basis to go out and spread the word. 

Jackie: With the P-Tech program at Travis High…are there thoughts on expanding that to other high schools?

Liz: The P-Tech program for our programs just got started.  We are just hitting our second year. It was this January where we just officially got it ironed out.  With ours we really want the students on campus and to be immersed in a true college experience. So part of the push back is getting everyone on the same page as they just wanted a high school teacher to teach some of the same content at their high school. So right now, they teach some of the basic courses for the first two years at Travis.  Then they come to campus and take our classes.  Like I said we are still in the testing phase and if it does work out, maybe we can look at expanding it to other high school programs. We have a whole P-Tech program that can go promote it. 

Jenn: Does it have to be a program to reach out to those students?  Can it be a class or something else?

Nichole: We do participate in a majority of the Austin ISD and surrounding ISDs career fairs and college days.  ACC will send representatives, but we also go to specifically promote our programs.  We will sometimes pair up with culinary, but we do go into the high schools and promote our programs. We also do site visits for the high schools that do have hospitality and culinary programs.  We tour the students around and talk specifically about our programs.

Cindy: I thought P-Tech was for those that have decided they want to do a vocational job and don’t necessarily want to go to a 4 year school.  So they start their Jr. or Sr. year and start working on their certificate so they could be ahead of the game when they graduate high school.

Joe: It is a 3 way partnership.  AISD, ACC and industry are the key players. We are really the outcome that has to be there in the end.  The success of the program is transmitting a student to the workplace.  That is the ultimate goal. 

Liz: Fall will be the first time they will be on campus.  We just aren’t sure how many it will produce at this time.

Stacey: Is it free to the student?

Liz: Yes, it is at no cost to the students.  They even cover the cost of books.

Cindy: Transportation is an issue.  Getting the students from the high school to ACC or the workplace.

Jenn: Do you just work with AISD or do you work with others?

Liz: This is all new so we have only worked with Travis High within AISD.

Joe: We did work with, pre pandemic, Round Rock ISD, Pflugerville ISD. 

Liz: If this works well, I could definitely see it expanding.

Jenn: I think Manor ISD would be a great fit. They have a lot of funding and a lot of out of the box curriculum. They have a lot of resources.

Liz: That is something to definitely consider.  Thank you.  Let’s do one more thing. We need to vote on a few things….We need to change the title of the beverage class.  WECM is updating a a course.  We are the only school using RSTO 1319- Viticulture.  We are being asked to change it to Wine Growing Regions of the World. All in favor of this name change, raise hand and say I. Anyone not in favor?

All members vote yes.

Liz: Secondly, we would like to update the topic of our Special Topics course.  Since we have phased out the tourism program, Stacey brought to our attention that the meeting & event planning students could really benefit from an Event Tech Production and Planning class.  We would shy away from the DMC course.  We have a lot of event tech on campus and the students would be able to get so much hands-on experience. They could learn the ends and out of production along with set up and troubleshooting of equipment.

Stacey: My idea is to have an event technical production class.  So they can better understand AV and production.  So a lot of hands-on experience and site visits to see it in action.  I feel like there is a lot of knowledge that not all meeting planners have when it comes to things like reading a proposal from an AV company.  We can teach them the ins and outs of it and know what to look for and what is actually required. I have a lot of experience and passion for this. There is a lot of production in my current position so I can bring that into the classroom.

Cindy: What is the current class?

Liz: It is a Special Topics class, so we aren’t adding a class or removing one, just shifting to the topic focus to be more relevant for the students within the program. It also allows crossover from Hospitality students as well.

Joe: I really like that idea.

Delores: Would you just focus on AV or would it be everything that makes a event come together?

Stacey: Oh it would be everything…like lighting, power, tents, video, projection, mapping.  There have been so many new advancements.

Cindy: Oh let me know if this starts in the fall because I am signing up.

Liz: We would love your knowledge and input Delores as you are the expert in the rentals area. 

Delores: I would be so happy to help and I know our industry would love to jump in and provide support.

Liz:  All in favor of adding Event Technical Production and Planning as a Special Topic, raise hand and say I. Anyone not in favor?

All members vote yes.

Liz: Very nice thank you.  To your point Delores. I took two of my classes to MPI meetings.  We always encourage them to go to industry meetups, but now I just take them.  We really love the industry relationships and value them.  They are so important to what we do.

Finally, I just want to hear from you.  What skill sets are you looking for from students coming out of our programs?

Joe: I am seeing a lot of lack of social skills.  Being able to hold conversations and work as a team. I had a young man that had an issue with a guest and I said ok lets meet up about this after I talk to the guest.  He sent me a teams invite.  So instead of coming to speak to me, he decided to send me the invite.

Morgan: I know my company works 3 days at home and two in the office. We are in the people business so if we aren’t practicing being in front of people, talking to them, interacting with them, you just kind of lose it. So it is just so important.  It is just the basic skills of interacting with people.

Cindy: As always, just focusing on tech/computer skills and budgeting. They are great when interviewing, but when we get into it they just don’t seem to know the basics of a spreadsheet.  Then just proper etiquette like when to use a cell phone.

Liz: Yes, we even have to do that here.  I make rules about cellphone usage in the classroom. We do go over budgeting and spreadsheets in Finance, but will push this more.

Cindy: Great, because I really think it is becoming more critical.  Getting down to the basics of budgeting and how events are paid for and how to get creative.  Also maybe the basics of tech like Slack, Teams and Meets.

Liz: We should be able to add those in our Computers class.  We do a lot of group work in our classes so they could have the option to use these as well.

Jenn: Just basic social skills are lacking these days. We see a lot of lack of life skills, problem solving skills, and overall confidence.  I think a lot of it has to do with the communication and need for immediacy.  GenZ is so immediate that they tend to just reach to the person next to them to tell them what to do instead of trying to figure it out on their own and building that confidence of oh hey I can do this. I feel like we are having to teach this to adults and it is shocking.

Liz: We do have a business professional course, but it is a one hour class.  It is a really important class and I would like to beef up that class so will keep these in mind.

Meagan: We just need heartbeats.  We are having such a hard time just finding candidates to fill in the gaps.

Cindy: I can talk to you offline. I think it is all about marketing and then of course reframing the pay. We had to bump everyone up, but then you have to bump up revenue to close that gap.

Delores: We did the same.  We just really bumped up the pay.

Liz: Anyone have anything else?  We cannot thank you all enough.  We truly appreciate all you do for our programs and students. Thank you all for your time.

Meeting adjourned: 1:18pm