Meeting & Agendas

Meeting was called to order at 11:40 a.m.

Michelle welcomed all the attendees to the Fall 2011 advisory board meeting and open the floor to everyone as they went around the room and introduced themselves

Michelle updated the board on the faculty changes that took place throughout the year. Heather Biagas, the past full-time faculty member is no longer with college and she is currently looking for a new full-time faculty member for the department. The department also welcomed two new adjuncts, Liander Taylor and Pavan Nayini. Program Update - Internship Program Discussion: Michelle reported to the board that the internship program is fully developed and successfully progressing. She encouraged them to visit the website at http://austincc.edu/sgrant1/. Q: Do students get paid during internships? A: Yes Q: How many students are in the program? A: There is approximately 400 plus students in the program Q: What is the breakout of each program? A: Hospitality has the majority of students, Meeting and Event planning and then Travel and Tourism Program Update – Software Discussion: Michelle updated the board on the success of utilizing Micros Opera PMS software in HAMG 1313 Front Office Procedures and HAMG 1319 Computers in Hospitality. The software has been a great asset to the department and she is looking for another software component to use with the Meeting and Event Planning program. She asked the board members for suggestions and they responded with the following: •Meeting Evolution •Cvent (Has a free training module for education) •Smart Draw (Event layout tool) •Delphi •Sales Pro (Cheaper version of Delphi) Program Update – Course Additions Discussion: Michelle updated the board on the course additions that were discussed in the last advisory board meeting. HAMG 1391 Special Topics in Hospitality: Etiquette and Protocol was introduced to the course schedule fall of 2011 and HAMG 1342 Housekeeping Management will launch spring 2012. She also reported that the IPR (Instructional Program Review) was completed for the Travel & Tourism program and feedback from the review has prompted a marketing project and the addition of a course that focuses on Eco Tourism; TRVM 2345 Advance Topics: Sustainable Tourism will launch Spring 2012. The board unanimously voted on all of her course additions. Program Update – Travel & Tourism Discussion: Michelle opened the topic by asking the board to look over the certificate for Travel & Tourism and work to identify any courses that may need to be added or removed. She also asked the board for their input on the Travel & Tourism certificate being the only certificate program that has an internship. Most of the board shared their thoughts on creating a guideline to determine if the student should take an internship course or not and offering a restricted elective if they do not need the class. Board agreed that the plan sounded reasonable. Program Update – Meeting & Event Planning Discussion: Michelle opened the topic by discussing the courses that overlap within the program and the three courses that concerned her most are HAMG 2330 Convention and Group Management, HAMG 1317 Recreational Services, and TRVM 2341 International Convention and Meeting Management. She reports that she sat down with all the instructors who teach the classes and they discovered that the students were being taught some of the same material in TRVM 2301and HAMG 2330. She suggested making adjustment to TRVM 2301 to incorporate the missing components and stop offering HAMG 2330. A board member also made the suggestion of including the sustainability course to the Meeting and Event Planning award. Another course that Michelle is considering to scratch is TRVM 2341 because it has not been offered in several semesters. The members of the board expressed the need for the subject matter from this course to be included in certain aspects. The subject of international business is a large area to be effectively taught in one course. Michelle is going to table it for now and talk more with instructors to ultimately add the key components in other course. Program Update – Course Additions (Festivals) Discussion: Michelle opened the discussion with a proposal that was introduced to her from Rachel Simmons. The idea was to offer a course that would focus on the creation and production of festivals. The course would be built so that students would have an opportunity to receive hands on experience with some of the festivals that come to Austin. The board provided feedback and felt that the title as too broad and suggested it being titled Special Events with a specific focus. Michelle decided to table this discussion and revisit it later with a proposed class title name. Program Update - Combining of Degree Plans Discussion: Michelle opened the discussion with the proposal to combine the Hotel and Lodging AAS with the Food and Lodging AAS to become one and be called Hotel and Restaurant Management. Michelle explained that currently the two degree plans mirror each other and only have a few different restrictive electives and the verbiage of each degree plan often causes students and industry professionals to question the difference. Additionally combining them and renaming the degree plan Hotel and Restaurant Management will put ACC in line with what a majority of the other institutions entitle the degree. Michelle outline the changes to degree plan and explained that rather than having defined courses for 2 of the restrictive electives the students can pick what classes interest them the most and are in line with their long term goals from any of the 4 programs: Hospitality, Culinary, Meeting & Event Planning and Travel & Tourism. All students will still be required to take a Beverage class as one of the restrictive electives and for the 4th course requirement they will have to choose between the Guestroom Mgmt class, Dining Room or Basic Foods. Michelle asked the members of the board for their vote to implement the changes. All members in attendance agreed to the changes and thought the new AAS would keep us in-line with the standard of what other schools are doing and clarifies any confusion.

Michelle opened the discussion and asks the board to direct their attention to the handout she provided on program learning outcomes. She encouraged comments and suggestions on the current outcomes she presented. Member’s dialogue on this issue includes: Suggestion: Kevin Grandin – To write an outcome that focuses on management and leadership Suggestion: Rachel Simmons – For the program of MEEP, change number 3 to include vendors and to create an outcome that incorporates time, budgets, etc… Suggestion: Jim Reist – Incorporate food and beverage Suggestion: Paul Serff – For the program of TRTO, create an outcome that exemplifies the role travel plays in the community Suggestion: Kevin Grandin – create an outcome on the economic impact

Michelle shares with the board that the next IPR (Instructional Program Review) will focus on the Meeting and Event Program and she will be in contact with members in that industry to participate.

Meeting was adjourned at 1:12 p.m.