[photopress:FIUgrad_1.jpg,full,alignright]Florida International University has opened a School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in Tianjin. Lee Dickson, associate dean of FIU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in Miami, said, ‘China is getting ready for the Olympics in 2008, and by 2010, they hope China will become the No. 1 tourist destination in the world. They’re building new hotels and attractions and renovating current attractions. What they need is a workforce of management staff who understand dealing with people who come from the West.’
Rather than sending hundreds of Chinese students to the US to learn the nuances of Western hospitality, Lee Dickson said, ‘the alternative was to bring our school to China.’
It is housed at the Tianjin University of Commerce on 80 acres. The $50 million campus was fully funded by the Chinese government.
Although it has only been open thirty years in Miami, Florida International University has close to 38,000 students, almost 1,000 full-time faculty and 113,000 alumni, making it the largest university in South Florida. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked FIU’s undergraduate international business programs seventh in the nation and the Chapman Graduate School of Business programs among the top 20. The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management is one of the top programs of its kind in the United States.
The school’s dean in Miami, Joseph West, said, ‘Our Chinese partners originally approached us not only foreseeing a tourism boom but events of worldwide importance such as the Summer Olympics. For both them and us, this is a strategic partnership.’
The China hospitality program’s curriculum is the same as Miami’s. All courses are taught in English.
Dean Wenjun Wang is the senior member of FIU’s faculty contingent in China. Nine Chinese professors who traveled to Miami to earn master’s degrees from FIU to teach in the program will be the permanent resident faculty in Tianjin.
At least five FIU professors are to go to China each year to teach three-week minicourses. FIU will send a chef from Miami next year to instruct food lab courses for a full term or year.
Spurce: Miami Today
You must log in to post a comment.