Industry focused Education for the Tourism Industry Dr. Dominic Dillane Head of School of Hospitality Management and Tourism at DIT

Outline Challenges facing higher education Graduate Attributes Tourism at DIT Tourism industry engagement

Trends In Higher Education Increasing participation Increased need for life long learning Funding challenges Greater diversity in the student body/internationalisation Different Learning styles-Digital native students Preference for professional degrees

Graduate Attributes Expert Graduates with the professional Knowledge and capacity independently to practice, reflect, and build upon disciplinary expertise and judgement Effective Efective, highly skilled and confident graduates with the capacity to achieve desired results Enquiry based Graduates with a spirit of curiosity and a desire to learn. Enterprising Graduates who have the skills, and knowledge to innovate and solve practical problems Engaged Civically engaged, socially responsible graduates with an international outlook

Engagement Engagement makes a profound contribution to graduate attributes, including leadership skills & career readiness. Within an engaged environment students are engaged and enjoy learning which is key to their progression Engagement increasingly regarded as on a par with teaching and Learning and Research in HEIs mission

Tourism Creating 40 million new jobs globally over the coming five years People fundamental to efficient operation and development of tourism enterprises Comparative advantage dependent on a skilled workforce Engagement essential to produce graduates with key graduate attributes

Graduate attributes-Australian study Customer Service skills Self awareness and emotional intelligence Communication skills Technical skills Confidence Intercultural awareness Team building skills Ethics

Tourism at DIT Hospitality, Tourism, Leisure and Event Management Culinary Arts 2400 students Level 6 to 10 provision Full-time and Part-time offerings Blended Learning option International activity

Engagement strategies Programme Format/student recruitment Guest Lectures and Site visits Work Placements Research projects-industry based dissertations Programme development and review Human Resource strategy

Programme Formats Offer work friendly programme formats Evening, day-release/block-release, Blended Learning programmes 100 hours of work experience in years one and two 6 months internship in year 3 One semester in college’s training restaurant Guest Lecturers/site visits

Industry Focused Masters programme format 2 year programme in association with Failte Ireland-the Irish Tourist Board Failte Irealnd recruit industry partners Recognition of prior experience Students recruited by the hospitality industry partners Students spend one month in industry prior to commencing programme Block release format with employee experience related to college curriculum Dissertation- a company based project

Programme Development Survey of industry on key skills/ attributes for graduate level entry Industry representatives on Validation panel and review panels Flexible format delivery Promotion to industry

Human Resource Strategy Recruiting staff with industry experience Guest Lecturers Parity of esteem for engagement activities Encourage staff to engage in industry focused research and consultancy activities Promotional posts based on criteria including engagement activities Facilitate industry based sabbaticals Staff Training and Development programme

Engagement Enablers for HEIs Clearly articulate the establishment of engagement as a core focus of the institution along with Research and Teaching and Learning Strong focus on role of engagement in supporting students to gain graduate attributes Human resource strategies to support and incentivise engagement

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