CFS-313 -- Practicum in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Instructor: Richard F. Patterson, Ed.D, R.D. Office: Academic Complex, 209C E-Mail: rich.patterson@wku.edu Office Phone: 270-745-4031 -- Department Secretary: 745-4352 Quick Search Index Office Hours Course Description Prerequisites Required Text Course Objectives Course Requirements Length of Internship Bi-Weekly Reports Final Report Employers Performance Evaluation of Student Grading Procedure Address to Send Documents to Instructor Address to Send Documents to Career Services Summary of Documents to be Sent Cover Page for Bi-Weekly Reports Cover Page to be Used When Faxing Text Only Version -- Use This Version to Print Everything Office Hours As posted during the fall and spring semesters. During the summer semester, specific office hours will not be maintained. However, e-mail and phone messages will be checked regularly. If you need immediate assistance, leave a message with a phone number and time you can be reached and I will return your call as soon as possible. In an emergency, you can leave a message with the department secretary during normal business hours. Course Description This course provides a forum where students can acquire entry level knowledge and skills in the hospitality industry while in a performance setting. Students apply the knowledge and skills acquired at Western in an appropriate hospitality establishment approved by the instructor. Prerequisites Sophomore standing, CFS-171, CFS-251 Required Text None Course Objectives Terminal Performance Objective:To provide a forum where students can apply the management concepts learned in class and to acquire the hands-on experience necessary to qualify for an entry level position in hotel, restaurant/food service and/or tourism management. Acquire entry level practical experience within a business environment in the hospitality industry. Develop a more complete understanding of various hospitality managerial functions. Develop the ability to analyze and propose solutions to business problems. Develop a greater understanding about career options while defining personal career goals. Develop an understanding of the activities and functions of hospitality managers. Refine written communication skills. Course Requirements All students will meet with the course director during the semester prior to the practicum to complete an application form. All practicums must be approved by the course director. All students must make an appointment to see Ms. Carol White at the Career Services Center, Room 216 Cravens to obtain a practicum packet. An appointment can be made by calling the career services secretary at 745-3095. When you go for your appointment, you should have the name, address and telephone number of the practicum site, the name and phone number of your supervisor and starting and ending dates of the practicum. Ms. White will provide students with a packet of information which includes practicum application forms, evaluation forms and an orientation on writing a resume and cover letter. Each student is responsible for finding his/her own practicum site, however, the course director will provide as much help as possible. Practicums and job opportunities are also listed under Student Specials on my homepage. The practicum may be completed during any semester (Fall, Spring, Summer). The requirement can be completed by eight consecutive weeks of full-time employment (full-time is defined as a minimum of 40 hours per week) or 16 weeks of part-time employment (part-time is defined as a minimum of 40 hours in a two week period). All students must register for the course during the prescribed WKU registration period and pay applicable tuition and university fees. The practicum must be started during the semester the practicum was registered for. Students may not register for the practicum in one semester and start it in another semester. Students must obtain a course pass from the instructor prior to registering for the course. Students should have a resume and cover letter prepared no later than the middle of the semester prior to the practicum. Ms. White at the career services center will help students put together a resume and cover letter and help them launch a job search. The course director will provide guidance on preparing a resume and cover letter at the student's request. Students are required to attend all meetings held by the instructor prior to the practicum. The student will develop objectives for the practicum and negotiate these objectives with the employer. These objectives must be submitted to the instructor and career services no later than two weeks after the beginning of the practicum using the format provided by the career services center. All students must provide the instructor and career services with a valid address and phone number where the student can be reached during the practicum within one week of starting the practicum. The "Address and Housing Report" provided by Career Services is to be used for this purpose. A copy of this form must precede or, at the very latest, accompany the first report sent to the instructor. . A daily journal may be maintained which includes a brief description of what you have observed and learned as well as the work activities you have performed. Also include the number of hours you have worked for the day. This journal is not mandatory but may be very helpful in writing the reports which are required. The journal may not be substituted for the report. For students working full-time, a report must be written for each two-week period of the eight weeks of the practicum (a total of four bi-weekly reports). For students working part-time, a report must be written for each four-week period of the sixteen weeks of the internship (a total of four reports). The reports must be typed and should be at least two pages in length (double spaced with 1" margins, 12 point font, using a Times Roman or Arial typeface -- no fancy, decorative or large type.). The report must have a cover page with the following information: Your name, where you are working, the report number (e.g. Report # 1), the dates of the weeks covered by the report, the due date for the report and the number of hours you worked during the report period. See the examples for the appropriate formats. Note: The information on the cover page should not be included on the first page of the narrative report. Included in the report should be a section on how you feel you are achieving your objectives. Topics to be included in the reports might include (but are not limited to) the following. You do not need to cover all of the following in each report. Explain the function of the department/area where you are working and how it relates to the entire organization. Explain the function of your job in relation to the department as a whole. Explain the flow of authority and the assignment of responsibility within the organization. Describe your experiences with respect to guest relations. What kind of supervisory responsibilities have you had? Did you assist in training new employees, assist with payroll or other departmental reports? What type of equipment did you learn to operate? How helpful were your supervisors in "teaching you the ropes" of the business? What specialized training have you received this week? What skills, knowledge, and/or abilities that you acquired at WKU have you used this week? Describe the management style of your supervisor or management staff and comment on how effective that style is in managing the operation. What part(s) of their management style would you adopt as part of your own style? What incidents have occurred while you were on duty? Who handled the incident(s) and how effective were they handled? If you were the manager, how would you have handled the situation? Provide your analysis of any relevant situation that occurs in the organization. Reports will cover weeks beginning on a Sunday and ending on a Saturday. They are to be sent to the instructor so they are postmarked no later than the Thursday following the end of the second report week [the fourth week if you are doing the practicum part-time.]. A total of four (4) bi-weekly reports will be submitted. Reports may be faxed to the instructor if the student has access to a fax machine. It is not a requirement that reports be faxed and fax machines should only be used if the student has the expressed permission from the employer to do so. You must include all the information on the attached format if you are faxing your report. The fax number to be used is 270-745-3999. Reports may also be sent via e-mail. The student must have a valid E-Mail address where he/she can receive messages in case there is a transmission problem. At this point, I can read Word Perfect, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Works files. You must send your report as an attachment to an e-mail message. Do not type the report in your e-mail software. All students are required to submit a 3-page summary report (typewritten - double spaced) covering the entire practicum. This is the fifth and final report. The same report may be submitted to career services to fulfill their requirement. The report should be postmarked no later than two weeks after the last complete week of the practicum. Topics to be included in the final report might include (but are not limited to) the following: The degree to which you feel you accomplished your objectives. How your internship contributed to your professional goals. Did your career goals change as a result of the internship? Did what you learned in your internship parallel what you learned at WKU? Have you acquired any special skills in the internship that you didn't already have? What are some of the most important management skills you feel are a must for a successful hotel or restaurant manager? What are some personal characteristics which you feel are necessary for a successful hotel or restaurant manager? Summarize what you feel were the most important learning experiences during your internship. From your experience and observations of the hospitality industry thus far, what changes can we make in the curriculum at Western which you feel would better prepare you for an entry level management position. Would you recommend this internship site to another student in Western's Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management Program? The student is required to obtain an evaluation from his/her supervisor and have it submitted to the instructor within two weeks after the last complete week of the practicum (the same time as the final report). The evaluation form supplied by career services must be used for this purpose. The original of the same evaluation must be sent to career services to fulfill their requirements. Grading Procedure Grades will be determined based on the quality and timely completion of all required reports and the employer's evaluation of work performance. Reports will be graded in the following manner: 65% content; 35% grammar, sentence structure, punctuation etc. The paper will be read, graded and critiqued by the instructor and sent back to the student before the next paper is written. The student should review the comments and make appropriate adjustments to correct content and writing style problems. The final grade for the course will be determined using the following percentages: 4 -- Bi-Weekly Reports -- 66% (15, 16, 17 and 18% respectively) Final Report -- 24 % Supervisors Evaluation -- 5% Attention to Details -- 5% Note: A grade for content and a separate grade for writing style will be given for each report. The overall grade for the report will be determined using 65% for content and 35% for writing style. The grade for this course will not be determined by how hard you had to work or how many hours you had to work. The grade will be determined by how much you learned and, equally as important, how you translated that learning into writing. Even though you might have had a very good learning experience, if you are unable to convey that learning in an appropriately written report, you will not receive a top grade. Additionally, the final grade will be partly determined by how well you follow directions and your attention to details. If you submit papers late, get confused on your due dates, or fail to submit your objectives, local address etc. in a timely manner, you will be downgraded. It is incumbent on the student to keep track of all forms and reports to be submitted and when they are due. Grades when submitted are final and will not be changed unless there was a computational error or other error on the part of the instructor. If you need a certain grade in this course to maintain or increase your grade point average, you must put the appropriate amount of effort into the reports and course requirements to earn that grade. If you do the minimum required, just to get by, you will receive a grade which reflects your minimum effort. If a contingency arises which precludes the student from meeting deadlines, it is incumbent on the student to discuss the problem with the instructor before the deadline elapses. Address to Send Documents to the Instructor Dr. Rich Patterson Department of Consumer and Family Sciences Western Kentucky University #1 Big Red Way Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576 Office phone: 270-745-4031 (leave a message on voice-mail if I am not in the office.) 24-Hour Fax -- 270-745-3999 Note: You must use the attached fax cover sheet (or a similar format which contains the same information) when sending a fax. Address to Send Documents to Career Services Ms. Carol C. White Career Services Center Western Kentucky University #1 Big Red Way Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576 Office phone:270-745-3095 Fax: 270-745-3094 Summary of Documents to be Sent To Career Services Address and Housing Report (Your address, telephone number etc. at internship site) Objectives Final Narrative Report [Note: Do not send bi-weekly reports to Career Services] Employer's Evaluation Form To the Instructor Address and Housing Report (copy) [Note: This report must precede or accompany the first report] Objectives (copy) 4 - bi-weekly [monthly for part-time] reports Final Narrative Report (copy) [Note: This is the fifth and final report] Employer's Evaluation Form (copy) Print the Syllabus, Sample Cover Page and Sample Fax Back to Quick Search Index Return to the Main Course Menu Return to Dr. Patterson's Home Page Comments or questions about this section of Western Online should be directed to Rich Patterson: E-Mail at:rich.patterson@wku.edu Date last Modified: July 10, 1997 All contents copyright (c) 1997 Western Kentucky University