COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS : Hotel Management Program OKd

College of the Canyons has received state approval for a new program to train students for management jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry, a growing field in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Hospitality Management Certificate Program was developed after a number of businesses, including local hotels and Six Flags Magic Mountain, urged college administrators to begin offering such training.

“Community business members wanted to know if there was anything the college could do to institute such a program,” said James Walker, the college’s assistant superintendent/vice president.

The California Community College Chancellor’s Office gave the college a $49,000 grant to start the program, but subsequent costs will be funded entirely by the local businesses. The businesses also will provide internships to students in the program.

A consultant from Cal Poly Pomona was hired to help develop the curriculum so that it would coincide with that university’s courses. Students who obtain an associate in arts degree at College of the Canyons will be able to transfer more easily to the four-year school, which has long offered a degree in hospitality management, Walker said.

The program also has been coordinated with the William S. Hart High School District, which will offer pre-college courses in the field. Classes in the curriculum were approved last month by the California Post Secondary Education Council.

Two courses are being taught this semester by Gretchen Blackwell: hotel and restaurant purchasing and inventory control, and hotel-restaurant supervision and guest relations.

Blackwell said student interest in the program’s first year has been “outstanding.”

Along with the core curriculum for a two-year transferable associate’s degree, the college also will offer two shorter programs for which students can receive certificates of completion.