SCCC to offer Hotel and Restaurant course

Sussex County -Sussex County Community College will introduce a new option in Hotel and Restaurant management when the fall 2006 Semester begins on Sept. 5. Students who complete the program will earn an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Business Management with a concentration in Hotel and Restaurant Management. The degree is intended to place students directly into the labor force. The Hotel and Restaurant Management option was put in place by former SCCC President Dr. Bradley Gottfried and Dr. Paul Prestwich, Vice President of Academic Affairs, to help meet the growing demand for trained workers by hotels and restaurants in the area. Students who enroll in the option will complete five separate courses that are designed specifically for the hospitality industry in addition to a core of general education and basic business courses. The first two hospitality courses will be offered during the fall 2006 semester, and the remaining three courses will be offered during the Spring 2007 semester. According to William Waite, Dean of Business, Mathematics, Science, and Law at SCCC, demand for the new courses has been very strong, even without any significant promotion. “The course in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management has been very popular, and demand for the course in Food and Beverage Management, which will also be offered for the first time this fall, has also been surprisingly strong,” said Waite, who added that courses in hospitality marketing, food service sanitation, and hotel and restaurant operations will be offered to students next spring. The new degree option will be coordinated by Prof. Lisa Krauss-Utter, who served for many years as the culinary arts instructor at Sussex Technical School. Waite noted that careers in the restaurant, hospitality, and gaming business are growing quickly, with demand for hospitality management employees expected to be particularly strong during the next decade. Students who are interested in registering for the new program should contact the SCCC Counseling Center at 973-300-2207. Students who have specific questions about the program should contact Krauss-Utter at 973-300-2241. Seats are still available in both hospitality courses for the fall semester, but space is limited. Krauss-Utter has also encouraged any local businesses who might be interested in providing internship opportunities for SCCC students in the program to contact her as well. “The hospitality industry in the county is showing signs of strong growth,” she said, “And SCCC is eager to partner with as many enterprises as possible to provide a stream of knowledgeable and well trained workers.”