[three_fourth]Introduction
Students undertaking a Bachelor of International Hotel and Tourism Management (BIHTM) complete this required capstone in their final year. The capstone is part of a suite of three capstone courses, which also includes a program capstone and a major capstone. The BIHTM program allows students to major in tourism, hospitality or event management. Each major includes a capstone for the field and students from all majors also complete the program capstone in service management and the professional development capstone described in this case study. The service management capstone is designed to integrate knowledge across the program and the major capstone integrates knowledge across the selected major. The aim of the professional development capstone is to transition students from formal education to the workforce. The professional development capstone runs for a semester as a single credit-bearing unit (1/8th EFT). The current cohort is around 180 students each year.

BIHTM graduates can end up in a variety of fields: government, tourist attractions, airlines, hotels, restaurants or events. Industry feedback is consistently focused on concerns that students entering the tourism and hospitality fields need to have strong job-ready skills. In particular, students entering the industry need very high-level interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism in the context of a service industry and an understanding of how the industry works.

This capstone is focused on developing those skills and capabilities. It contains a substantial work-integrated learning (WIL) component and explicitly prepares students for, and provides a bridge to, entry into the workforce. It does this by introducing them to the world of work and allowing them to gain practical insights into careers within the Tourism, Hospitality and Event industries as well as an opportunity to bridge theory and practice.

Delivery format
The capstone has evolved over the last six years through the involvement of several staff and is relatively complex in structure, as a result of the variety of options available to students. There are seven ‘streams’ that provide professional and personal development opportunities:
• Executive Shadowing Program (ESP)
• Tourism Regional Immersion Project (TRIP)
• Industry Placement (IP)
• Reflection on Current Employment (ROCE)
• Industry Consultancy Project (ICP)
• Student Industry Projects (SIP)
• Event Production (EP)

Students can apply for a preference, but not all activities are possible for all students. For example, the immersion streams (ESP and TRIP) require significant partner resources and are limited in number. The executive shadowing stream is targeted at high GPA students. Students who undertake this stream work with high-profile senior business partners. Similarly, the TRIP program is limited to available projects or partners. That stream involves students working in a team and travelling to a region – usually the client is a regional council – where they can work on a project to help the tourism industry. So they might, for example, help a group of small business operators establish a Facebook presence; or they might do an evaluation of how China-ready the destination is. The Event Production stream requires students to work in a large team to plan and stage a real event. Students who are not involved in the immersion or high-production cost streams undertake a WIL experience with an industry client, but it may be more project oriented.

Seminars and lectures support the process. These cover topics such as job searching and interviewing skills, career planning, current issues in the workplace, and personal and professional development. Where applicable, topics are customised to reflect the characteristics of the Tourism, Hospitality and Events industries. Some of the sessions are delivered by high profile guest speakers who are either alumni of, or Adjunct Professors at, the School of Tourism. However, the number of informal seminars vary somewhat as they are tailored to the needs of each student cohort, with personal mentoring taking precedence over class time. Each tutor acts as a mentor for a stream, ensuring that students are supported in each type of experience.

Feedback and assessment
In order to allow for a wide variety of activities and outcomes, assessments have been designed to focus on the core attributes students develop around personal and professional awareness. These skills and others are assessed through a reflective journal, which includes reflection on critical events during the capstone experience. In addition, students use the capstone experience as the springboard to preparing for applying for jobs in industry. As part of the process, they develop cover letters and CVs, and are assessed in part on a comprehensive job application package in response to a real position.

Students in the tea-based streams also often produce reports. Both academic staff and industry partners provide formative feedback on these reports, but they are not formally assessed (for grades). This does not hamper students’ enthusiasm. Given that the reports go to potential employers, there is a strong intrinsic motivation for achieving quality outcomes.

Resourcing
UQ is fortunate to have resources to support the high levels of industry engagement embedded in the capstone, and the duty of care requirement this implies. This includes dedicated administrative and project support staff who maintain contacts, organise placements, and deal with the legal and insurance processes, as well as developing projects and programs that are equitable across the cohort. The preparatory work for the placements commences at the beginning of the year, in order to have all the documentation, arrangements and agreements in place prior to semester two. In addition, there is a coordinator and a number of tutors who support students throughout the experience. The tutorial team is larger than one might expect with a lecture/tutorial curriculum, and tutors keep in close contact with the students throughout. New tutors are provided with training, and workload is calculated at a higher rate than that of a normal course.

Outcomes
Students exit the capstone having had the opportunity to engage in a highly focused industry preparation experience. They also develop and integrate a wide range of professional skills and capabilities. Student feedback is that it is highly rewarding, relevant and perceived to be crucial to their transition to the next stage of their careers. That is not to say that all students cope well with the early stages of some of the more challenging aspects. Students may be going to environments with which they are very unfamiliar, they may become overwhelmed and they may find that they are not quite as ready as they previously thought they were. However, the high levels of support provided mitigate these risks and mean that all challenges can be resolved.

For more information about learning outcomes, see: https://www.uq.edu.au/study/course.html?course_code=TOUR3009

Related Publications:

Hughes, K., Mylonas, A., & Benckendorff, P. (2013). Students’ reflections on industry placement: Comparing four undergraduate Work Integrated Learning Streams. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 14(4), 265-279.
Ruhanen, L., Robinson, R., & Breakey, N. (2013). A foreign assignment: Internships and international students. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 20, 1-4.
Ruhanen, L., Robinson, R., & Breakey, N. (2013). A tourism immersion internship: Student expectations, experiences and satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 13, 60-69.
Ruhanen, L., Breakey, N., & Robinson, R. (2011). Knowledge exchange and networks: a new destination for tourism internships? Current Issues in Tourism, 15(3), 183-196.
Breakey, N. M., Robinson, R. N., & Beesley, L. G. (2009). Students go a “Waltzing Matilda”—A regional tourism knowledge exchange through innovative internships. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 8(2-3), 223-240.
Robinson, R., Barron, P., & Solnet, D. (2008). Innovative approaches to event management education in career development: A study of student experiences. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 7(1), 4-17.
Solnet, D., Robinson, R., & Cooper, C. (2007). An industry partnerships approach to tourism education. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 6(1), 66-70.

[/three_fourth]

[one_fourth_last]

Key characteristics
3rd year undergraduate. Single semester targeted capstone, flexible options, team projects and industry placements.
Student numbers: 180+.

Authors/contacts
Pierre Benckendorff, Karen Hughes and Rosemary Adsett
[email_link email=”p.benckendorff@uq.edu.au”]Email Pierre[/email_link]

[/one_fourth_last]