Chapter 14: University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Manag
Chapter 14: University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management Co-op Program: Aiming for a transformative learning experience
Joan Flaherty and Shelley Gallina
Joan Flaherty, University of Guelph
Shelley Gallina, University of Guelph
Abstract
The University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management offers a co-op program intended to foster transformative learning. Housed within a five-year Bachelor of Commerce degree, the program includes a year-long work placement in which the student rotates through positions and departments, aiming to achieve an understanding of the property’s operational needs. Employers are strategically selected to offer enriched learning opportunities that target the student’s personal and professional development. The challenges associated with these opportunities are myriad and, to a large extent, an important part of the program’s strategy. By addressing them, with the help of the program’s built in support mechanisms, students move toward achieving a transformative learning experience.
Introduction
The University of Guelph’s School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management (HFTM), located in Canada, offers a co-op program that aims to foster transformative learning. The challenges students face in addressing that aim are often formidable and, at times, unpredictable. But they carry within them the potential to be growth-enhancing. Judging by participation rates, both the student population and co-op employers confirm this latter point. Sixty-six percent of HFTM undergraduates choose the co-op program and two-thirds of them receive an assessment of “very good” or “outstanding” on their final work performance evaluations. Based on these positive outcomes, co-op employers continue to compete for students. Each student receives an average of three to four job offers from employers who are eager to bring them onboard for their co-op term. Part of this eagerness stems from the employer’s long-term recruitment goals, for it is not uncommon for graduating co-op students to be offered permanent positions by their co-op employer. This outcome indirectly testifies to our students’ success in their transformative learning journey.
Background
Established in 1991, the HFTM co-op program is housed within the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management. It is a five-year program that offers its graduates a Bachelor of Commerce degree. The non-co-op option is four years. The program has a limited intake of 40 students per year. Students admitted into the program from high school need a secondary school average of at least 80%, or equivalent to an A. Once admitted, they must maintain a minimum 70% cumulative average (B grade) in order to remain in the program. Not all students can achieve this standard as the attrition rate due to grades is approximately 25%.
The actual work term itself consists of one twelve-month work period that begins at the end of the student’s second year (May)