School amenities make up for limited training

The new HRM and Tourism facilities of the University of San Jose- Recoletos (USJR)  highlighted in the second series of their Industry-Academe Consortium was deemed by  the Dean of the College of Commerce as a vital tool to compensate for the limited training and actual experience of their students in their practicum subjects.

Dr. Edgar R. Detoya admitted that due to the proliferation of schools offering HRM and Tourism in Cebu plus the influx of HRM and Tourism students from the nearby provinces, their students are not provided with enough hands-on experiences in the real restaurant, resort or hotel situation during practicum. Hence, because of the limited experience of students, the university  put up their facilities to compensate for this problem. “We must be well-equipped with facilities  to provide an excellent and competitive training for our Tourism and Hospitality Management students and  give them real-world experience,” said Detoya.

Last academic year, USJR established a real Kitchen Laboratory where students gets to experiment and cook different dishes. There was also a real Hotel Room and Travel Counter complete with all amenities and a Coffee Shop called Cafe Recoletos where the students serve their dishes and where they are trained to handle visitors. These facilities are located at their Norberto Quisumbing Hall. As of the moment, USJR have 1,000 students enrolled in both Tourism and HRM courses and they take turns in using these facilities. – Rhia de Pablo