WGSHA, Manipal NOV. 27, 2020: The third edition of faculty development program was organized at Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA) with the theme ‘Curriculum and Outcomes Assessment for Hospitality Education’. An eminent hospitality educator, Prof. David A. Edwards from Johnson and Wales University, North Miami Campus, USA was the resource person for the session.  He is presently Associate Professor and the Chair of the college of Hospitality Management.

Chef K. Thirugnanasambantham, Principal, WGSHA was the moderator for the session. The session started by invoking the almighty through a video followed by the introduction of the speaker by the principal. 

Emphasizing the role of continuing higher education as a significant catalyst for the holistic development of students, Prof. Edwards stated that the hospitality industry is in the midst of historic growth across the globe with the onset of COVID. He urged that there are several junctures where we are forced to accept changes and as an industry we should not hesitate towards change and innovation. He mentioned that hospitality industry today is not looking for ‘specialists’ but looks for ‘generalists’. He highlighted the importance of experiential education through internships, class room based critical thinking sessions, and hands on experience in the campus through various projects and simulations. He provided his view points on experiential education, taxonomy of learning, measures of outcome assessment, and teaching practices.  He stressed the relevance of ‘symbiotic relationship’ between academics, students, and industry to develop students who are market suitable, and flexible. He advised that while developing curriculum we need to ensure that every course in the curriculum has some relevance to the program outcomes and we need to blend it with the industry expectations.

The session was broadcasted on WGSHA YouTube Channel. The live session was well attended by faculty of WGSHA and across MAHE, Manipal. Dr. Vidya Patwardnan.

WGSHA is continually making attempts to benchmark our curriculum to make it contemporary, have a global presence and transform it in tune with the strategic vision of Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

The Faculty Development Program was launched in June 2020 with an objective to o provide a communication platform for educators together with chosen industry experts to share experience in responding to the new challenges and opportunities.  Currently the program is continuing with a new title “Lessons in Excellence” where are organizing one session every month with the support from eminent international academicians and industry experts. The first edition of lessons in excellence was organized last month on the theme “Effective Strategies for Virtual Teaching & Learning” which was very useful and appreciated by all concerned.