The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation has awarded scholarships for the 2016/2017 school year. Seven Chaplin students received awards under three categories. AHLEF General Campaign Fund: Marina Boulanger Deysi Garcia Emily Garcia Matthew Klein From the Rama Scholarship for the American Dream Fund: Renee Manchoy Dimple Patel From the American Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) Fund: Johanna Ramb Congratulations to all of our winners!
Price Destinobles began his FIU career at the Chaplin School's Institute for Hospitality & Tourism Education & Research's Culinary Arts Academy. He has since been named a Carnival Gold Scholar and is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Hospitality Management. Read his story.
By ASHLYN TOLEDO When graduate student and Miami HEAT intern, Stephanie Parra, went looking for student mentors for the Miami HEAT and the Carnival Foundation's School to Work mentorship program, the Chaplin School seemed like a natural place to start. Parra began the M.S. in Hospitality Management program at Chaplin in August, the same month she began an internship with the HEAT Group’s Community Affairs Department. Part of her job is to develop monthly workshop topics, and then match them to experts and professionals within the community. “The goal of these workshops is to build the students’ experience and help them prepare for their collegiate career and overall career,” said Parra. “The first thing I remember the advisors at Chaplin telling us, was that they would be there to help us in our careers in any way. I knew that there were a lot of resources there that we could use.” It wasn’t long before she was in contact with Professor Sandro Formica, who has been teaching classes in leadership, management and personal growth at the Chaplin School for the last eight years. Formica set out to give the students a lesson in personal empowerment with a workshop titled ‘Life Purpose - Building Your Career Around Your Passion.’ He challenged the students to ask themselves what truly inspires and motivates them. “It was a great opportunity for the students to think about what their gifts are and what their passion is, and what they want to do with their lives,” said Formica. “I wanted to challenge them from that point of view so that they could find that extra power to do well.” Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Miami HEAT, Michael A. McCullough, felt [...]
The Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (AOHT) Advisory Board named Wendy Kallergis, President & CEO of the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association and member of the Chaplin School's Dean's Advisory Council, the 26th South Florida Tourism Professional of the Year at its annual recognition luncheon on November 17, 2016. Wendy has worked in South Florida’s hospitality industry for over thirty years, including some of the region’s top hotels, such as the Biltmore Hotel and the Delano Hotel. She works closely with various tourism and hospitality partners to continue to grow Miami as a top-tier worldwide travel destination. In the last two years, Wendy has proven her leadership abilities even further by successfully developing a new partnership with The National Immigration Forum’s New American Workforce, a program promoting new American Citizenship in the workplace. For this initiative alone, she managed to partner with 27 hotels and businesses- including Miami Dade College, Baptist Hospital and the City of Miami Beach. Wendy has surpassed all expectations and continues to build bridges of collaboration between local businesses, hotels and other partners. As a result of her leadership and sustained efforts to make Miami a premier global destination, Wendy had the privilege of being recognized at the White House as a Champion of Change, along with two other industry leaders from Miami. In May of 2015, Wendy was awarded the New American Workforce Ambassador of the Year by the National Immigration Forum.
The Chaplin School hosted the 2016/2017 Florida Collegiate DECA State Career Development Conference on November 12 and 13, where 175 students, advisors, industry partners and DECA staff engaged with talented students from 10 colleges and universities in Florida. FIU Hospitality students placed first, second or third in eight events after winning first place in 60% of their group events at the Collegiate Leadership Academy in New York, NY one week earlier. The FIU-BBC Collegiate DECA chapter has grown considerably since its inception in the Spring. What started as a four-member team is now almost 20 members strong, and the group has qualified for finals or placed at every single competition they've attended. DECA advisor, Nico Rose, is immensely proud of the work they've done. "Aside from the fact that the students have had some amazing opportunities to apply what they've learned in the classroom, they're getting to know each other and serving as their own little support group," he said. "It makes me happy to see." The team will travel to Washington D.C. this weekend for the Ultimate DECA Power Trip where they will get to meet and compete against students from all across the country. In addition to all of their recent success, 16 members have qualified to attend the International Career Development Conference next Spring. FIU-BBC Collegiate DECA Victories: Serena Beze, 1st Place, Travel and Tourism Serena Beze, 2nd Place, Hotel/Lodging John Simpson, 1st Place, Hotel/Lodging John Simpson, 2nd Place, Entrepreneurship Taisha Coradin & Gabrielle Demmer, 2nd Place, Event Management Taisha COradin, 1st Place, Leadership Development Seminar Rowan Toolsie, 1st Place, Professional Sales Faith Snow & Heissel Mayorga, 3rd Place, Business Ethics
Dr. Miguel Alonso, director of research and economic development at the Chaplin School, was invited to present at the Cornell Symposium on Hospitality, Health & Design at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The conference explored the areas where the hospitality and healthcare industries overlap, and how each sector can learn and grow from one another. “Increasingly, healthcare is being viewed through a customer service lens, so not only are you curing people, but the experience that they have is important,” Alonso said. “The hospitality industry is all about customer service. So how do these two worlds combine via techniques and design thinking - that’s what it’s really all about.” Alonso’s presentation focused on two key techniques used to drive innovation - Design Thinking, which helps generate new ideas, and Design Sprints to systematically refine those ideas in 5 days. Alonso has been working to implement similar ideas and approaches to problem solving at the Chaplin School, working with students, faculty and staff to help further Chaplin’s mission to continue to innovate in a constantly evolving hospitality landscape.
By ASHLYN TOLEDO The American Pulse Association hosted the first Pulse Innovation Miami event at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management on Saturday, October 22, 2016, to raise awareness about pulses - the dried seeds of legume plants such as lentils, chickpeas and other dry beans. The event also celebrated the United Nations’ designation of 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. Pulses play an important role in human health. Because they are both rich in nutrients and very inexpensive to farm, environmental scientists and health experts alike believe pulses are a key part of our agricultural future. Brian Machovina studied ecology and food sustainability as a doctoral student with the Department of Biological Sciences at FIU. He was a guest speaker at the event and believes we should all be eating more plants. For years he has advocated a 90/10 diet, where just 10% of your food intake comes from animal products. “Increasing the consumption of pulses is a very important - and delicious - strategy for promoting environmental sustainability,” he said. “Pulses are a great source of protein that can help us reduce our intake of meat. By replacing some of our meat consumption with pulses, we can help reduce the amount of land required to produce food and the large amounts of soil erosion, water use, chemical biocide use, antibiotic use and biodiversity loss associated with livestock production.” Robyn Webb, a nutritionist and award-winning cookbook author who specializes in diabetes, was a panelist at the event. She recommends pulses to many of her clients. “Pulses are perfect,” she said. “I personally eat pulses most days...they are the perfect food to control blood sugar, which in turn prevents diabetes complications.” As [...]
Meet Serena, John and Vivek, the three students representing the Chaplin School in Amsterdam at the Hospitality Innovation Summit.
By ASHLYN TOLEDO The International Association of Reservation Executives recently partnered with Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management and the Wellness and Recreation Center at Biscayne Bay Campus, to leverage the unique structure of a hackathon to get a better idea of what students at a university are really thinking. Students from all across the university teamed up for six hours at the FIU-IARE Hackathon on Saturday, September 24, 2016, to brainstorm new ways to help travel reservation centers attract and retain Millennials - a subject that is increasingly on the minds of top industry executives. Teams were judged on two criteria: how innovative their ideas were, and how feasible they were. “Innovation is the cornerstone for any organization competing in the 21st century, “ said Miguel Alonso, director of research and economic development at the Chaplin School. “That’s why it’s so important to give our students the opportunity to develop their innovation tool belt, so that when they graduate, they can be entrepreneurs and innovators in their own right. Events like this one give our students that opportunity.” Jill Hellman, who has worked as an innovator with audiences worldwide for the last 13 years and is currently serving as the Strategy and Innovation Advisor at Florida International University, was the driving force behind the hackathon. Throughout the day, she led the students through a unique process known as Outthinker, which Jill has used internationally with companies like Microsoft, Virgin Hotels and Estée Lauder. Throughout the process, participants are guided through stages of generating new and innovative ideas, and then working to make those ideas more attainable. “What companies really want to know, is what students are thinking,” [...]
The National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) is the premier professional organization for developing exceptional minority talent and leadership. Not a minority? Not a problem! Being a part of NSMH at FIU connects you to endless opportunities. NSMH is a nationwide organization and the largest student-run professional hospitality organization out there. NSMH works with Fortune 500 hospitality companies to provide you with professional growth, as well as exclusive internships and jobs. On FIU's campus, NSMH has guest speakers from the industry, goes on Behind the Scene tours, and aims to offer each member the tools to success they will need when they graduate. As a member, you also get the opportunity to attend the NSMH Regional and National Conference. The location of the conferences changes every year, with this year’s national conference being in Jacksonville, FL. The NSMH conferences allow students to shake hands and network with students and employers from across the nation. No other hospitality organization offers students the chance to ask questions, have their resume critiqued, and many other one-on-one experiences with the nation’s top hospitality employers. NSMH is also a recognizable organization to be part of and to have on your resume. Please contact the faculty advisor, Dr. Kitterlin, if you are interested in membership and/or leadership opportunities. You may also check out www.nsmh.org for more information.
