SALEM — Salem State College is launching a new graduate certificate program this fall, in response to projected growth in the hospitality and tourism industry.
The five-course program can be completed in one year and is the first graduate-level certificate of its kind on the North Shore, according to the college.
Courses would include subjects ranging from lodging operation and food and beverage management, to advance casino operations and conferences and convention management, according to college spokeswoman Margo Steiner.
Brewer Doran, dean of the Bertolon School of Business at Salem State, said the college already offers popular undergraduate concentrations in hospitality, and travel and tourism.
"This is a natural extension of that," Doran said yesterday. "Obviously, travel and tourism is one of our largest employers here on the North Shore, and our students stay on the North Shore."
While some sectors of the economy are shrinking, the hospitality and tourism service sector is expected to add up to 1.5 million jobs nationwide over the next five years, according to Steiner, who was citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook.
The certificate classes will be taught by a combination of both existing and new faculty, according to Doran.
The courses will begin in the fall, and the college anticipates roughly 15 to 20 students, although it's difficult to predict for the first year of a new program, she said. The courses would alternate one week in class and one week online.
"We actually did a survey of the Salem Chamber and North Shore Chamber alumni," Doran said. "A lot of them were interested in the program, and one week face to face and one week online."
The advisory board for the program includes Salem State trustee and Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz; Richard Elia, a Salem State English professor and publisher of The Quarterly Review of Wine; and Erwin Schinnerl, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common.
The program is a joint venture of the college's geography department and business school.
The certificate is designed for recent graduates, employees already working in the industry and professionals looking to transition from another field, according to Steiner.
The certificate will require five three-credit courses, for a total cost of $4,350 for tuition and fees for in-state students and $5,700 for tuition and fees for out-of-state students, according to Steiner.
"We're really excited about it," Doran said.
Raw Video: Hail Storm Batters Oklahoma City
California's Foie Gras Ban About to Begin
6-Year-Old Going to National Spelling Bee
Video Essay: Funky Winkerbean Comic Turns 40
On Thailand Trip, Suu Kyi Visits Migrants
Raw Video: Pink Diamond Auctioned for $17.4M
Hurricane Andrew Remembered, 20 Years Later
Sister Says She Reported Brother in Patz Killing
Patz Suspect's Sister: I Went to Police in 1980s
Diplomatic Expulsions Follow Fresh Syria Report
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Bring Your Own Tech Programs Charge Up Students
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
