THE COLLEGE of Tourism and Hospitality Management welcomed the new academic year with a curriculum revamp that scrapped Spanish and Japanese subjects in the first year level and renamed its B.S. Tourism course to B.S. Travel Management.
The new curriculum will have a combination of Tourism and Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) subjects so that the students could apply for managerial positions, Acting Dean Ma. Cecilia Tio Cuison said.
It will also offer four additional subjects namely Tourism and Hospitality English, Tourism and Hospitality Ethics, Professional Cookery, and Hotel Operations and Administration.
Tio Cuison said the additional English subject would be beneficial for students when they deal with foreign clients in the future.
“We already coordinated with Dr. Madrunio of the Department of Languages about the specialized English subject for Travel Management students,” Tio Cuison said.
The difference between Hospitality English and the minor subject English classes is the former is more specialized English in the tourism field.
The 18-unit foreign languages course, which replaced Spanish and Japanese is “more inclined to fit the present needs of the tourism industry,” she added.
Last January, the college was elevated after three years of being an institute carved out of the College of Education in response to the tourism industry’s growing manpower demand.
No to Ched memo
In 2006, the Ched issued memorandum order no. 30 which gave a chance to Tourism and HRM students to obtain certificates after a year of study, instead of a diploma after four years.
UST opted not to follow the memorandum thoroughly because the ladderized program is not yet available in the University.
“We did not comply with the memo thoroughly since we do not have exit points every after year level where students could have a chance to be employed even before graduating provided they pass a special exam,” Tio Cuison said.
“However in reality, based on our perception, students who passed the exam might not be ready for the industry since they can still be considered minors,” she added.
