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Johnson & Wales University, Northern Outdoors Partner for Student, Industry Success

By Dr. Paul Vanlandingham, Johnson & Wales University

Founded in 1914 as a business school in Providence, Rhode Island, Johnson & Wales University (www.jwu.edu) has grown to a multi-campus university with more than 10,000 students at the Providence campus alone. “The mission of Johnson & Wales University is to empower its diverse student body to succeed in today’s dynamic world by integrating general education, professional skills, and career-focused education. To this end, the University employs its faculty, services, curricula, and facilities to equip students with the conceptual and practical tools required to become contributing members of society and to achieve success in employment fields with high growth potential.”

Based on a recent survey of the 200 plus travel majors on the Providence campus, one-fifth of these students have shown an interest in learning more about Adventure Tourism. The sport, adventure, and nature-based concentration is the second fastest growing concentration of the eleven opened to hospitality students.

Adventure Tourism is a 40-50 billion dollar industry and growing at a rate of 10% per year. Sixty-seven million people are participating in soft adventure such as hiking, camping, bird watching, and outdoor photography, to name a few. Hard adventure (rock climbing, white water rafting, sky diving, etc) makes up about 6.1% of the participants. (Contact Dr. Vanlandingham for source.) 

This growth and the University’s commitment to hands-on learning presented a challenge to find businesses within this industry from which partnerships could be nurtured for the betterment of the student population. As a result of this, I began to think about ideas to incorporate hands on experience in Adventure Tourism which would be both educationally and professionally beneficial to our students.

Then, while on a whitewater trip in Maine with my two sons, I had the good fortune to meet Adam Swett, a registered Maine Guide working for the Northern Outdoors Resort. This conversation led to my contacting Russell Walters, President of Northern Outdoors (www.northernoutdoors.com), a four season outdoor adventure resort. Over the past year and a half, our relationship developed to a point where students from Johnson & Wales (J&W) are now involved in internships at the resort in the many varied areas of the adventure and hospitality industry.

Partnering with Northern Outdoors was a no-brainer. The resort provides opportunities in all of the disciplines offered at J&W. Students majoring in adventure travel, marketing, lodging, sports and entertainment, and food and beverage could all find opportunities working there. To better promote the program in June 2004, seventeen of the hospitality faculty spent three days in Maine touring the facilities, learning more about the programs offered, and getting first hand, a whitewater rafting experience..

The time spent there by the faculty was just what was needed to go back to Providence and promote the program to students. Faculty advisors now had a much better understanding of what was available. This also prompted the development of a summer program, began in May and continues through June. Students in the program will receive 13.5 college credits and learn not only about adventure, sport and nature-based tourism, but will be offered courses in Leadership in Recreational & Leisure Settings and Ecotourism. Part of the summer program will also be spent in Canada, hosted by Wilderness Tours, an outfitter based in Pembroke, Ontario. Students will travel to Quebec City, Montreal, and Ottawa.

Administration and faculty at J&W feel that partnerships such as this are valuable both to the students and the university. The Adventure Tourism program can only enhance the quality of personnel going into this industry. As time goes on, with the growing numbers in our program, we certainly will need to become involved with other employers who can provide this same type of educational opportunity for our students.

Four years ago, prior to the inception of this program at J&W, I was looking for college programs in Adventure Recreation for my oldest son. As I searched the Internet, they seemed to be few and far between. A similar search today reveals many new programs that are available throughout the United States and Canada. My research of these programs shows curricula that cover both appropriate theory and exciting practical applications. The competition for this student market can only benefit the consumer (student) and the end user (adventure industry).

Another bonus for the industry is the use of the college faculty to provide training programs for staff. J&W has already conducted programs for Northern Outdoors and has provided expertise to help develop strategies to enhance service and develop a broader customer base.

This win-win approach can only further benefit all parties involved. The bottom line is to increase the level of professionalism and customer satisfaction and to enhance industry growth. The use of advisory councils in the field of Adventure Tourism will provide input that will only improve our academic outcomes.

Contact:
Dr. Paul Vanlandingham
Professor
Hospitality College
Johnson & Wales University
Providence, RI. 02903
401-598-2496