I am excited to let you know that Hotel College Dean Don Snyder has decided to expand the role of the school in the area of executive education for the Las Vegas community and beyond. Working with the Associate Dean, Dr. Pat Moreo, and Professor Al Izzolo, E. H. Manley and Associates will be the cornerstone of the non-gaming offerings through the HRDC.

The Executive Education program, working out of the Stan Fulton Building on campus, will consist of two entities: * The International Gaming Institute (IGI) which is for gaming education * The Hospitality Research and Development Center (HRDC) which is non-gaming offerings for workforce development and executive education

Specifically what are we offering?
* Training which includes the opportunity to be certified. We believe these certifications afford a sense of pride and accomplishment to the individuals, many coming with lapel pins which promote their accomplishment, and provide a point of difference to current and potential customers – “all our managers are Certified HACCP Professionals,” as an example.

Since 2003, EHMA has provided training and professional certifications in the area of food safety, HACCP and restaurant management. Students attended a four-day training program, during which they could earn 3 certifications. About 185 such programs helped over 3000 students earn almost 8000 certifications. The students were introduced to new information, reminded of things they learned in the past, and if they passed the tests they earned the certifications.

Those 3 certifications are: * Simply Safe Foodservice Certified (SSFC) – we have levels from worker, to supervisor to CPFM or ServSafe, depending on the needs of the student and their workplace.
* Certified HACCP Professional (CHP) – HACCP is the cornerstone of the pending food safety legislation
* Master Certified Foodservice Professional (MCFP) – The Restaurant Doctor, Bill Marvin, called this, “Everything you need to know to run a restaurant.”
More recently we’ve added training and certifications in Culinary Nutrition, Culinary Arts, Beverage Management (focusing on wine and food pairings), Serving Alcohol Responsibly and Customer Service.

Once a student has completed all of the certifications, they can sit for the Master Certified Food and Beverage Director (MCFBD) certification, with questions from each of the exams, demonstrating that they retained the knowledge. The attached Hospitality Certifications.pdf addresses that program.

* We can tailor training to the needs of your organization, building on top of our standard program, things that are of specific to you. Through our partnership with Pearson Learning Solutions, we even have the ability to take our standard texts and customize those for large operators. UNLV being one of the premier hospitality schools in the world, has the expertise to address virtually any topic, from food safety to market trends and strategies. At the Hospitality Research and Development Center, you name it, and we can build it to your standards. We’ll save you the time and cost of bringing in a team of consultants, we’ve got them already in-house.

We are aware that many operators have had to decrease the size of their training departments. At the same time, overall staff cuts mean less people to watch over the day to day operations. Less people, who have less training, doesn’t seem like a great business model.

Until, and if, you are able to build your training department back up, we can be your resource. Professor Izzolo, one of the longest tenured faculty at the hotel college, and I, would like to explore your needs, and discuss our practical training solutions and certifications which assess if your employees actually learned the material.

The power and prestige of UNLV stands behind these offerings, as do my 3000 students, many of whose careers have blossomed as a result of their taking the training classes. I have a slide show full of people who learned, applied, got promoted, got new assignments and a new enthusiasm for our profession, as they were exposed to new and interesting information and opportunities to grow.