Volume 3, No. 7. April 11, 2003
Scholarly
pursuits
One sign of the
amusement industry’s growth in numbers and stature is its growing presence
in academia. Newly joining such parks and recreation tourism programs as those
already established at Texas A&M and Clemson universities is a year-old
curriculum at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia, that next year
will send its first interns out into the field.
Currently, completion of the program would earn students a Bachelor’s of
Science in Health, Fitness and Recreation Resources with a major in Tourism
and Events Management. “In one year we hope to get our own degree, so you’d
get a BS in Tourism and Events Management,” said Laura Lawton, an assistant
professor in the program. George Mason has 20 students majoring in Tourism and
Events Management and several others taking courses as minors to their majors
in business, psychology or communications.
In a department with five faculty the degree tract has 22 classes serving four
main streams: resort management, nature-based tourism, events management and
cultural and heritage tourism. Amusement parks fall under the last, while zoos
and aquariums could fit into cultural and heritage or nature-based tourism.
Before graduating each student majoring in Tourism and Events Management must
undertake a practicum and internship. The practicum entails 150 hours of practical,
on-site work over the course of a semester, usually amounting to 10 hours a
week though the employer and student set the hours. The professor reviews the
practicum every two weeks to ensure the students are getting hands-on, practical
work experience.
The practicum is a prerequisite for the internship, which means that employers
taking on an intern will get someone with some amount of tourism experience.
The internships are 400 hours in length and can be carried out in either the
spring, fall or summer semesters. Internships involve a special project for
the student—an opportunity for the employer to complete a special task
that otherwise would overburden existing staff—a daily activity log the
student tracks, weekly progress reports signed by the employer, and mid-semester
and end-of-semester evaluation reviews by the employer. The internship also
requires an on-site visit by Lawton, who runs the internship program for George
Mason.
Those
on-site visits are something of a perk for the professor. “I like getting
out of the office, and more importantly I like getting out and meeting the employers.”
Because George Mason’s tourism degree program is one year old, the first
practicums will begin a year from now, and the first interns should be placed
in the summer of 2004. Lawton is looking for parks and employers who might be
interested in taking on a George Mason intern at that time, including overseas
parks. You can reach Lawton by emailing llawton@gmu.edu.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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