Florida International University - School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Courses Offered and Course Description

HFT 6946
Graduate Internship
Hospitality or tourism practical training work experience involving a structured training program, cross-training and/or job rotations. The internship requires a minimum of ten weeks and 300 hours. Previously, the student must have completed and documented a minimum of 1,000 hours of non-credit hospitality or tourism related practical training work experience of which at least 500 hours must be completed while enrolled at FIU. Thus the total work experience and practical training required for graduation is a minimum of l,300 hours. Most companies that recruit at FIU and hire School of Hospitality and Tourism Management graduates look for at least two years of recent part-time training and work experience in the segment of the business in which students will be seeking their first management track career position after graduation.

HFT 6916
Hospitality Industry Research Project
An individualized hospitality or tourism business research-oriented project dealing with current industry problems.

The industry research project involves a total of 9 credit hours:

• 3 credit hours (section 51) - formulation and writing of the research proposal according to specific standards and format.

• 6 credit hours (section 52) - completion of data collection, analysis, conclusions, and writing and presentation of research project report.

Graduate students who elect the Industry Research Project must obtain prior approval from the Associate Dean. A committee of three graduate faculty members will be designated to meet with and guide the student in all procedural matters relating to the proposal and the completion and presentation of the research project.

Graduate students electing the Industry Research Project must complete HFT 6586, Research and Statistical Methods prior to registering for HFT 6916. HFT 6916 may be substituted for HFT 6476 or HFT 6478 and two electives.

Biography

Lee C. Dickson is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

He joined FIU in August 1983 to develop the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Broward Program at the FIU Site on the Broward Community College Central Campus, Davie. He was Director of the School's Broward Program and taught courses there in Hospitality Marketing Strategy, Hotel & Restaurant Marketing and Club Management until August 1990 when he was appointed Assistant Dean and relocated to the FIU North Campus. In 1994 he was appointed Associate Dean.

After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Boston University in 1953, Dickson became a commissioned officer in the Quartermaster Corps of the United States Army. He progressed through the ranks from second lieutenant to colonel in various command, staff and management positions in the United States and overseas. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1957 and graduated from the Executive Program in Business Administration at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in 1976. He also graduated from the School of Naval Command and Staff at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island and the National War College, Washington, D.C.

From 1975 to 1983, he was program manager for the U.S. Army's hospitality-related enterprises as director of club management and director of club and community activities management at Headquarters, Department of the Army in Washington, D.C.Dickson is a member of several hospitality industry organizations including the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, International Community Executives Association, National Restaurant Association and American Hotel and Motel Association. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Visitor Industry Human Resource Development Council, Miami, Florida.

In 1981 he received the Military Club Hall of Fame award from the International Military Community Executives Association, and in 1983 the Order of the White Plume award from the Office of the Adjutant General, Department of the Army.

| Curriculum Vita |