Fontainebleau Miami Beach is partnering with Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management as the first hotel to participate in its Program On Demand. The Program On Demand offers students a chance to gain real-world experience in a number of departments at the Miami Beach hotel.
Program On Demand, which the university launched in fall 2018, moves away from traditional classroom education and explores a series of courses outside of Florida International University’s campus. From March 8-10, a group of students will take part in the Fontainebleau POD, which is designed to give students a hands-on understanding of the hospitality industry, specifically in hotel operations management.
During the three-day program, students will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and valuable skills within multiple facets of a successful and fully operational hotel, including room operations, food-and-beverage, finance and marketing, among others. Students will have the chance to learn from industry leaders from each department to understand how their departments operate. Based on the lessons, students will be given assessments and a final grade, as well as a certificate of completion.
The hotel employs a number of the school’s graduates, including President/COO Philip Goldfarb. Goldfarb held the position of chair of the dean’s council at the school for three years and was awarded the school’s “Torchbearer Award” and the university’s “FIU Medallion” in 2007.
“My education at Florida International University has been instrumental in my success in the hospitality industry,” Goldfarb said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to welcome current FIU students to Fontainebleau Miami Beach and give them a one-of-a-kind learning experience that will help them lay the foundation for their careers. I’m honored to have the chance to give back to my alma mater and to inspire the next generation of hospitality professionals.”
“We are beyond excited to partner with Fontainebleau Miami Beach for this innovative approach to learning,” Michael Cheng, interim dean for FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, said in a statement. “The POD classes are designed to be experiential, real-time, intensive and on-demand—all features of what 21st century pedagogy needs to be. We are grateful to Phil Goldfarb and the leaders at the hotel for helping us enrich our student’s learning experiences.”