Peter Straube
Program Director
Degree Program: Hospitality Industry Management; Event Management
The wide world of hospitality
You can tell a lot about a person by their outlook on things. That's why you can tell a lot about Peter Straube, director of Champlain's Hospitality Industry Management Program. His enthusiasm for his program and his students' success is contagious.
"I like the fact that at Champlain we focus on teaching the most relevant knowledge and skills for our students after they graduate," he says. "It gives me a sense of contributing something of real value to them and it also helps them-and me!-engage in the learning activities. I really like my students-they're energetic and interesting and generally fun to be around. Champlain is a tremendously stimulating environment, very entrepreneurial, and full of smart highly-professional people who want to make a positive difference in people's lives. There is no end to the number of initiatives and issues we can get involved with."
For 16 years, Peter has been preparing his students to take their places in the world of hospitality. Champlain's Hospitality program offers students the choice of two tracks: Hotel/Restaurant Management and Event Management.
Education with an eye on the future
"We're clearly focused on operations management. Whether you're interested in hotels, restaurants, event management or the tourism industry, it's all about creating and producing a great experience, showing people a good time, putting together an effective team of employees and making some money!" Peter notes that students in his program build a strong business management core, with a special focus on the unique challenges of the hospitality industry. "We rely on industry-experienced faculty to make concepts and ideas come alive," he says. "We also integrate experiential learning activities into all of our courses, not to mention the two custom-designed internships that each student completes.
"Like a lot of the faculty here at Champlain," he continues, "I came to education from the business world. After 17 years in the restaurant business, I can't help but think like an employer. So whether it's choosing which courses we'll offer, planning out a semester, or just deciding on what we should do in class today, I'm always thinking, ‘If I were going to hire these students, what would I want them to be able to do?' That's what really drives everything we do here. I'd like every student to become the kind of person I would want to hire. So that means being able to think on their feet, to problem-solve, to work well with a variety of different people, to communicate clearly, to present themselves professionally, and to understand the importance of balancing the needs of your customers, your employees and the financial health of your business."
Peter earned an AOS in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, a BS in Hotel/Hospitality Management from Johnson State College and an MSA in Administration & Management from St. Michael's College.
A Rock the Vote poster created by a graphics design student.