What a Graduate Takes Home

You're probably wondering what you'll be able to take with you when you graduate. Here's a list of the skills, knowledge, and experiences you'll develop at Champlain College.

• Solid Industry Experience:  along with our academic learning experiences, we build in a total of over 500 hours of practical industry experience in a variety of lodging, foodservice and tourism planning environments, both on-campus and off-campus. Most of our students accumulate significant additional experience through summer and part-time jobs in the field.

• A Senior Management Apprenticeship: in their final semester, our students complete a Management Apprenticeship experience at either a Vermont ski resort, a Caribbean beach resort, a conference center hotel, a spa hotel property or Walt Disney World. Or they can choose an apprenticeship working with a group tour operator, meeting planner or special event coordinator. They work closely with an individual manager or event planner--an experience that looks great on their personal resume!

• Business Know-How: each of our students receives a strong dose of the critical business skills and knowledge that are not easily learned on the job, such as marketing, accounting, people-management, and how to make strategic decisions in a competitive and fast-moving industry.

• Computer Savvy:  graduates will be familiar with over a dozen hospitality industry computer software programs and the many ways that the Internet can make you more effective as a manager in the hospitality industry.  They also gain personal experience with online education & training methods.

• International Experience:  students who take advantage of the European Study Tour as part of  our International Hospitality course will gain international experience by traveling with other Champlain students and by participating in an interactive project with students from one of our overseas partner schools. Plus, there are a variety of opportunities to spend a semester abroad.

• Nationally-recognized professional certifications:  students have the opportunity to earn course certificates in four professional subject areas from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association (AH&MA).  Graduates will also be certified through the National Restaurant Association's ServSafe program, the industry standard for safe food handling procedures.

• Lifelong career planning strategies and a solid professional resume:  Champlain's Career Planning Office offers their services to all of our students--even after graduation!  A variety of career counseling and job search services are available, including periodic updating of resumes.

• New friends and networking connections: because of our small classes, friendly campus and committed faculty, our students quickly form a close-knit relationship that lasts even beyond graduation.  And they find out that living and learning at Champlain College can be fun!

Professional Core Competencies

Each of the learning activities in our program has been designed to help build specific areas of professional competency that hospitality  industry employers are looking for.  For a list of the skills that each graduate is expected to develop, take a look at our Professional Core Competencies.