Partner with Technical Colleges

by Carmen Smalley, CMP & CHE, Milwaukee Area Technical College

​With the labor shortage and a high turnover rate it’s no secret that the hospitality industry is struggling to find employees and retain them. Milwaukee Area Technical College Hospitality programs are working on being innovative to create a streamline of employees into the field. The programs are creating new ways of teaching and learning while providing students accolades with each step.

An Employee Partnership committee has been formed to focus on co-op education and an initiative called JobUp Milwaukee. MATC will be the first technical college in Wisconsin system to launch co-op education. Co-op education allows students to earn credit in class and with hands-on experience. This allows students to explore the various sectors in hospitality and provides employers with additional labor needed to fill gaps in certain departments. For example, a Housekeeping course might consist of two credits with in class learning and one credit with on the job experience.

JobUp is similar to co-op education in that students are gaining hands-on experience while taking course. JobUp allows the college and the employer to work together to assist the student in being promoted to take on additional job responsibilities while they move through their studies.

What was formerly called JobShop is now called CareerHub & provides both students and employers additional services. MATC has moved to using the Handshake job search software which many other colleges use. Handshake allows employers to post any of their positions for free, internship opportunities, employers can be highlighted in the system, and allows an employer to connect with 1,000’s of potential candidates. If you are interested in posting a position on Handshake contact MATC’s CareerHub at [email protected].

Hospitality, Culinary Arts, Baking, and Event Management programs all participate in the dual enrollment academy that allows junior and senior high school students to take their classes through MATC. High schoolers can take selected courses to earn high school credit and college credit at the same time. Dual enrollment allows a streamline of high school students to enter the field of hospitality.
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Make sure to reach out to the other colleges in the area for information on their job fairs, any additional programs they might be inserting into their program and posting to their job search sites.

www.matc.edu

About the Author:

​Carmen Smalley is the Instructor & Lead Faculty for the Hospitality & Events Management Programs at MATC – Milwaukee and serves on the Greater Milwaukee Hotel & Lodging Association’s (GMHLA) Board of Directors.

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