A joint initiative between the Virginia Council of International Education (VaCIE) and Chesire Education Management Programme (CEMP) continues to enhance the sharing of best practices in education between partnered schools in the United States and the United Kingdom and other European nations. In 1999/2000, David Barrish (Program Head Hospitality Management & Culinary Arts, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Richmond, Virginia), and Briege McRory (Hospitality Lecturer, Fermanagh College, Northern Ireland) were partnered for best practice exchange in hospitality education. During this exchange, they visited their host’s college, immersed themselves in the classroom and community and spent four weeks of learning, sharing and goodwill

David Barrish's Educational Exchange Visit to Fermanagh College

On May 15, 2000, I arrived in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Enniskillen is a county town, and as such enjoys a moderate population and diverse economic base. While the majority of inhabitants are wool and dairy farmers, there are focused efforts to market the county’s natural beauty and history. The area is perpetually swathed in rhododendrons and gorse. The county is renowned for quality fishing on its inland "loughs" (lakes). Enniskillen is situated at the confluence of Lower Lough Erne and Upper Lough Erne. The county abounds with castles, pagan, Celtic, and monastic ruins, and a host of other heritage sites. Northern Ireland is the beneficiary of the European Union’s Peace and Reparation Funding and continues to apply much of these funds to tourism development. Obviously, a hospitality infrastructure must be built to support the burgeoning tourist trade. As such, Fermanagh College has strong academic programs in hospitality, tourism and culinary arts. The existing hospitality industry in Northern Ireland can be segmented as hotels, manor houses, inns, country houses, restaurants and pubs. With the exception of a few larger hotels, hospitality enterprises have little in-house training of staff. The growth in travel and tourism requires skilled staff to satisfy the predominantly European visitors. Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) colleges serve this training need. The services Fermanagh College provides the local areas parallel the services provided by my college. This made my match with Briege McRory a natural fit.

Both of our colleges encourage a progressive approach to culinary and hospitality education, but the approaches are dramatically different in execution. At J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC) we deliver a balanced mix of hospitality education (principles, theory, critical thinking) and occupational/technical hospitality skills training. At Fermanagh College, the emphasis is on skills training. A principal activity for their faculty is workplace assessment. Many of the faculty I met spend as much time assessing as instructing. The reason for this is because most of the students do not receive an award from the college. Rather, they are prepared and assessed to receive NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications) from one of many awarding bodies. The NVQs are hierarchical and allow for seamless entry/exit/re-entry into and out of educational pathways. Fermanagh College does award a Higher National Certificate in Hospitality Management, which has some relationship to our Hospitality Management Associate in Applied Science Degree. Much of the on-campus hospitality and culinary instruction involves "underpinning knowledge" that equates to our principles or fundamentals instruction. Coupled with the work-based learning, the students acquire strong practical skills.

I conducted a class that explained environmental stewardship and energy conservation strategies of American hoteliers. The students were rapt when I discussed HVAC management in our hotels. I soon found their rapture was less with my presentation and more so with the fact that they had never seen or experienced air-cooling systems! So much of their concern is with fuel availability. So much of our concern is with government regulation and environmental impact of waste output from lodging and food service operations. I probably learned as much from the students as they learned from me.

Another class I conducted took the students onto the Internet to study the online restaurant reservation services that are springing up all over our country. I explained that we could check seat availability in any major US city and we could make reservations for "this evening’s tea" at any of the open sites. I suggested we look at Miami, San Francisco, Boston, Las Vegas or Cleveland (my hometown). They would have none of it! Every student wanted "tea" in New York City! In their collective mind, America’s sum worth could be found in the Big Apple and Disney World.

I was amazed to see so few textbooks. Their students are expected to do less reading and writing than ours. Our approach at JSRCC is very different. We deliver less skills instruction and more analytical and critical thinking instruction. This requires our students to read an average of three textbooks each semester. Our internship and apprenticeship preceptors are the primary evaluators of practical skills. We are educators first, assessors second. At Fermanagh College the reverse is true. This is not necessarily a better or worse arrangement, merely a situational approach based on the factors, funding and economic climate in Northern Ireland. In fact, I have profound respect for the faculty’s meticulous record keeping of numerous competency assessments. As I lead the self-study for American Culinary Federation accreditation of the culinary arts program at JSRCC, I will use portions of the NVQ assessment model as a template for our own assessment documents.

I also respect the students as skilled workers who carry forward a very genteel, very European style of hospitality and inn keeping. These relatively young students, many from rural homes, have learned to deliver refined service that exceeds most American service staff. I believe the difference is grounded in attitude. The students I observed in Fermanagh took their table service and cooking very seriously. In the States, there seems to be nonchalance on the part of service staff. Despite our best intent as hospitality faculty, we are faced with students who want careers, but oftentimes resist the foundation building needed to become successful. That is our ongoing challenge at JSRCC.

I was able to observe several of the workplace assessments. I was impressed with all of the students’ warmth and upbeat service ethic. I attended a Management Council meeting and found institutional issues similar to those we experience at JSRCC. Fermanagh College is implementing a continuous improvement approach to management and operations. My study visit was intended to yield findings on the European approach to continuous quality improvement; however, the only place I encountered familiarity with the concept was on campus. Curiously enough, the Northern Irish hospitality industry provides world-class service; they just don’t seem to systematize and measure it.

Fermanagh College is exploring distance education in the form of "online learning." They recently received grant funding to collaboratively develop online curricula with other FE and HE colleges in Northern Ireland. My experience with development of online hospitality courses at JSRCC was called upon, and I conducted training for various staff members. This shared interest in online learning has prompted the creation of a sister college resolution between our two schools.

I participated in a consortium project that linked all Northern Ireland colleges and hospitality industry representatives. The project was the culmination of a yearlong research project that benchmarked the status of industry manpower and training needs and the posture of the colleges to respond as needed. I was invited to provide candid response to the findings. The findings were a mirror image of our own market realities. Industry needs more workers and managers but is perceived by many as low paying and a transitory interlude for a serious career. Industry fears this perception as a limiting factor in future tourism growth. The college sees this as limiting hospitality enrollment. As in Richmond, dramatic, immediate need for staff makes formal education less necessary for obtaining jobs. As in Richmond, needy employers are finding themselves hiring unskilled staff, not so much by design, but out of desperation. As is our experience, it is hard to promote college education in a climate of desperate recruitment. I was invited to help wordsmith the final report, and when it was disseminated to government and industry, I was pleased to see much of my input incorporated.

One of the larger employers in County Cavan has collaborated with Fermangh College to develop skilled management staff. The employer, Slieve Russell Hotel, will begin funding tuition for student-employees that will attend the college while working at the hotel over a two-year period. The college sees this as a good enrollment opportunity and an even greater chance to partner with a quality resort hotel. I will explore a similar arrangement in our local area.

In my two weeks in Enniskillen, I spent most days and evenings on campus, observing students and faculty in the learning process. I made so many dear friends and was able to actualize a sister college resolution. I have the deepest respect for the students, faculty and administrators I met while at Fermanagh College. The best practice sharing that predicated the exchange program indeed came true. I strongly encourage my colleagues at JSRCC to consider applying for the VaCIE/CEMP Exchange Program. In addition to the restorative value of two weeks in Europe, there is so much to learn about our own teaching by observing the teaching of international partners.

Not withstanding the valuable cross-fertilization of the educational process, everything seems to distill down to the humanity of the exchange. Perhaps my fondest moments were those when we were able to shed our respective professions and nationalism. I fondly recall spending an afternoon with a senior faculty member who toured me through her home garden, journaling the date every flower was planted and by which family member. I recall a brisk weekend in Donegal at the holiday cottage of the Department Chair. Her husband, an ex-Gaelic football player, all but dragged me into the icy waters each morning for a sunrise swim (My teeth are still chattering). But most of all I remember the kindness and gentility of my host family: Stanny, Briege, Marie and Nicola. Through their warmth, my family has extended across the Atlantic to the land of Yeats, Shaw, shamrocks and Kells.

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