A proposed community college two year hospitality program relative to the needs of the Mammoth Lake community
Abstract
Purpose. It was the purpose of this study to assess the educational, technical, and managerial human resource needs of the primary economic business activity in Mammoth Lakes. Furthermore, the study addressed perceptions and attitudes of managers regarding education within the primary business activity in Mammoth Lakes; Methodology. The methods chosen for the study were informal and formal needs assessment techniques. The informal technique was used to determine the primary business activity in Mammoth Lakes. This was done through a demographic and economic analysis. The formal technique utilized a survey instrument with a descriptive method of reseach for analysis. The population surveyed were the lodging and foodservice (hospitality) managers in Mammoth Lakes. The instrument was developed using modified excerpts from two previous studies; Findings and conclusions. In examining the economic and demographic variables in Mono county and Mammoth Lakes, it was determined that the primary business activity in this area was hospitality. The survey instrument received a 92.42 percent usable response rate from the 64 foodservice and 80 lodging operations. The study found that a large percentage of hospitality management would hire graduates of a proposed Mammoth Lakes community college two year hospitality program over individuals without this degree. Hospitality managers would also be willing to pay these graduates more money relative to individual who did not graduate from this program. Furthermore, the study suggests that hospitality managers have difficulty hiring and training individuals in several functional areas and positions. Moreover, they perceive that there is a significant shortage of hospitality trained labor in Mammoth Lakes. These results conclude that there is a prevalent educational, technical, and managerial human resource need by the primary business activity in Mammoth Lakes; It was therefore concluded by the researcher, that proactive steps should be taken in the area of hospitality education to serve and address these needs. Furthermore, the researcher believes that a program emphasizing hospitality education in the developing Mammoth Lakes community college could address and serve these needs.