Online STH 211
Sustainable Hotel Operations
Fall 2013
Instructor:
Dr. Jerrie Hsieh
E-Mail :
y_hsieh@uncg.edu
Office:
Bryan 472
Office Hours:
Mondays & Wednesdays 10am:00 -1:00pm, or by appointment (please
email the instructor to make an appointment)
Managing Front Office Operations 8th ed., by Michael L.
Kasavana & Richard M. Brooks , American Hotel and Lodging
Association (ISBN 978-0-86612-338-9)
Hotel Development Principles and Best Practices, 1st ed., by A.J. Singh
& Herve Houdre, American Hotel and Lodging Association (ISBN 9780-86612-378-5) (Recommend to those who want to know more about
sustainable development in hospitality)
Required Text:
Recommended Text:
Technical Assistance If you have problem logging into Blackboard, you will need to
contact UNCG IT at (336) 256-8324, http://its.uncg.edu/Current/
http://its.uncg.edu/Blackboard/
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides students with a general understanding of sustainable hotel
operations, emphasizing front office management, financial control, guest services,
sustainable development strategies, and best practices.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this course students will be able to:
1. Describe the guest cycle and its relationship to hotel organization.
2. Identify the functions, procedures, tasks, and duties of all hotel departments.
3. Explain the role of the property management system in hotel operation.
4. Describe the process of creating and maintaining front office accounts.
5. Summarize the steps in the front office audit process.
6. Apply methods, such as room rate settings, forecasting availability and
overbooking, and yield management to maximize hotel profits.
7. Explain a sustainable lodging operation and its relationship to three dimensions
of sustainable development.
8. Apply the concept of sustainability into the hotel function areas, including the
front office, housekeeping, food and beverages, human resources, marketing,
and purchasing.
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INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
 On-line class lectures and notes
 Readings from text and other documents posted to Blackboard
GRADING
Resume Assignment
Hotel Assignment
Salary Assignment
Guest Folio Assignment
Weekly On-line Quiz
On-line Exam
Hotel Industry News Reflection
Paper
Guest Speaker Reflection Paper
Opinion papers
Sustainable Reporting Assignment
Total Possible Points
10 points x 1 = 10 points
10 points x 1 = 10 points
20 points x 1 = 20 points
20 points x 1 = 20 points
15 points x 9 ( ch1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8&9,
11, 10, 13)= 135 points
100 points x 2 = 200 points
30 points x 1 = 30 points
40 points x 1 = 40 points
20 points x 3 = 60 points
40 points x 1= 40 points
565 points
Your final total points / 565 (points) =☼ %
Grading Scale
Your
☼
grade By percentage
A+
97% to 100%
A
93% to 97%
A90% to 92%
B+
87% to 89%
B
83% to 86%
B80% to 82%
Your
By points grade
584.05
C+
525.45
C
508.50
C491.55
D+
468.95
D
452.00
DF
☼
By percentage
77% to 79%
73% to 76%
70% to 72%
67% to 69%
63% to 66%
60% to 62 %
Below 60%
By points
435.05
412.45
395.50
378.55
355.95
339.00
Below 339.00
Students are responsible for checking their grades on Blackboard frequently. Please email your instructor as soon as you find any questions regarding your grades. No grade
change request will be accepted after a grade had been posted for two weeks.
Blackboard Weekly On-Line Quizzes:
There will be 10 on-line weekly quizzes during the semester, including one extra 5-point
quiz (Quiz 1: Test Your Hotel Knowledge). The purpose of Quiz 1 (extra 5 points) on the
first week is to help you get familiar with the format of on-line quizzes for this course.
Each quiz is worth 15 points (except Quiz 1). The quizzes are based upon the lecture
power point presentations, textbook, and articles posted. All weekly quiz questions are
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available at the beginning of the semester and are due at 11:50 pm on Sundays. This will
allow you to finish weekly course requirements ahead of the schedule if you want. Please
note, the on-line quiz link will disappear automatically at 11:50pm on the assigned
Sunday. If you miss the time block, you won’t be able to re-take it. Be sure to complete
each on-line quiz before due time.
Weekly On-Line Quiz Guidelines
 You will have only 1 opportunity to take the quiz within the available time.
 The quizzes are open book but they are timed (10 minutes per quiz), so you will
need to have a fairly good grasp of the material in order to achieve a satisfactory
grade.
 Each quiz has 10 multiple-choice questions.
 Quiz questions are from the textbook, lecture power point slides, or posted
articles.
 Your grade is available for review at the time you complete the quiz.
 The quiz questions will appear one at time. If you skip the question, you will not
be able to return.
 As soon as you “submit” the quiz, you will be able to view results with correct
answers. On-line quizzes will not be available for you to review before the exam.
If you need to keep the results for review, you can print them before the on-line
quiz is due (11:50pm, Sunday).
 Please email your instructor immediately if any technical problem occurs while
taking the on-line quiz.
 Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Do not wait
until the last minute to take the on-line quiz.
On-line Exams
Two (2) on-line exams will be given during the semester on scheduled dates. Each online exam has a time window. If you miss the time window, you miss the exam. The online exam link will disappear automatically at 11:50pm on the Sunday of the exam week.
It is very important to take the on-line exam in an internet environment without any
interruption. I strongly recommend you to use UNCG computer lab to take the on-line
exam. Students are responsible for the consequence of interrupted exam. No make-up
exam request will be granted due to miss the exam window or the internet disconnection
in the middle of the exam. Each exam has 30- 40 multiple-choice questions. You will
have 45 minutes to complete the exam. Do not wait until the last minute to take the exam.
Should any technical problem arise, you are less likely to get them solved at the end of
the examination time block.
Opinion Papers
There will be three two-page write-up assignments based on a problem related to the
course topics. These short papers are meant to challenge you on some fundamental
aspects of sustainable development. In these papers, you should be able to defend a
strong point of view (in favor or against). While writing your opinion papers, ask yourself
the following questions:
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“Why might others have a different view?” “How can I convince them of my point of
view?” “If I were employed in an organization, how would I convince my colleagues
and/or higher levels of the organization?” “If you propose a new concept, ask yourself
what the main limitations to its implementations are.”
Sustainable Reporting Assignment:
You will review Marriott’s 2011-2012 Sustainability Report and compare it to the new
G3 reporting requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative
(http://www.globalreporting.org/); use specific comparisons.
Do you like what they are measuring? Do the metrics that are presented lead you to
believe that the company is on track towards sustainability as you or others define it?
Why? Why not? Do you like this report: (1) as a business person in the company, (2) as
an investor, and (3) as an activist?
Are Marriott's sustainability efforts consistent with the so called "triple bottom line"
(People, Planet, Profits). Indicate the sustainability practices that impressed you the most
and elaborate on it. Your paper should not be more than 4 pages (not including footnotes,
if any). Your paper should not be more than 4 pages.
How to Submit Your Assignments Online?
Since this is an online course, you will submit all your assignments (resume, salary, hotel,
guest folio, opinion paper assignments) including the reflection papers online via the
course Blackboard. You will need to type your assignment first and save it as a word file.
The submission link is available in the weekly folder under the course content. Click
“View/Complete Assignment” to submit your assignment.
If you have anything you want to let me know about your assignment, you can type your
comments in the comment box. Click” Browse” to select the word file you want to
submit. Click”Open” to upload your file. Click” Submit” to submit your assignment.
If you are not able to attach a file for submission, you can copy your assignment and
paste it to the comment box. Email submissions will not be accepted.
All assignments are due at 11:50pm, Sundays. Be sure to submit your assignment on-line
before the due time. Blackboard on-line assignment submission system will not allow any
late submission.
CLASS COM MUNICATION
Each student is required to obtain a valid UNCG email account for class communication
during the semester. If you have not set up your UNCG email account, please contact the
UNCG Computing Help Desk by phone at 336-256-TECH (8324) or by sending e-mail to
6-tech@uncg.edu. See more information at http://accounts.uncg.edu/
BLACKBOARD
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Since this is an on-line class, Blackboard will be used throughout the semester. Audio
lectures, student grades, assignments, and other important information will be provided
through this software. On-line quizzes, exams, and assignment submissions will be
performed via Blackboard. Students are expected to check blackboard frequently
and are responsible for the information provided through this software. Everyone
officially registered for this class has been added to Blackboard automatically.
https://blackboard.uncg.edu
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All policies and procedures of this course follow those stated in the publication
University Regulations concerning attendance, nondiscrimination policy, academic
regulations and procedures, student rights and student conduct, among others. Students
must abide by the Honor Code of the University of North Carolina Greensboro on all
assignments and examinations related to this course. See more information at
http://studentconduct.uncg.edu/policy/academicintegrity
SPECIAL STUDENTS
If any member of the class feels that he/she has a disability and needs special
accommodations of any nature, I will work with you and the Office of Disability Services
to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to
perform in this class. Please advise me as soon as possible of such disability and the
desired accommodations. Please also contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at
336-334-5440 for further assistance. See more information at http://ods.dept.uncg.edu
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