Review Report
Shannon College of Hotel Management
28/04/2015
Reviewers
Jan Willem van Brouwershaven, Hotelschool The Hague (Chair);
Joan O’Shaughnessy, Arramark;
Dr Edward Herring, Dean of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies;
Barry Walsh, the People Development Company Ltd. (Coordinator).
Key Strengths
1. Brand – Strong sense of brand identity from staff and students.
2. Ethos – ‘Shannon Family’ – the commitment & dedication to expertise in one area (hotel
management).
3. Staff – all staff are a singular team and take great pride in their work.
4. Achievement of 100% employment record of graduates.
5. Provides a strong level of personal support to students.
6. Size, scale and personal reputation.
7. Incredible record in fund-raising.
8. Internationalisation (including partnership with Seychelles Tourism Academy).
9. Incredible achievement in building Shannon College of Hotel Management’s reputation.
Key Recommendations
1. Placement
To enhance the highly successful placement processes already in place, we suggest that the college
work to reduce any student anxiety that surrounds placement. Specifically, we suggest that the
following be considered:
a) Hold an advisory session for parents in Semester 2 of first year to explain the importance of
placement in the student’s personal and professional development. Explain the kinds of lowlevel difficulties that can occur and the value that exists in the students overcoming these
challenges.
b) Formalise contact between students on current placements and those due to be placed in
the same countries/hotels. Encourage second-year students to write blogs or wikis that can
be a resource for the first-year students.
c) Prepare short handbooks for students, along the lines of “Being Placed in Belgium”, “Being
Placed in Thailand”, etc., covering practical information about living in the country, cultural
expectations, useful contacts (such as the phone number and address of the Irish embassy),
etc.
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d) More frequent, perhaps weekly, emails to the students during the first few weeks as they
settle into their new role and home, simply to check-in with them and to make them feel
supported.
e) More progress/pastoral visits, perhaps twice a year rather than the current once. Involve
more staff in this process, including those teaching languages and professional skills.
f) Continue to work with partner hotels to ensure a variety of experiences for those placed,
wherever possible.
Additional resources will be required to implement these changes in the Placement Office. The
college should also consider providing additional training for staff in dealing with students with
emotional/psychological problems, which manifest themselves while the student is on placement.
Finally, the college should consider allowing some flexibility around the early June deadline for final
year placement, where there are good reasons, for example, visa issues, unsuitability of the timing
for the receiving hotel, extreme personal circumstances (such as loss of a close family member). In
order to avoid students having their graduation delayed for a year, a later graduation date with an
“overspill” conferring at the next scheduled ceremony at the University could be considered to
address this issue.
2. Admissions
In order to further enhance the admissions process, the college could consider the use of
psychometric or task-based testing to supplement the interview process. A lot of information is
available. However, a more systemised approach would improve the connectivity of this information.
Recommendation: Make one overview of the chain from intake (number of prospects, conversion
rate, % of internationals, etc.), throughput (retention, etc.) and output (where do students start and
continue their career, etc.).
3. Strategic Plan
On incorporation into NUI Galway, Shannon College should work with the university to develop a
strategic plan for the next 5 years, addressing:
a) Capital resources
b) Physical resources
c) Human resources and staff development
d) Research capacity and its development and performance metrics
e) Development of Executive Education
f)
Development of Level 9 Education (Masters’ programmes and/or streams)
g) Contribution to Level 10 Education (doctoral education)
We believe it is critically important for the college leadership team to have a clear vision and focus on
strategic objectives aligned with the NUIG strategy for the college. To support this, a dashboard with
a limited number of core KPIs should be established to reflect the strategic and operational
objectives. This information should also be shared with all staff as a communication and performance
management tool.
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4. Integration
Gaps have been identified in the proposed merger of Shannon College to NUI Galway, due to be
completed in the coming months. There is some unease and insecurity among many of the staff
regarding their future employment and their apparent lack of understanding as to what is ahead of
them. It is important to understand that without careful planning, management and communication
of the integration process, a great deal of unnecessary stress can occur and can lead to an increased
workload in the future. We recommend the following:
a) Internal Communication: to ensure internal meetings are effective:
i) All key stakeholders should agree to a date and time for a weekly meeting – suggestion
9am Monday morning. These meetings should not take place after 2pm on any given day.
ii) These meetings should be part of a formal communication update to ensure that all staff
see and understand the merger process. This will be an opportunity for the staff to formally
raise their concerns and see progress being made regarding those concerns on a weekly
basis. This will assist in ensuring that the team continues to work well together.
b) External Communication:
i) Both PR and general external communications should be a priority at this time. The college
website should announce the good news, in conjunction with other social media channels
where deemed appropriate. This is a terrific opportunity to gain additional publicity
nationally and internationally. There is now a strong and influential story to tell.
ii) The brand protection and promotion along with the general communication should be
given immediate attention. Some additional resources may need to be provided during this
period to ensure that Shannon College controls its ‘Brand’ and messages going forward.
c) Decision-Making Process and Reporting:
The management processes in NUI Galway will differ considerably from existing practices. It
is important that NUI Galway agree to provide training and information on all areas of
decision-making and reporting processes.
d) IT Systems:
Definitive timelines should be adhered to in order to meet commitments - for example, the
college requires additional space and a new IT system , both of which have been promised
for some time now. The library also currently has a low level of stock. These commitments
have not been met and therefore impact directly on the student body.
e) 100 Days
A ‘First 100 Days plan’ is essential; efforts should be made to construct this plan now. It
should commence on completion of the merger. This should have a critical path that,
following integration, would be reviewed weekly under the headings included in this report.
In conclusion:
Flexibility will be required from the whole team during the merger process. Throughout integration,
teams need to be open to change as experience indicates that moving into a larger organisation will
bring new challenges.
Shannon College is an ‘eco-system’ which has grown and developed over the last 64 years. The mix of
students of different nationalities, the ethos, the commitment of staff (both faculty and
administration), the personal attention, the international placements, the combination of theory and
practical education and the small classes make Shannon College special. Although it is an academic
programme, a recommendation for NUI Galway is to take into consideration that small changes in a
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Hotel Management School which might seem logical in the Academic environment might have an
adverse impact on the ‘eco-system’.
The Shannon College of Hotel Management adheres to its ethos; the challenge will be to ensure that
it is lived and protected in the coming years.
5. Internal Quality Assurance, Design and Approval of Programmes
a) Quality Assurance:
The content offered to the students in the modules of the three programmes is up-to-date
and is compliant with the international hotel industry’s requirements.
In May 2013 the final version of the reviewed and updated programme ‘Bachelor of Business
Studies in International Hotel Management’ was published. This programme was offered for the
first time in the Academic Year 2014-2015. One of the revisions was the introduction of electives
in Year 4 (Third Academic Year Core & Electives Modules). The introduction of electives is
currently evaluated according to the quality assurance procedures in place.
Recommendation: Work out a roadmap in advance in which the different Quality Assurance
steps are clearly described.
- Which stakeholders (students, faculty, industry and parents) will be consulted, when and in
which way (e.g. evaluations, focus groups, observations)
- Record the underlying documents and findings.
- Substantiate why, if any, adaptations are made.
- The final step is to clearly communicate to the stakeholders when changes are made.
b) Student Research:
One point which needs attention is the ‘research’ level of the students.
In the first year, students follow the module ‘Quantitative Methods’ and in the third year
‘Research Methods’. In the Research Methods module the students design a research
proposal but do not actually apply it.
The Shannon team pointed out that applied research is structurally embedded in the modules
and takes place in several final-year modules such as Marketing Management, Strategic
Management and International Human Resource Management.
This academic year no students chose the ‘final year research project’ elective. A question to be
answered is whether the intended learning outcome 4 ‘Well-developed critical, analytical and
conceptual skills’ is being attained by all students. With rapid changes occurring in the current
business environment, the above competency is becoming increasingly important for a future
manager to possess and apply.
In the National Dutch qualifications’ profile Bachelor of Business Administration Hotel
Management 2012 – 2016, the following is described, which can be used as a guideline. All
European bachelor courses need to be able to justify/account for how they meet the so-called
Dublin descriptors. With regards to ‘research’ the following is included: ‘applying knowledge and
understanding’ and ‘making judgments’.
Recommendation: Increase the application of research in both the BBS and BComm in
International Hotel Management, which is aligned with the ambition of Shannon College to
improve the research capability and visibility of faculty members. It will also further strengthen
the basis for a L9 programme in the future.
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c) Student Centered Learning:
Recommendation: Give more responsibilities to students.
Let third- and/or fourth-year students lead first-year students and/or assist faculty with dayto-day activities. This will contribute to the learning experience of the students, prevent ‘the
motivation dip’ after the year 2 placement, and at the same time, free-up faculty resources.
6. Executive Education
As the feedback received on the Gloria Hotel Group China programme was positive, it was deemed to
have been a successful endeavour (awaiting formal evaluation).
We recommend the college thoroughly explores the development of a focused programme on hotel
management & leadership. We suggest targeting the international market with an initial focus on
China. We believe that the Shannon College alumni network and the hotels provided with students
for placements and graduates would be an ideal target/referral market. We see the ideal offering in
the form of short courses (like that held with Gloria Hotel Group) coupled with a heritage and
industry tour of Ireland’s finest hotel resorts and destinations (possibly focused on the western
seaboard). We suggest research be undertaken into the market for a high-quality offering with an
appropriate price point.
The offering should include:
- an excellent understanding of the clients’ needs
- a world class educational experience
-
the ‘Shannon Family’ hospitality
-
a highly professional programme/tour manager
7. Research
We believe research should be a strategic pillar for the future of the college. We observed quite a lot
already achieved in this area, such as three members of staff forming a team who have undertaken
two workshops exploring research opportunities. We applaud this and other projects underway.
Recommendation:
Shannon College’s research needs a coherent plan stating the ambition, focus, funding, resources and
strategic objectives.
To coordinate the college’s team and projects will require dedicated resources. This should ultimately
be a full-time post. To justify this, the college may need to be creative and fund this with profit made
through the executive education courses, shared time from a programme manager of a commercial
project such as research on the `Wild Atlantic Way’ sponsored by Failte Ireland, or a sponsored PhD
graduate from NUIG.
There needs to be clarity around the focus of the college’s research area, be it ‘Hotel Management’
or ‘Hotel & Hospitality’. The former would seem to be the obvious choice considering Shannon
College’s area of expertise. Cornell University was cited as a benchmark, so close examination should
be carried out on their approach and structure, including funding & resources, and branding/PR.
Finally, in line with the reference to ‘student research’ above, we would encourage involvement by
students where possible. There are perfect opportunities for applied research involving students.
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Other Recommendations
1.
Organisational Challenges
We observed a number of organisational challenges, which should be considered in future strategic
and resource planning. These were:
a) Some staff stretched – there is a limit to this which, if exceeded, will damage staff
satisfaction and possibly retention. Also it may damage the high quality of the college’s
offering.
b) Outgrown Physical resources – consider land purchase/lease beside existing premises (highly
recommended) or relocation to another facility.
c) Succession planning – this is extremely important to reduce risk on key personnel particularly
in leadership positions. This would also help to retain the excellent management-level staff in
the college by giving them a progressive career path with leadership potential.
d) CPD for staff & management – as part of this, visits to placement hotels by staff should be
considered as mentioned above in 1(e).
Comments on Review Process
•
•
The review schedule time frame was rather tight. Some of the time slots scheduled were difficult
to keep to because of the numbers of people involved in some of the interview meetings, for
example, past students, teaching faculty and Kitchen/facility tours. More contingency in the
schedule would be better; if not required this could always be used for review team
reflection/report writing.
It would help to provide college documentation online if at all possible. This could then be read
in advance of the review visit.
Note:
The review team would like to thank the management, staff and students of SCHM for their
exceptional hospitality during the review visit, not to mention the amazing food!
The team were blown away with what has been created at the college. The Quality Review process
was exemplary and we applaud all that has been achieved. We wish the college every success in its
future endeavours.
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Action Plan
Shannon College of Hotel Management
Action Plan Meeting held on 4th June 2015 in Shannon College of Hotel Management
Present
From the Unit: Kate O'Connell, Adrian Sylver, Dr Sean T Ruane, Dr Clément Desbos, Deborah
O’Hanlon, Mary Brennan, Ailish Larkin and Director of College, Phillip Smyth
From the Review Team: Dr Edward Herring (via Skype)
From University Management: Dr David O’Sullivan and Professor Kieran Conboy
This Action Plan has been agreed by Reviewers, Shannon College, and University Management in
response to the Review Report for the above named review. Further details on some actions are
available in the Review Report. This Action Plan and the Review Report are available on the
University’s public website.
Actions for the School and University Management
1. Placement Process
• To enhance the highly successful placement processes already in place, Shannon College
will work to further reduce any student anxiety that surrounds placement.
[Responsible: Deborah O’Hanlon, Placement Manager; Due: 01/05/2016]
•
Shannon College will also consider providing additional training for staff in dealing with
students with emotional/psychological problems, which manifest themselves while the
student is on placement.
[Responsible: Deborah O’Hanlon, Placement Manager; Due: 01/05/2016]
•
More progress/pastoral visits (perhaps two a year rather than the current one). Involve
more staff in this process, including those teaching languages and professional skills.
[Responsible: Deborah O’Hanlon, Placement Manager; Due: 01/05/2016]
•
Additional resources will be required to implement these changes in the Placement
Office, which is provided for in the integration plan at no extra cost.
[Responsible: Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: 01/05/2016]
2. Shannon College will clearly outline the programme lifecycle – from intake (number of
prospects, conversion rate, percentage of internationals, etc.), throughput (retention, etc.)
and output (where do students start and continue their career, etc.).
[Responsible: Kate O'Connell, Registrar; Due: 01/05/2017]
3. Shannon College, together with the University, will develop a 5-year Strategic Plan.
[Responsible: Dean/Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: 01/05/2016]
4. Shannon College will ensure an effective and flexible integration process with NUI Galway
and make every effort to ensure that there is clear communication with all staff as to the
merger’s process. A ‘First 100 Days Plan’ will be drawn up. It will commence on the date of
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confirmation of the merger.
[Responsible: Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: 01/09/2015]
5. In light of the integration with NUI Galway, the University will agree to provide training and
information in all areas of decision-making and reporting processes to enable the college to
make informed decisions.
[Responsible: Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: initially by 31/08/2015 and completed by
01/05/2016]
6. Shannon College will work in co-operation with the University to establish definitive timelines
for the installation of IT systems and other areas that impact staff and students directly.
[Responsible: Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: 01/09/2015]
7. Shannon College has outgrown its physical resources – consider long-term lease beside the
existing premises (highly recommended). In the short term, additional office and classroom
accommodation will need to be rented.
[Responsible: Registrar and Deputy President/EDO/Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due:
01/05/2016]
8. Shannon College will illustrate a ‘roadmap’ in diagrammatic form, where various internal
quality assurance steps in relation to the design and approval of programmes are agreed and
described.
[Responsible: Kate O'Connell, Registrar; Due: 01/05/2016]
9. Shannon College will further embed the application of student research across all modules in
both the BBS and BComm in International Hotel Management, which will be aligned with the
ambition of the college to improve the research capability of faculty members.
[Responsible: Kate O'Connell, Registrar; Due: 01/05/2016]
10. Shannon College will initially work with the Course Director of the MBA at NUI Galway to
develop a Level 9 stream of International Hotel Management for the MBA. In the medium
term, the college will develop a full Master’s Programme in Hotel Management to be
delivered at the college.
[Responsible: Kate O'Connell, Registrar; Due: 01/09/2016, & 2017]
11. Shannon College will explore empowering the third and fourth-year students to work and
train first-year students and to assist with faculty activities, thereby contributing to studentcentred learning.
[Responsible: Kate O'Connell, Registrar; Due: 01/09/2017]
12. Shannon College will explore the development of an Executive Education programme
focussed on hotel management and leadership, targeting the international market.
[Responsible: Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: 01/05/2016]
13. Shannon College believes that research will be a strategic pillar for its future. A coherent
research plan will be developed. A dedicated resource will be required to coordinate the
team and projects.
[Responsible: Kate O'Connell, Registrar; Due: 01/05/2016]
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14. A number of organisational challenges will be considered by the college in future strategic
and resource planning in terms of: staff workloads, succession planning, CPD for staff and
management.
[Responsible: Phillip Smyth, Director of College; Due: 01/05/2016]
Approved by:
Director of College, Mr Phillip Smyth, 11 June 2015
Dean, Professor Kieran Conboy, 12 June 2015
Registrar and Deputy President, Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh
Director of Quality, Professor David O’Sullivan
Date: 3 July 2015
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