Rosen alumni council helps hospitality graduates

The Rosen College of Hospitality Management Alumni Chapter is going to great lengths to give its alumni more career opportunities.

The newly created Rosen College Lodging Alumni Council works with 11 general managers and human resource directors from 15 Central Florida properties to strategize on events, career opportunities and internship programs. After this pilot year, RCLAC hopes to open its doors to the rest of the lodging community.

"We want Rosen grads helping Rosen grads, wherever they are in the world," said Lori Shuff Cosmides, one of the council advisers and development officer at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management. "Our alumni are vital in continuing to put the Rosen College of Hospitality Management on the map as the premier hospitality program in the world."

RCLAC held its inaugural event on Aug. 23 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. Cosmides said the event was a success, as more than 100 alumni from local hotels gathered to network.

Because the Rosen College of Hospitality Management is a relatively new hospitality program, its alumni directors are driven to encourage involvement from all alumni, including recent grads and those already well established in the hospitality community.

The concept to form RCLAC was thought of over a cup of coffee between Cosmides and Pat Engfer, general manager at Hyatt Regency. Engfer and Cosmides began to brainstorm about how to get Rosen alumni more active.

"I suggested that if general managers in the greater Orlando area would be supportive, that would encourage the alumni to be involved," Engfer said. "We decided to get together a small group of managers, six or seven of us, to have lunch one day."

And so the council began.

The council discovered just what alumni were looking for post-graduation by receiving feedback. This included giving back to the community through mentoring and related projects, staying socially engaged with peers, educational opportunities in the hospitality community and giving back to the community under the banner of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management Alumni Chapter.

Based on this feedback, the council began to build ideas for networking and career-related events it could host with the help of the general managers. In providing a venue for these meetings and financial help, the affiliated hotels are indispensable to RCLAC.

Currently, work is under way to plan a community service project to give alumni an opportunity to give back.

RCLAC's roster of integrated hotels includes a wide representation of all levels of properties in the Orlando area. Affiliated hotels are: Hyatt Orlando International Airport, Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Loews Hotels, Universal Orlando, Peabody, Hilton Orlando, Rosen Hotels and Resorts, Buena Vista Palace Hotel and Spa, Gaylord Palms, Hilton Waldorf Astoria, Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando World Center Marriott and the Caribe Royale.

The Rosen program is making it easier to get involved with its alumni chapter. Since July 2010, Rosen Hospitality Management Alumni Chapter waived all dues.

"Anyone who graduates from Rosen is considered a part of the Rosen Hospitality Management Alumni Chapter," said Shaloni Prine, coordinator of Outreach and Engagement at the UCF Alumni Association.

For many Rosen graduates these are all welcome changes in the alumni chapter. In supporting alumni and current students alike, the Rosen Hospitality Management Alumni Chapter, in conjunction with RCLAC, is on a fast track to promote success.