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1. WHAT IS TIES?
TIES is a one-semester practicum programme for first year Tourism Business Management Year 1 students and Heritage Management Year 1 students of the Institute For Tourism Studies. Involvement in this practicum is required by the curriculum and students must pass as a requirement for graduation.  The programme involves a student training partnership between IFT and an industry partner.  The programme comprises of the following elements:
 
A condensed three-week programme: students will work with the industry partner five or six full days (8-hour shift) per week for 3 consecutive weeks which will take place during the summer break (June/July/August). This arrangement will allow the supervisor to assign on-going tasks and medium-term assignments to the students. Students will be able to develop a more mature working relationship with the fellow colleagues.
 
If conditions allowed, students will work in a team and be responsible for a non-critical business project (such as rewriting brochures, updating the contents in the company website, developing a small-scale marketing plan, etc.) during their placement period. Students will be assessed for what solutions they have offered to the industry partner. This arrangement will add value to their services for the industry partner and allow the students to bear more responsibility just like in a real job.
In turn, the industry partner provides functional placements to student-trainees in front-line settings, assigns them tasks and agrees to supervise them for the duration of the programme.  It is a programme with an emphasis on orienting the trainees and introducing them to the industry.
 
2. WHAT DOES TIES SEEK TO ACHIEVE?
  TIES aims to:
 
Initiate and expose both Tourism Business Management freshmen students and Heritage Management freshmen students to the workings and realities of professional life in the different aspects of the tourism industry
Help new students gain confidence and social skills in interacting with tourists, guests, and customers in a front-line setting
Immerse students into the demands and skill-requirements of success in the tourism industry and help them gain an appreciation for it. And, most importantly,
Generate and sustain the interest of first-year students in pursuing a career in the tourism industry and challenge them to make creative and lasting contributions to its development.
 
3. WHY SHOULD MY ORGANIZATION SUPPORT TIES?
 
Because your organization could use extra manpower for servicing guests, visitors, and customers.
Because through TIES. your organization can build a trained pool of potential human resource candidates for future employment in your company, already trained and accustomed to the specific culture and nature of your operations.
Because your organization would like to play its part in the strategic task of training and educating the future human resource of the tourism industry in its never-ending quest of enhancing service quality and achieving world-class standards of performance.
 
4. WHAT ARE THE DETAILS OF THE PROGRAMME?
 
The practicum period for each group of students lasts over a period of one semester. Since there will be two groups of students, the industry partner can choose to participate in either or both semesters of the academic year.
The duration of the programme is 3 full weeks per semester. The practicum programme usually commences in November in the first semester and in May in the second semester.
Student trainees are seconded and must report to the industry partner for 3 consecutive work weeks following the full-time schedule of the industry partner.
Trainees do not receive any allowance nor pay from the industry partner. from the industry partner.
 
5. HOW DIFFERENT IS TIES FROM IFT'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME?
IFT's internship programme requires students to be with the industry partner full-time for an extended period (usually minimum of 400 hours). TIES., however, is a part-time programme with an emphasis on orienting the trainees and introducing them to the industry.
 
6. AREN'T FRESHMEN TRAINEES TOO "GREEN" TO BE INVOLVED IN FRONTLINE TRAINING?
At IFT, we believe that it is a critical juncture in the education of freshmen students to get a quick hands-on experience in the industry they are committing themselves to studying for the next four years. This way, they harbor no illusions as to the nature of the industry and the demands required of them and, thus, they are better prepared socially, physically, and psychologically to thrive in it in the future. At IFT, we also believe that the first year of college students' life is the best time to instill in them the discipline and habits of hard work, build character, and the best chance to mould them into future professionals.
 
7. WHY SHOULD I TAKE IN TRAINEES UNDER TIES. INSTEAD OF JUST HIRING PART-TIME OR CASUAL WORKERS?
The difference is in commitment. In a TIES trainee, one finds a young person who has recently commited him/herself to a lifetime career in a dynamic industry. Embedded in this decision is the implicit willingness and determination to work and do so with enthusiasm and spirit. We believe these attributes to be lacking in casual and temp workers.
 
8. IN WHAT FUNCTIONS OR TASKS CAN MY ORGANIZATION ASSIGN TIES TRAINEES?
Trainees can be assigned to perform any task or function so long as they adhere to the objectives of the programme (see Point 2). Trainees can be assigned to assist in tasks such as tour-guiding, concierge, guest- or customer-relations, information counters, publicity, promotion, planning and organizing committees, cultural ambassadors, to name but a few. It is also advisable that teams of trainees be rotated across different functions and roles in the industry partner's organization.
 
9. SIGNING ON TO TIES
Currently, around 13 different organizations have offered more than 60 placements in this semester (please see the "Acknowledgement"). If you are interested in involving your organization into this worthwhile endeavor, please contact the TIES coordinator, Ms. Connie Loi, (Tel: 85983-122 or E-mail: connie@ift.edu.mo) or Ms. Frances Kong (Tel: 85983-082 or E-mail: frances@ift.edu.mo). To become an Industry Partner, your organization must agree to and sign on the programme conditions described herein as well as the "Guidelines" provided in this website. You must also indicate the number of trainees your organization is prepared to take in and any other conditions you require.

 



Last modified on: 2007-12-31
 
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