From left, Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management faculty Nicole Buse and Stephen Shiring watch as, from left, students Tezmionah Jordan, Ousmane Diallo, and Kayla Cardwell use the simulated hotel front desk.
On March 7, 2024, Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees approved naming the university’s hotel front desk simulation lab in honor of the Statler Foundation.
In May 2022, the Statler Foundation donated $125,000 to construct a hotel front desk simulation lab for students in IUP’s Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program. The lab, located in the Eberly College of Business, opened for student use in fall 2023. IUP’s Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management is part of IUP’s Department of Management in the Eberly College of Business.
The donation for the hotel front desk simulation lab is in addition to the Statler Foundation’s selection of four IUP student recipients of the prestigious Statler Foundation’s Scholarship of Excellence; three have received a full $25,000 scholarship, and one has received a partial $12,000 scholarship, to be used for tuition, fees, and books.
The Statler Foundation was created from the estate of hotelier Ellsworth M. Statler following his death in 1928. Its purpose is to support research work and train employees for the benefit of the hotel industry. Statler, a self-made millionaire who worked his way from bellhop to industry legend, founded the largest premier hotel chain of his day. The competitive Statler Scholarship of Excellence was established in 1997 and is awarded to students who demonstrate a high degree of academic performance and aptitude studying the hotel management field.
IUP is one of the few colleges and universities in Pennsylvania to offer a hotel front desk simulation lab.
“The Statler Foundation’s ongoing generosity is a game changer for our students and for our Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program,” IUP Interim Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer Dunsmore said. “We are very grateful to the Statler Foundation for their support and very proud to partner with them to prepare leaders for the hospitality industry,” she said.
“The Statler hotel front desk simulation lab provides that extra level of professional preparation for our students,” Stephen Shiring, assistant chair of IUP’s Department of Management and director of the Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program, said. “Learning how to interact with customers is an integral part of a hospitality career,” Shiring said.
The Statler hotel front desk simulation lab provides an opportunity for students to experience a real check-in and check-out process at a desk that is custom built for practicing customer service operations, including customer service issues.
Tracing their history at IUP back to 1916, the IUP Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program has been providing an exceptional education to its students who are interested in pursuing a career in this field, offering specialized knowledge and skills for managing the businesses within the hospitality industry.
The premier program consistently enrolls more than 100 majors annually, making it one of the largest undergraduate hospitality programs of study in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the largest program in the PASSHE System. In addition to studies in the classroom, students operate the Allenwood Restaurant and serve guests in the Isabella Wilkinson Green dining room. Students in the program are required to complete two industry-specific internships.
IUP’s Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program is ranked ninth in the nation by Study.Com.