Dr Fanny Vong
The Institute for Tourism Studies’ newly acquired East Asia Hall located on the former campus of the University of Macau could mark the start of a higher student intake in the near future, announced the school’s president Fanny Vong on the sidelines of its welcoming ceremony for its 374 freshmen.
With the expansive 22-floor dormitory complex in hand, Vong disclosed that at least nine stories had been dedicated to residential purposes, offering roughly 300 or 400 places to her students. The rest of the hall’s space would be converted into offices, classrooms and activity centres.
The school’s rector expressed her belief that the dorms would eventually be able to meet the demands of local and overseas students. More importantly, the new acquisition, currently under preliminary renovation, would contain more equipment and facilities that are necessary for expanding the institute’s teaching personnel and student base. Currently there are around 1,600 undergraduate students.
“I believe that with more hardware and equipment, we have the conditions to do more,” said the institute’s rector. “Let’s not forget, although there are adjustments to the gaming industry, there are still projects in the Cotai Strip close to completion. These projects need human resources and sustained professional training.”
She stressed that the programs that are available at the school have equipped the students with knowledge and expertise for the global market, instead of just within a domestic context.
“Tourism is an international industry. Whether you call yourself an international industry professional or not, it doesn’t matter. When you’re in this program or have been offered these kind of programs, you’re already competing internationally.”
As Vong revealed, the school’s culinary arts management module, its evening courses and its accredited professional programs were the most popular among their offerings, and she wished to admit more students to those curricula She also said that the number of students admitted to the school has been stable over the past few years and the university has aimed for “quality” instead of “quantity” when it comes to recruiting students. Currently, around 85 percent of the school’s students were locals while the rest was mainland-student dominated.
The complex, handed over to the school authorities at the beginning of this month, added an additional 23,028 square meters to the institute’s total 30,000 square meter campus. Staff reporter
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