Last Saturday I had the opportunity
to tour Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, visiting with administrators, faculty
and students from our new American Culture and Tourism Management Internship
Program.
The program combines academic credit through the College’s
Recreation and Leisure Studies Department with an internship at Busch
Gardens-Williamsburg. Nine
students from China were enrolled in the program this summer and 29 students
are enrolled this fall. We anticipate that 100 students will enroll in this
program annually. Enrolled students have a J-1 visa designation.
Kudos to Director of American Culture and
Tourism Management Program, Dr. Bill Becker, for establishing this program at
Virginia Wesleyan College and Professor of Recreation and Leisure Studies,
Dr. Doug Kennedy, who was very instrumental in bringing this program to VWC.
They have facilitated its success. We are proud to partner with US-China Century Education Group Corp as our
representative and program consultant in China.
Special thanks to Carl Lum, President of Busch
Gardens in Williamsburg, and, John Harris, Vice President, for their time
and commitment to Virginia Wesleyan College during the formative stages of the
program. We appreciate their efforts to make this a rewarding experience for
the students. I also thank them personally for their wonderful hospitality
during my first visit.
Busch Gardens in
Williamsburg opened in 1975. This action packed, European-themed park with 17th
century charm and 21st century technology, boasts more than 300 acres of
unparalleled fun and adventure for the entire family. The park hosts between
2.5 and 3 million visitors per year with 400 full-time and approximately 4,600
part-time employees.
Busch Gardens also operates nearby Water
Country USA (WCUSA), the mid-Atlantic's largest family water play park, which
features the world’s latest, state-of-the-art water rides and attractions,
spectacular entertainment, shopping and restaurants - all set to a colorful 1950's
surf theme. Although affiliated, no Virginia Wesleyan College students
are interning there.
The International Housing Village (IHV) is the
private property of Busch Gardens where students working for BG/WCUSA live
during their program. About 430 students live in the IHV in peak season.
Housing is dormitory style, with four persons sharing a room. Each room has
individual beds, cable television, refrigerator, bathroom and shower, hot
water, heat, air conditioning, free local telephone calls and access to
international calls using phone cards, and hi-speed WiFi. The IHV also has
24-hour security.
In this program, Chinese students will
periodically be on campus interacting with our traditional students, visiting
classes and cultural events in the community. It’s a great opportunity to
expose our students to Chinese culture, and vice versa. Program participants may earn eight credits
through the recreation and leisure studies courses “Travel and Tourism” and
“American Culture and Leisure.” The classes are taught in a VWC classroom at
Busch Gardens by Dr. Becker. Students may earn an additional 12 credits through
their internship at Busch Gardens, which includes roles in retail operations,
dining, customer and ride services. The theme park also provides internship
management seminars on communication, supervision, training and customer
service.
The program isn't all work. While in the
United States, visiting students take two field trips to Washington, DC and
have opportunities to travel to New York City, Las Vegas and Orlando. They also
have 30 days at the end of each internship term to travel around the country.
The current students enrolled in the program will do this in January.
Expanded global opportunities and cultural
exchange are an important aspect of my long term vision for the
College. Our students will have a more meaningful overall learning
experience here with this type of interaction.
I again congratulate
Bill and Doug for this outstanding program. Many other international
opportunities exist as a result of them thinking "outside the box."
