Answering the demands of a booming tourism and hospitality industry, the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) Virgin Gorda Centre has announced plans to expand its programme offerings to include both Marine and Maritime Studies and Culinary and Hospitality Studies to the Virgin Gorda community.
Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Arlene Smith-Thompson said, “The offering of short courses in Marine and Hospitality Education at our Virgin Gorda Centre fulfills part of the HLSCC’s strategic goals to make programmes and courses available for a diverse range of constituents. In the near future, we intend to extend these programme offerings to our other sister islands of Jost Van Dyke and Anegada.”
Director of the HLSCC Virgin Gorda Centre, Dr. Steve Lennard said that the collegegauged the interest and demand from the Virgin Gorda community and has seen the need to expand its programme offerings to support the marine and hospitality industry moving forward.
The Director said, “HLSCC recognises that Virgin Gorda is the mecca for hospitality services. Therefore, to accommodate for the community it serves, the HLSCC Virgin Gorda Centre will be expanding its offerings to focus on supporting the community with programmes and trainings that support the industry and its stakeholders. We’re excited about this new endeavour and can’t wait to be able to better serve the people of Virgin Gorda.”
Director of the Marine and Maritime Studies at HLSCC, Ms. Susan Zaluski explained that in addition to offering one of its courses to the community to get a feel for the demand, the department has developed a survey to help them better understand the needs of the Virgin Gorda community for marine and maritime studies.
Director Zaluski said, “From 14-18 November, we were able to offer our Caribbean Boatmaster Grade 2/3 Preparatory course at the Virgin Gorda Centre. This course marked an effort by the Department to strengthen and expand our course offerings, including delivery to our sister island community of Virgin Gorda.”
Marine and Maritime Studies Lecturer, Jen Kneale added, “We will be hosting another Caribbean Boatmaster 2/3 Preparatory course for 9-13 January at the Virgin Gorda Centre.
Students can register and pay the course fee of $500 at the Virgin Gorda Centre.”
In addition to the feedback and support received from the Caribbean Boatmaster Preparatory course offerings, the department is also strongly encouraging community members with an interest in Marine and Maritime Studies to complete its interest form using the link:
https://forms.office.com/r/QRxZ6htAb7. The department will use the information to inform planning to help support the delivery of additional courses for the Virgin Gorda Community.
With Virgin Gorda being recognised as a top tourism destination, the College will be expanding its Culinary and Hospitality Studies offerings at the Virgin Gorda Centre to include a Certificate of Achievement in Culinary Arts, Certified Hospitality courses from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), industry-forward short courses and customised culinary and hospitality training and courses based on request.
Lecturer at the Culinary & Hospitality Studies, Chef Henry Prince said, “Virgin Gorda is a popular world destination. We cannot afford not to have a full-scale hospitality and culinary education for the residents of the island.”
Students pursuing a Certificate of Achievement in Culinary Arts will be trained in Food Safety and Sanitation, A.M./P.M. A La Carte, Cultural Dimension of Food, Vegetarian Cooking, Menu Planning and Policy, and Garde Manager.
Certified Hospitality Courses from AHLEI will include certifications for Restaurant Servers, Kitchen Cooks, Guestroom Attendants and Front Office Agents.
Some of the Industry focused short courses will feature Customer Service for the BVI Hospitality Industry, Introduction to Bartending, Recipe Development and Pricing, BVI History and Landmarks for Taxi Drivers and Tour Operators, Cake Baking and Decorating, BVI Butler Training, Introduction to Wines and Spirits and Food and Beverage Supervision.