Sports Nightly interview

Ronnie Green Author

05/03/2018 Added

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Ronnie Green and guest Shannon Rowen discuss unique opportunities at Nebraska for students to gain real-world experience, specifically to work on the hospitality side of The Masters professional golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

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[00:00:00.000](fast electronic music)
[00:00:02.220]Welcome back sports family,
[00:00:03.053]here on the Huskers sports network
[00:00:04.310]and delighted to be joined in studio tonight
[00:00:06.340]by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green,
[00:00:08.820]who has a special guest Shannon Rowen who is a professor
[00:00:11.820]in the Hospitality, Restaurant, and Tourism program
[00:00:14.590]here at the university.
[00:00:15.500]And Chancellor, a bunch of Husker students just got back
[00:00:19.810]from a wonderful opportunity, a trip down
[00:00:21.735]to Augusta, Georgia to work the Masters and that's been
[00:00:26.440]something that's been going on here at the university
[00:00:28.010]for quite a while.
[00:00:29.130]We've got a former Husker Alum Kevin Kugler
[00:00:31.650]who I know really well who does the radio work
[00:00:34.190]for Westwood One for the Masters, but what a great way
[00:00:36.550]for some Huskers to go out and make an impact
[00:00:38.270]at a wonderful event.
[00:00:40.119]It sure is, Greg.
[00:00:41.490]You know one of things we really pride ourselves here
[00:00:44.100]at the university and our educational mission
[00:00:46.850]with our students is giving them an opportunity
[00:00:49.270]to really learn in the field and having those kind
[00:00:52.490]of experiential, gain experience type of opportunities
[00:01:00.200]for them.
[00:01:01.033]So in this particular case, our HRTM program,
[00:01:05.628]the Hospitality program, and our College of Education
[00:01:08.300]of Human Sciences, and the College of Ag Sciences
[00:01:10.510]and Natural Resources has for a number
[00:01:13.000]of years now been working with the Masters Tournament
[00:01:16.050]for some of our students to get the opportunity to be there
[00:01:19.390]during that venue and get very valuable experience
[00:01:23.380]in managing a big event like that and working
[00:01:26.110]on the hospitality side, right, around that.
[00:01:29.740]So, I love the idea that these students
[00:01:32.670]from little, small towns across Nebraska,
[00:01:35.450]as well as from outside the state and from Lincoln and Omaha
[00:01:38.640]and our metro areas, get a chance to do
[00:01:40.300]that on a very big stage.
[00:01:42.570]So really pleased that Shannon Rowen could be here today
[00:01:45.970]from the program, as professor in the program,
[00:01:49.060]and she's gonna tell us about the great experience
[00:01:51.310]they just had.
[00:01:52.143]Shannon, it is great to have you here with us.
[00:01:53.850]Tell us how'd this come about?
[00:01:56.530]Crazy, crazy experience.
[00:01:58.030]I know one of my students actually said to me one day,
[00:02:01.400]talking to me about it, about the opportunity and knowing
[00:02:04.250]that others do this and so, what I did was I contacted them,
[00:02:08.430]and we're one of 10 schools only in the country
[00:02:10.650]that do this, started out planning in 2015
[00:02:14.680]and then 2016 was the first year I took eight students.
[00:02:18.100]Next year, 15 students, this year 24 and happy to say
[00:02:21.300]that Augusta is thrilled with our Nebraska kids,
[00:02:23.550]gonna be recruiting Hospitality students in our major
[00:02:26.890]this fall that are coming to campus,
[00:02:28.190]which is really exciting this fall for us.
[00:02:30.490]So, yeah, it's been great.
[00:02:32.000]Just an amazing opportunity for them.
[00:02:34.050]We're in the middle of Husker baseball season
[00:02:36.120]and Husker pitcher Luis Alvarado is in your department,
[00:02:39.140]Hospitality, Restaurant, Tourism, Management.
[00:02:41.290]What kinds of students major in this program?
[00:02:43.960]We have six emphasis areas.
[00:02:45.450]Luis Alvaredo is one of the athletes that we have.
[00:02:47.870]We also have Kristen Dowell who's track and field,
[00:02:50.190]and then we have Brenon Sommers who's a gymnast.
[00:02:53.200]Two cheerleaders actually, and about 245 other students
[00:02:56.695]that focus on areas of private club management, tourism,
[00:03:01.390]food and beverage management, lodging,
[00:03:03.900]event management, and event planning.
[00:03:07.460]Yeah, thank you.
[00:03:08.690]Fantastic, what other kinds of opportunities have these
[00:03:11.570]Nebraska students had to connect within the industry
[00:03:14.880]or put to work that they're learning in the classroom?
[00:03:17.720]What other opportunities are out there?
[00:03:20.151]When they go to Augusta, they work in a variety of roles.
[00:03:22.360]We've had students work as servers, greeters, receiving
[00:03:24.850]and issuing staff, and valets.
[00:03:26.930]When we're there at Augusta, I also work
[00:03:28.690]in their front office, so it's a time for the professor
[00:03:30.820]to actually get back in practice and make sure I keep
[00:03:34.410]my skills fresh.
[00:03:35.580]It also allows us to make additional relationships
[00:03:38.810]for the program and grow that piece of it,
[00:03:41.890]but students tell me when they come back from the Masters,
[00:03:44.883]you know, there's different things about it,
[00:03:46.690]that it's a resume, it's an eye-catcher to people,
[00:03:49.750]and it's allowed many opportunities for students
[00:03:53.150]to get their foot in the door for interviews,
[00:03:55.400]and ultimately help students land a job.
[00:03:58.656]Is the Masters the only event
[00:04:00.470]that your department staffs with students for?
[00:04:03.490]No actually, we also go to the Cannes Film Festival
[00:04:06.780]in Cannes, France Wow.
[00:04:07.890]in May.
[00:04:08.723]Yes, which is also an incredible international event,
[00:04:11.850]but there's nothing like the Masters.
[00:04:13.730]I mean this is a $150 million event.
[00:04:15.700]Actually, no one could even say for sure how much this is
[00:04:18.690]because all of that information is very confidential,
[00:04:22.160]but it's an international draw and from what I understand
[00:04:25.810]and my personal experience, there's nothing like it
[00:04:27.970]within the United States, and nothing certainly
[00:04:29.600]that can be replicated within the state of Nebraska.
[00:04:31.760]So, it's a lifelong opportunity for many of them,
[00:04:35.800]and when we come back from the Masters they always say,
[00:04:38.180]we prepare them very well for this, though.
[00:04:39.940]We talk to them about it's gonna be hard work,
[00:04:42.240]you're gonna start your day at 5:00.
[00:04:44.280]I mean it's 4:00 wake up calls, basically, and you're there
[00:04:47.750]'til eight, sometimes 10 at night.
[00:04:50.080]Me along with them, too, so they're gonna have tired feet
[00:04:53.650]and tired bodies, but they all seem
[00:04:55.390]to be champions through the whole thing.
[00:04:57.810]Some of them work in the library, in the clubhouse
[00:05:00.490]at Augusta, they've served the Champions dinner,
[00:05:02.910]they've done amazing things.
[00:05:04.460]Can't talk about 'em, but they've done amazing things,
[00:05:07.190]and it's unbelievable opportunity.
[00:05:10.170]Unbelievable.
[00:05:11.003]Shannon, so great to have you here with us and to share
[00:05:13.150]some of these things with us and Chancellor, it's just
[00:05:15.460]another example of some of the things
[00:05:16.810]that the university allows their students
[00:05:19.210]to get involved in.
[00:05:20.140]We hear a lot about internships, well this is
[00:05:21.880]like an internship in about a 10 day period for these folks.
[00:05:24.670]It is, it's a internship on steroids, I guess, is a way
[00:05:27.690]you might think about it.
[00:05:30.592]But like I said before, one of the things
[00:05:31.790]that we're really proud of in meeting our mission
[00:05:34.430]at the university is how well we prepare our students
[00:05:37.440]to be successful in life.
[00:05:38.950]You know we talk about that with our athletes a lot,
[00:05:41.330]about the skills that they're able to develop outside
[00:05:43.970]of athletics, it being a student-athlete here.
[00:05:46.574]And this is a program that's a really good example of doing
[00:05:49.870]that in a way that is going to fit right
[00:05:52.370]into their career path and where they want to go
[00:05:55.130]and to give them that kind of
[00:05:56.710]up close and personal perspective.
[00:05:59.650]So great opportunity for these students.
[00:06:02.000]I know they had a great time at Augusta and I look forward
[00:06:05.160]to Shannon next year--
[00:06:06.500]Yes, sir.
[00:06:07.333]taking a group back.
[00:06:08.166]Absolutely, Shannon, great to have you
[00:06:09.380]with us here tonight.
[00:06:10.213]Thank you for sharing.
[00:06:11.046]This is something I don't know that a lot
[00:06:12.120]of Nebraskans know about so thank you for doing this.
[00:06:13.868]Thank you very much.

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