THE School of Tourism & Hospitality Management was awarded Associate membership of the International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE) in 2010.
The Pre-accreditation application process had been an arduous yet educational experience! As part of the accreditation process, a site audit was undertaken in early September 2010 by Associate Professor Stephen Craig-Smith, Inaugural Chair of the Assessment Panel and Head of the School of Tourism at University of Queensland as part of the accreditation process.
Associate Professor Stephen Craig-Smith met with staff, students, alumni and industry partners to verify the quality of the Tourism and Hospitality program at USP.
The USP and School were benchmarked against THE –ICE’s Standard of Excellence which contained thirteen major areas that the School and university had to adhere to.
The International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE) is a not-for-profit organisation that accredits programmes internationally. THE-ICE supports its member institutions through a range of education development initiatives, and seeks to provide relevant information to potential students about their study options.
For prospective students, THE-ICE profiles more than 100 quality-endorsed courses in tourism, hotel management, events, sports tourism and marketing, and provides scholarships and travel grants to facilitate study abroad.
For international institutions, governments, tourism organisations and industry, THE-ICE provides a collaborative network of like-minded people who value excellence in tourism and hospitality education.
THE-ICE was initially established as a business unit of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), the world's leading scientific institution for research to support the sustainability of travel and tourism. At the end of the Australia seed-funding period in 2008, THE-ICE became a stand alone not-for-profit organisation. THE-ICE is governed by its Board of Directors who are drawn its Foundation Members. The current Chair of the Board is Professor Brian King, PhD (Victoria University), and the Managing Director is Associate Professor J.S. Perry Hobson, PhD (Southern Cross University).
For more details about THE-ICE, please visit their website for more details: http://www.the-ice.org
THE-ICE Auditor Stephen Craig Smith with USP Alumni on his site inspection from
September 6-9, 2010
