LAST WORD

From left: UNH student Scott Singer, UNH professor Raymond Goodman, Executive Chef Ralph Coughenour and UNH student Hadley Hammer. Photo:  Michael McCord

It was a tough story to tell and so I reluctantly assigned myself the challenge. Of course, being totally pampered with food (a sevencourse meal) and drink (seven or eight wines; I lost count) for three hours was necessary on-the-ground research about the hospitality management program at the University of New Hampshire.

While it’s no secret within the hospitality industry, some people might be surprised to learn that the program is one of the best in the country. There are more than 1,600 alumni working in the field and many hold executive positions in a wide range of hospitality related industries.

One of the more prominent alumni locally is Thomas Varley, a 1980 graduate who is vice president of Ocean Properties in Portsmouth. They are the folks who successfully resurrected Wentworth by the Sea.

"We consider ourselves the Porsche of hotel programs," said Professor Udo Schlentrich, who has managed hotels in London, New York and Europe. "What we do is prepare students for an executive level position," said Professor Raymond Goodman Jr., chairman of the department who is also an expert in the growing field of senior living.

It’s a competitive program that draws students such as Hadley Hammer who hails from Casper, Wyo.

Goodman told me that while the program only graduates as many as 40 students a year, they have had a disproportionate share of high-level executives in the industry.

My thorough research culminated, happily I might add, in a gourmet dinner put on by around 50 students as part of a rigorous class that dominates their lives for most of a semester.

As Hammer, who had the role of general manager, told me, the students are given a budget, perform a myriad of assignments in the kitchen and dining room.

More importantly, Goodman said while we savored an exquisite slice of Mediterranean sea bass, they are expected to do it perfectly. Not well. Not pretty good. Perfectly. And also with a more than a dash of flair. "Our business is theater," Schlentrich said, while sharing a lesson in wine appreciation. "To do it well we must have passion."

Call if perfected flair if you like, but business is what the program is all about.

As Goodman explained, being part of the UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics gives these students a tremendous advantage. They are given the opportunity to think, act and become managers and creators.

The gourmet dinner becomes a laboratory of expectation and execution and, like any business, there are hundreds of details to consider – such as choreographed serving, aesthetic food presentation, palette pleasing preparation and, yes, even putting out the correct napkins and tablecloths.

Given the complex nature of these gourmet events, it is also an entry into what Goodman calls the "real world" of work.

Shelly Kunces, a senior from Gardiner, Maine, who was the marketing manager for this event, told me that one of the major hurdles she and her fellow students had to overcome was learning how to "manage your peers."

They also learn tough lessons about managing peers under pressure and stress. Goodman estimates that students put between 400 and 600 hours of work into this class – while they maintain a normal course load – and are constantly on the cell phone or e-mailing each other about this or that detail. It’s worth adding that the tough but constructive post-dinner critique by those who enjoyed the meals, including fellow students, was not for the faint of heart.

There’s no doubt it’s a grind that not all appreciate, Goodman explained, but the payoff after graduation can be worth it – the program has a 100 percent job placement rate and most are slotted for future advancement.

It wasn’t quite enough to get me to change careers but, I wouldn’t mind another glass of champagne. And perhaps another serving of chocolate espresso pots de creme.

(In interest of full disclosure, more than 15 years ago I worked at the Whittemore School of Business & Economics and personally know Raymond Goodman. I consider my biases, such as they are, to be well informed.)