{"id":209160,"date":"2025-01-14T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=209160"},"modified":"2025-01-13T18:51:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T04:51:42","slug":"kapiolani-cc-housekeeping-operations-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/14\/kapiolani-cc-housekeeping-operations-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Real-world hotel insights for Kapi\u02bbolani CC<\/abbr> hospitality students"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
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Sellers, middle, with Wayfinder Waikīkī Executive Housekeeper Noah Kepilino, left, and Front Office Manager Wade Takano, a Kapiʻolani<\/span> CC<\/abbr> HOST graduate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With an eye towards improving curriculum for her students, Kapiʻolani<\/span> Community College Hospitality and Tourism<\/a> Associate Professor Kawehi Sellers got up close and personal with more than 15 hotels across Hawaiʻi<\/span>, California, Nevada and Japan, where she conducted in-depth inspections of public areas and guest rooms.<\/p>\n

Sellers\u2019 mission, over a six-month sabbatical in 2024, was to enhance the HOST 150 – Housekeeping Operations course. She researched the current state of the hotel industry\u2019s housekeeping operations, including best practices, trends, human resource challenges, and sustainability initiatives, to provide students with cutting-edge, practical knowledge.<\/p>\n

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Sellers in front of the historic Royal Hawaiian Hotel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Hotel rooms are the foundation of a hotel\u2019s product,” Sellers said.<\/p>\n

From carpet to ceiling, molding to mold, and bathrooms to balconies, she examined every detail of hotel rooms, documenting her findings through videos and virtual tours.<\/p>\n

Her research covered topics such as innovations in post-COVID housekeeping, workforce challenges and effective resource management. These findings have been seamlessly integrated into the HOST 150 curriculum, enabling students to move beyond textbook learning to engage with real-world scenarios through videos, readings and interactive activities.<\/p>\n

She highlighted the immense pride and dedication of housekeepers and their managers, who work tirelessly to ensure rooms meet and exceed guests\u2019 expectations. This perspective is now central to her teaching, inspiring students to appreciate housekeeping as a vital and rewarding career path in the hospitality and tourism industry.<\/p>\n

Workforce development is one of the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> System Strategic Plan\u2019s<\/a> four imperatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Associate Professor Kawehi Sellers researched more than 15 hotels to update her housekeeping operations course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1613,63,71],"class_list":["post-209160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-hospitality-and-tourism","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-uh-community-colleges","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t