Colleges Can Raise ROI By Creating Classes and Spaces That “Look Like Where Students Will Work”

Dale Gomez, Director of University Computer Systems at Florida International University (FIU) says preparing students with real-world experience makes them more valuable once they join the work force.

He says that the students in FIU’s hospitality program learn to become skilled workers in the school’s restaurant lab, wine lab, and beer-brewing lab.

“We wanted to really put ourselves above and beyond what is currently being offered by other hospitality programs out there,” he says. “We…provide students with a five-star restaurant in terms of [having them]creating the dishes all the way up to managing the actual restaurant itself, then encompassing all these audio visual innovations and technology to give them a better edge once they leave the program and they start either working for a restaurant or owning their own.”

Gomez says that once students graduate and become alumni, the relationship between FIU and alumni becomes two-fold in terms of ROI.

“If we’re providing students with the best education there is possible to get them the best jobs out there, in turn they would of course turn around and benefit our school as well,” he says. That way, “We have a strong alumni base that will allow us to a whole lot more.”

Gomez also says that structuring curricula and learning spaces with real-world experience helps both the institution and student reap the most benefits from each other.

“New students entering the program will get the best facilities because our funding model would continue to grow. If we’re providing the employers with the best employees in terms of education, it’s only going to benefit us as well as the university. We’re giving them the best workforce that they have out there.”

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