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Hotel a Model for New Ways of Learning

By August 2, 2010January 11th, 2019No Comments

A commentary from Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich

A Chinese proverb states: “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand.” As a lifelong Iowa educator I know that wisdom is true. Seldom have we seen that spirit brought to life more than at our newest teaching facility at Kirkwood Community College.

The Hotel Kirkwood Center is a real-world learning laboratory that now and always will be at the center of our mission. In time we know that Iowans and visitors from farther away will enjoy and understand its value. But for hundreds of our Hospitality Arts students, this is first and foremost their working laboratory.

As we enter our first days of operation, our neighbors should once again understand that our new facility is a teaching center that also happens to provide an upscale, professional service. Unlike many lodging choices at other colleges and universities, the 71 guest rooms of The Hotel will be open to the public as well as college visitors, every day. We know that raises expectations of quality for our students. We believe that “skin in the game” is going to be a defining learning experience for students.

As a central part of our community, The Hotel will also abide by the same rules, regulations and expectations as any other Cedar Rapids lodging choice. Guests will pay the same hotel/motel tax as those who stay at any other facility. Those funds will then return to nurture events, attractions and enhancements to our quality of life.

With our new facility now open, I feel the need to restate some key points.

The Hotel at Kirkwood Center was not built with tax dollars. When we undertook the project in 2008, the trustees at the college structured the funding with revenue bonds. Those bonds will be repaid as our guests and event clients pay for their services. The better we serve their needs, the more rapidly we complete those obligations.

We do not expect The Hotel to have a great impact on the overall lodging business of our area. When you count up the hotel and motel space in our Corridor, our 71 rooms account for less than two percent of all the public’s choices. We purposely designed the facility to be in a different style level and type of service than the vast majority of our hospitality partners’ businesses. In fact, we expect some prominent events at the Kirkwood Center will outstrip the capacity of our 71 rooms and in effect boost the potential for other nearby hotels and motels to cover the overflow.
That is a “rising tide” that would bode well for everyone.

Let’s look at it one more way. Every year, area high school carpentry and construction students build homes in several parts of our Corridor. Contractors and construction firms applaud the work, donate materials and funds—then hire those students to their crews. Local cosmetology schools offer haircuts and manicures to some, but their primary goal is to train a new generation of stylist professionals.

The learning by doing method, guided by professionals who bring wisdom and skill to students is a teaching model that has worked for centuries. That has been our commitment to eastern Iowa since 1966, when a fledgling college with a tiny, dedicated team offered the first classes in borrowed buildings.

It is amazing how far we have come, together. I can only imagine what the next decades will bring. One thing I am confident of is that the world will soon come to Kirkwood for insights into our innovative approach to hospitality education. We invite you to be a guest soon.
Mick Starcevich recently celebrated his 40th year in Iowa education. He has been the president of Kirkwood Community College since 2005.

This article originally appeared in the Aug. 1 editions of The Gazette.