Adapting Online … in a Hurry

HHS pivoted after the halt of in-person Purdue activities from the global pandemic to offer the Virtual HTM and CSR Lecture Series with spring semester talks from five industry leaders. Creating the series for Purdue students were lecturers Keith Molter (pictured on laptop) of CSR and Stephen Leitch of HTM.

"We sort of went into industry mode. We said we simply had to solve this. And not one speaker said no." — Stephen Leitch, lecturer, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Few expected the months-long shutdown of in-person classes following Purdue’s 2020 spring break — least of all, students craving real-world experience for burgeoning careers in customer-service fields.

As COVID-19 shuttered campuses around the globe and anxious students suddenly found themselves back home in their parents’ basements in March, two College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) lecturers sprang into action.

Stephen Leitch, a lecturer in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM), and Keith Molter, a lecturer in the school’s Division of Consumer Science (CSR), created the Virtual HTM and CSR Lecture Series to provide interactive content for their students.

With little time to spare, Leitch and Molter, tapped industry contacts they’ve known and worked with for years. The result: five experts leading discussions on event management, crisis management, diversity and inclusion, value and entrepreneurship, and care for internal customers.

HTM lecturer Stephen Leitch, center in this photo composite, helped launch the Virtual HTM and CSR Lecture Series. The talks connected HHS students to industry experts, from bottom left, Molly Kurth, Anne Book, Jason Kreul, Art Norins and Coley O’Brien.

Breadth of expertise

“Stephen and I have taught together for 15 years, and we’ve had classes in both departments,” Molter says. “We’ve both been very active through our teaching careers, so we got together quickly to find something we could do.”

Long focused on experiential learning. The duo figured an online interactive lecture series might work where face-to-face options were no longer an option. “We sort of went into industry mode,” says Leitch, who has held management roles in both retail and hospitality. “We said we simply had to solve this. And not one speaker said no.”

Given the high-stress timing, as well as the lofty responsibilities of each speaker, the unanimous availability was surprising. Yet the opportunity to give back and connect with college students overrode any potential conflicts.

Molter believes the five speakers represented a good collection of business leaders that could apply to students in either discipline. The experts also spoke to customer service and operational management issues that students will experience throughout forthcoming careers.

As for the changing times, both within industry and education, Leitch thinks the pandemic changes everything. “The hospitality industry is never going to be the same,” he says. “You’re talking about high-contact events with a lot of people in small places. So, this is going to be a different world. The lecture series is one example of how we’re adapting as educators, but also as hospitality professionals.”

It appears that for these two instructors, a customer-focused experience — from patrons in a store or hotel lobby to Purdue students in hybrid classrooms — is a shared philosophy.

Interaction and reaction

Students could ask questions of the speakers in real time, and their talks guided subsequent discussions. Additionally, after working with Purdue counselors and advisors, prospective students have watched the archived series. For those who’ve never stepped on campus — and by now it’s been viewed some 3,000 times — it’s like sitting in on a class.

By easing some fears about delivering education in uncertain times, Molter thinks the whole series came together quite well. “Students enjoyed it and we got good reviews,” he says.

HTM junior Esther Kirgiss

Esther Kirgiss, a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism management, gave the series high marks. “When classes shut down, none of us had a grasp on what to expect,” she says. “The fact that our professors and mentors sprang into action to supplement our lack of class interaction with guest lectures and online interaction so quickly was incredible.”

Students would have a variety of takeaways from the series, though Kirgiss suggested one ongoing theme resonated throughout the lectures.

“This was the necessity to be flexible and go above and beyond when the opportunity arises,” she says. “The hospitality industry is massive and encompasses so many career paths. You never know what kind of connections you will make by putting yourself out there and being genuine and hardworking.”

For two HHS lecturers excited about their work, as well as transferring knowledge to students, the five experts simply echoed their passion. “When they’re talking and saying something that I said three weeks ago in class, that’s reinforcing what I’m talking about,” says Leitch, now planning the next series with Molter.

For the Purdue students, strengthened by their own abilities to adapt to education in a time of crisis, that newfound knowledge should reinforce industries committed to customer care.

"When classes shut down, none of us had a grasp on what to expect. The fact that our professors and mentors sprang into action to supplement our lack of class interaction with guest lectures and online interaction so quickly was incredible." — Esther Kirgiss, a junior majoring in hospitality and tourism management