One of the most prolific authors in the field of hospitality education has been hired by UNLV to develop one of the nation's first programs in timeshare management education.
Robert H. Woods, currently the professor and director for the study of lodging operations at Purdue University, will join the faculty in UNLV's William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration this fall.
According to a recent survey, Woods is the most cited author and the third most prolific writer in hospitality education, said Thomas Jones, chair of UNLV's department of hotel management
Woods has written more than 75 refereed articles and three textbooks, including, Managing Hospitality Human Resources, Quality Leadership and Management, and Job Description Handbook for the Club Managers Association of American. He now is working on a textbook about vacation ownership management with John Sweeney of RCI Consulting Inc. and serves on the education committee of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).
"Bob Woods's authorship of Leadership Perceptions of Future Problems in the Vacation Ownership Industry, which earned him the 1999 ARDA Educator Award, makes him uniquely qualified for this position," Jones said.
Woods, who will teach a timeshare survey course this fall, earned both his doctoral degree and his master's degree from The School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Oklahoma.
Jones said that the hiring of Woods will ensure UNLV a future position of prominence in the area of timeshare management education.
"Here is a six-billion-dollar-a-year industry with an annual growth rate of 15 percent that has been largely ignored by hospitality educators," Jones said. "Furthermore, all indications point to a tremendous growth of timeshares in Las Vegas in the decade ahead.
"Every major hotel chain now has a timeshare division, but most schools of hospitality education are completely unaware of the differences that exist between hotels and timeshare business," he said.
The first timeshare course at UNLV was offered in the fall of 1998 by Sweeney and Richard Ragatz from RCI Consulting. A UNLV student division of ARDA was formed in the fall of 1999 and many of the student members served as hosts at the ARDA 2000 Spring Conference held in Las Vegas in April.
For additional information, call Jones at (702) 895-3728.
