Proposal to Establish

a College of Tourism and Hospitality Management

at Strathmore University

Goals	Establish a world-class degree-granting faculty for a leading school of commerce in Kenya.   Create a vehicle to elevate professionalism and opportunities for leadership and service in one of East Africa’s most important industries.   Intensify efforts in Kenya to improve transparency and good governance.
Beneficiaries	Approximately 800 East African management students p.a. to be professionally trained in Hospitality and Tourism Management.   Approximately 8 professors and instructors who will prepare, manage, and teach the course of study.   The tourism industry of Kenya, the country’s second largest foreign exchange earner.   Indirectly, approximately one in ten Kenyans who derive family income from Kenya’s tourism industry.
Implementation Plan	Develop master plan for school and curriculum. (By June 2005).   Recruit and train appropriate faculty. (By December 2005).   Inaugurate school’s first class (By February 2006).
Expected Outcomes	200 trained indigenous hospitality and tourism professional graduates p.a.   Improved standards for Kenya’s hospitality and tourism industry.   Increased focus on management accountability and transparency in industry and government.   Increased linkages and partnerships between Kenya’s academy, industry, and government.
Supervising Agency	Strathmore University Foundation, which would receive, manage, dispense and account for granted funds to Strathmore University by means of approved periodic standardized reporting, assessment of achievement metrics, and quarterly onsite visits in Kenya.
Metrics	Including but not necessarily limited to:   Numbers of applicants   Degree of selectivity in admissions   Degree of student diversity by economic class, gender, ethnic group, and religious affiliation.   Numbers of partnerships formed with industry participants   Number of “industrial attachments” (internships) arranged for students with tourism industry participants in Kenya.   Number of graduates successfully placed with industry upon graduation.
The Case For Kenya	Kenya is poor and needs more wealth creation: per capita income is $330; for 92% of Kenyans, it is $70. Kenya desperately needs more wealth and job creation in tourism and hospitality—and, thus, trained leaders to do this.   Kenya is stable, but fragile: After more than two decades of political oppression and economic malfeasance, Kenya has successfully achieved a peaceful transition to a new democratically elected government in which there is now hope for a new beginning. To assure this, Kenya needs more trained managers in its critical industries, like tourism.   Kenya is strategic: with 30 million people (10% with HIV/AIDS), Kenya is the demographic and economic center of East Africa. Bordering Somalia, Ethiopia, and Sudan and due south of Iraq and Iran, Kenya lives in a dangerous neighborhood. Like America, it has been directly and brutally attacked by Al Qaeda. Kenya is on the front line of freedom. It needs trained leaders in all sectors to persevere.
The Case for Strathmore	Strathmore is a proven educational pioneer: Kenya’s first multiracial college (1961) Kenya’s first accountancy school (1966) Leading IT school in Kenya (since 1991) Leader in gender equality (50% women) First Kenya school to receive ISO 9001award (2004).   Strathmore enjoys a peerless reputation: Strathmore is well known for academic excellence and managerial accountability and integrity. See attached references from the European Union and Kenya’s Minister of Education.