August 2023 Update: Johnson & Wales University enjoyed an incredibly fruitful 5-year partnership as the Official Education Partner of TD Garden and the Boston Bruins. This partnership officially ended in June 2023.
Providence Business News featured Johnson & Wales University’s (JWU) educational collaboration with Delaware North, TD Garden, and the Boston Bruins in the latest industry round table article. The feature expounds our partnership with all three organizations to offer undergraduate JWU students experiential education opportunities involving hands-on work at TD Garden and the Boston Bruins. In addition, the partnership affords a tuition benefit to approximately 50,000 employees of Delaware North, TD Garden, and the Boston Bruins towards the over 100 undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs offered by Johnson & Wales University College of Professional Studies (CPS).
Through the Johnson & Wales College of Professional Studies Corporate Education Partnership program, formal, dynamic, and unique partnerships with organizations provide employees with the skills they need to be successful in the jobs of today and the future. Our partnership with Delaware North, TD Garden, and the Boston Bruins is a natural evolution for both organizations.
CPS leadership Cindy Parker, vice president, and Angelo Pitassi, Business Development & Education Partnerships, explained this exciting time for online education and industry partnerships. “One of the most interesting aspects of these partnerships has been our ability to work closely with employers to understand what skills are needed in the workforce,” says Pitassi. Parker and Pitassi explained how the partnership with TD Garden and Boston Bruins fits with the college’s mission to develop its Professional Training division to present non-credit training programs geared towards employers and corporate partners. “Johnson & Wales University is committed to ensuring organizations and their employees are equipped with the skills and training needed to thrive in the 21st-century economy and beyond,” says Pitassi.
“This partnership is emblematic of the future of education,” says Parker. “It brings to the table elements of in-person and online off-site experiential opportunities, and spans across both the undergraduate and working professional populations. Johnson & wales is tremendously excited to be squarely in the middle of that equation.”
Rooted in the university’s commitment to experiential education, JWU’s partnership with Delaware North, TD Garden, and Boston Bruins also involves a collaborative approach for undergraduate students. Students and faculty in JWU’s Sports, Entertainment, Event Management (SEEM) department work together with TD Garden, Boston Bruins, and Delaware North leadership and executives to research and investigate solutions to industry-specific concerns. In addition, Johnson & Wales has also developed an annual seminar hosted at TD Garden to address matters directly relevant to both the academic curriculum at the university and industry-related concerns, such as food service, hospitality, and sports, entertainment, and event management.
Brent Dassatti, senior director of corporate partnerships at the Boston Bruins/TD Garden, described one of the hallmark programs of the SEEM partnership, which affords Johnson & Wales students within the program the opportunity to create limited-time menu items for fans and guests at Boston Bruins and Celtics games. “The students create recipes for our Chefs to sample and the winning candidate gets their item on the menu for a rotational time-period throughout the season with their name listed on the menu next to the item,” says Dassatti.
To read the full article, visit the Providence Business News website.