TOM ZASADZINSKI
FACULTY & STAFFNOTES
Dr. John Self is the first Collins College professor to be accepted into the Fulbright Program.
Dr. Self Selected as Fulbright Scholar BY L I S A M C P H E R O N
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ospitality Management professor Dr. John Self has been selected to be a Fulbright Scholar at HaagaHelia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Finland. He will teach abroad from August through November. Self is the first professor from The Collins College to take part in the Fulbright Program. He will teach hospitality management classes with an American pedagogy rooted in polytechnic, hands-on student-based learning. He will also conduct research on why restaurants fail to compare with his U.S.-based research on the same topic. Self looks forward to offering his American-style of teaching to the Finnish students while also gaining a broader view of teaching and student learning to bring back to Cal Poly Pomona. “I love peeling back the onion of a new culture,” he said. “Four months is long enough that you’re not treated like a tourist.” The Fulbright Program, the U.S. Government’s flagship international exchange program, is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program provides participants - chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential - with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Similar to Cal Poly Pomona, Haaga-Helia University offers a hands-on education. Its Hospitality, Tourism and Experience Management program parallels The Collins College of Hospitality Management in many ways like bridging theory and practice to offer students a well-rounded education. Self got the lay of the land over spring break in March when he was the invited keynote speaker at the GastroPro Invitational Leadership Forum at the Gastro Fair in Helsinki. This is the largest hospitality fair in Scandinavia attended by hospitality professionals from all over Europe. He lectured on why restaurants fail, which is his area of expertise. With more than 20 years of teaching experience and coauthoring over 10 refereed journal articles, Self still finds time to remain active in the industry by serving as a consultant in opening restaurants and in restaurant operations. He is a go-to source for media reporting on the restaurant industry and is often quoted in the press for his insights into restaurant failure and success. Self ’s Fulbright-Haaga-Helia Scholar Award is funded in cooperation with the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, the Fulbright Center, the Finnish Fulbright Commission, and it is a special grant within the Fulbright U.S. Core Scholar Program.
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