New kid on the block: CBS may get a one-year alternative to its two-year master’s degree
Foto: Anna Holte
CBS has applied for funding to establish a new one-year master degree in Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Management. If the degree is accepted, it will allow students to dive deeper into tourism and hospitality in collaboration with the industry. “When new education formats emerge, we should test them,” says Michala Tomra from the Dean’s Office for Education.
News | 12. Nov 2019
In 2021, students may be able to apply for a one-year master’s degree at CBS instead of the usual two-year degree.
CBS has just applied for funding especially earmarked for developing new one-year master’s degrees in line with plans by the previous Minister for Higher Education and Science, Tommy Ahlers, to make university education more flexible.
If approved by the ministry, the one-year degree in Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Management will supplement the graduate degrees of CBS’ program portfolio and be open to applications submitted by bachelor students from CBS and other universities. The prospective program covers 40 students enrolling from the summer of 2021.
Michala Tomra, Senior Advisor at the Dean Office for Education at CBS, has helped investigate the scope for a one-year master’s degree at CBS and also filed the application with the ministry. She thinks it is a great chance to try something new.
“Today, it’s normal to take your basic education in your early twenties, but the future trend is pointing towards education taken in shorter modules. So when new education formats like this one-year degree emerge, we should test them,” she says and continues:
“You can see it as a way of future proofing our education portfolio, and as a step in the direction of life-long learning.”
If approved, the new one-year program will run as a five-year pilot.
Tourism and hospitality manager in one year
The new program is planned in collaboration with the CBS Center for Tourism and Culture Management (TCM) and according to Michala Tomra, they found that a one-year degree focused on tourism could be relevant, as it would open up for close collaboration with practitioners.
“The program provides students with relevant, research-based competencies and skills while also offering the chance of an internship at a tourism or hospitality company of their choice. Furthermore, this degree may interest bachelor graduates who already have a few years of experience from the sector,” she says.
The program students will become acquainted with subjects such as destination branding, innovation management and tourist behavior studies, all in the context of sustainability and responsibility in order “to become future tourism and hospitality managers” as stated in the application.
Michala Tomra explains that when composing a whole new degree, you can look at the business sector’s demands and incorporate them into the program from the outset.
“Maybe the sector is looking for profiles with a different set of skills than those we already provide, and in that way, this program can match their needs even better,” she says and explains that if CBS succeeds in getting the first of two approvals, it will reengage with the tourism sector to further develop the program.
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