On January 24, the Pittsburgh Club Managers Foundation invited IUP Hospitality Management professor Yasong (Alex) Wang and other board members of the foundation to attend its monthly meeting at Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.PCMF confirmed ongoing financial support to the Club Managers Association of America student chapter at IUP by funding a dedicated scholarship.

PCMF is a leading organization founded by the major leaders of the Pittsburgh Chapter of Club Managers Association of America (CMAA). The foundation aims to create and develop comprehensive fundraising initiatives, provide the scholarship programs and educational support for club managers and student members of the chapter. The Department of Hospitality Management at IUP has worked closely with the foundation to promote the financial and educational support for its students. Wang, advisor of student chapter of CMAA at IUP, joined the board when it was established in 2017 and has since served on the scholarship committee of the foundation.

The meeting was led by the newly-elected President of PCMF, Scott Neill, General Manager of Duquesne Club. During the meeting, they confirmed to Wang its ongoing financial support to the CMAA student chapter at IUP this coming fiscal year. In particular, the board members approved the proposal of continuously offering the Hospitality Management Student Scholarship to the students at the Department of Hospitality Management at IUP.

The Hospitality Management Student Scholarship is open to full-time students who are entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year of school and enrolled in the hospitality management undergraduate degree program. Applicants must have completed or intend to complete the Club Management course, CMAA Student Membership, have private club work experience, and hold a rank of at least a 3.0 GPA or greater. The Department of Hospitality Management strongly encourages all eligible students to apply for this great scholarship in the future.

At the end of the meeting, Wang strongly requested the foundation's help in recruiting the guest speakers from the Pittsburgh Chapter of CMAA for this spring semester for his Club Operations Management class. The members of the Pittsburgh Chapter of CMAA are from the local and regional private clubs in the Pittsburgh area. Most of them are general managers and professionals managing and working for nationally-known private clubs. Wang has worked with most of them in the past years to get involved with his Club Operations Management class.

By inviting those guest speakers to his class, students directly build connections with their potential mentors and develop a clearer picture about their future career path. This class is open to all students at IUP and would be a wonderful opportunity for young ambitious people to learn more about this unique segment of the hospitality industry.

The Department of Hospitality Management is the premier Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism and Special Event undergraduate program in the region and the largest program in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The Department of Hospitality Management is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration.