Three students in UW-Stout’s School of Management are gaining leadership skills and financial support through their awarded roles and scholarships from regional and national associations.
The hotel, restaurant and tourism management and real estate and property management students and their recognitions are:
- Charlie Casper, REPM, St. Paul: Student leader in the Institute of Real Estate Management, an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors, which has 1.5 million members.
- Kalie Dahl, HRTM, Cologne, Minn.: Joe Perdue Scholarship recipient by the Club Management Association of America, the largest professional association for managers of membership clubs in the U.S. and internationally.
- Bailey Jacque, HRTM and REPM, Thorp: Student representative to the Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association Board of Directors, comprised of lodging industry leaders from across the state.
Their memberships in professional associations, involvement in on-campus industry-related clubs and activities and internship experiences are preparing Casper, Dahl and Jacque for their future careers.
Charlie Casper: Growing the family business
Casper was honored to be elected as an IREM student leader and represent UW-Stout’s real estate property management program. He is one of 10 students nationwide to be recognized annually for their academic achievements.
Casper will participate in webinars; mentorship and networking opportunities with property managers; have free access to certain IREM courses to earn professional designations; and attend the annual IREM Global Summit, this year to be held in Toronto, Canada.
“The award will give me a foot in the door and move my career forward,” Casper said. “Eventually, I plan on owning and managing real estate, including the business my family currently owns and operates.”
Casper wants to help his family grow and manage their assets – The Nook and Ranham Bowling Center, featured by Guy Fieri on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”; and its sister location, Shamrocks, the Irish Nook, in St. Paul.
“My great-grandfather began opening and operating restaurants in St. Paul,” he said. “My father bought his first location, the Nook, at 19 or 20 years old.”
Casper will graduate in December. He believes the REPM program has pushed his career in his desired direction through activities and his involvement in the IREM Student Club, for which he serves as vice president. He has completed an internship with Dominium, an apartment community in downtown Minneapolis, and is currently interning with Clarity Commercial, assisting in managing its diverse commercial portfolio.
“I have tripled my professional network in the field, made friends in the industry and gained invaluable mentors on and off campus,” he said. “The REPM program has made me confident in my abilities and prepared me to enter the workforce with knowledge and experience in the industry.”
Kalie Dahl: A passion for service
The Club Management Association of America scholarship will help Dahl be financially independent for school-related expenses this year – her senior year. It is awarded to 10 students across the country each year to support their pursuit of careers in club management and further their hospitality education.
“The CMAA scholarship will have an immense impact, provide me security, allow me to worry less about debt and free up my time to give back to this club and school that I am so honored to represent and for which I have immense appreciation and gratitude,” Dahl said.
Dahl will graduate in spring 2024. She believes the HRTM program, hands-on applied learning, internships and extracurriculars like CMAA helped her gain a clearer vision of her career.
She’s interested in coordinating club memberships and events, training and employee development, and club or hospitality operations administration.
Dahl has been a member of CMAA since her first year at UW-Stout, boosting her leadership skills, with professional guidance, as she helped with memberships, events and apparel.
She has completed three internships to explore hospitality avenues through the HRTM program and CMAA, including in a restaurant manager role with Bearpath Golf & Country Club, Eden Prairie, Minn.; helping run the City of Chanhassen’s parks and recreation department, in Chanhassen, Minn.; and as a client relationship manager at IDeaS, in Minneapolis.
“Even with my connection and admiration for clubs, I wanted to use my summers to explore different careers as this is the most advantageous time to do that and I can always go back to the club industry,” Dahl said.
Dahl also has a passion for service, founding and serving as president of the Service Club on campus, which has 300 contacts and more than 70 members. She is a member of Gamma Sigma Sigma service sorority, Latinos Unidos and FIGHT Club (Fighting Local Injustices & Global Human Trafficking). She was a resident adviser, works in the Involvement Center, and is joining the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International student club.
She was named an Outstanding Student Leader of the Year at the Leadership Awards last spring, and the Service Club was awarded Student Organization of the Year and Student Organization Event of the Year for its Trick or Treating for Canned Goods.
Professor Eric Brey believes the program’s relationship with local CMAA chapters and their willingness to financially support students is an important part of their learning experience.
“It is these experiences that create exposure to clubs and encourage students to explore this industry as an incredible career path,” he said. “Having one of our students recognized with such a prestigious scholarship further demonstrates the industry's support of our students, especially those that pursue excellence such as Ms. Dahl, as she exemplifies what the club industry is all about.”
Bailey Jacque: Advocating for student interests
By serving as a Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association student board member, Jacque will learn how to advocate for student interests, while networking with professionals to act as the liaison between industry professionals and students.
Jacque will graduate in spring 2025. Her career goals are to help in the growth of hotel businesses, in an environment that tests her skills and enables learning.
“My HRTM and REPM programs help me get out-of-class experience with career professionals, like attending career conferences and networking events,” she said.
Jacque interned in hospitality sales with IDeaS, in Minneapolis; and was a property management intern with Weidner Apartment Homes, in Woodinville, Wash., learning how to manage luxury apartments.
She is a UW-Stout Ambassador, president of the student chapter of Hospitality, Sales, Marketing, Association International and IREM member.
WHLA, founded in 1896, is a nonprofit trade association serving to advance Wisconsin’s lodging industry through advocacy and the delivery of valued services.
UW-Stout was named one of the top 30 universities in the nation for its connections to business and industry, including hospitality partnerships with more than 100 notable national and international companies.
In UW-Stout’s First Destination report, recent hotel, restaurant and tourism management; and real estate property management graduates reported 100% employment within six months of earning their degree.
