Altagrace L. Gustave/Contributing Writer
Photo by Andres Bedoya
Opening its doors in 1996, the award-winning Roz and Cal Kovens Center, endowed by philanthropists Roz and Cal Kovens, is renowned for its location and educational environment.
Being a member of the International Association of Conference Centers makes the center adhere to IACC quality standards which promise excellent meeting experiences with proper equipment such as in-room screens, in-room audio systems and fast ethernet port per room.
Considering the isolated location of the center from the rest of the buildings and general population of the Biscayne Bay community, perception is often that the Kovens Center operates as a completely separate entity from the rest of the University.
However, the Kovens Center is a part of the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
It works directly with the hospitality students by training and giving them the experience that they need for their desired hospitality-based professions, which range from catering to event-planning services.
“We use the facility for us to teach classes through the Case Study rooms,” said CSHTM Dean Mike Hampton. “Most students in other hospitality programs don’t have that so it’s a great learning lab.”
The center is a professional oasis for meetings that range from corporate, association, and government, to training-and-development, team building, and virtual nature. Their Case Study rooms are intended for training and development.
“Meetings are our business. It’s what we do,” said Kovens Center’s Director Jean Harris.
Organizations conducting their meetings at the center are the primary financial contributors responsible for its maintenance and professional set-up. According to Harris, just for the 2012 year alone, and in terms of events and conferences planned, projections are expected to be well over $1,000,000.
The center has a fully-staffed and frequently operating on-site kitchen and is subject to weekly inspections. There is a ballroom on the second floor for conferences, as well as countless other rooms for meetings of all set-ups, based upon how large or small the meetings.
“We use it academically and professionally,” said Hampton.
Other than conferences and meetings, the center holds open houses and open-site inspections by the interested general public, to inform the community that their professional meeting and events’ needs aren’t far.
Additional reporting by Andres Bedoya.
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