Michelle Costanzo
Department Chair
Professor, Associate- Hospitality Management
Michelle is a hospitality professional who first caught the “bug” for the industry at an early age while growing up with her Chef father and working at their family owned Italian restaurant. This led to Michelle obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Institutional Management from Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA. While attending college Michelle worked at hotels and restaurants and completed part of her studies and internship with Schiller International University in Engelberg, Switzerland.
Upon graduating from Mercyhurst Michelle moved to Frederick, MD where she started her professional career as a manager at a Fairfield Inn by Marriott for a few years and then moved with the franchise company to a Courtyard by Marriott. While working in operations Michelle discovered that her passion was in training and developing her associates leading her to the role of being a Leadership and Training Manager at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD, about 10 miles south of our nation’s capitol. While working at the largest hotel and convention center on the east coast Michelle overcame her fear of speaking to large groups as she would conduct on-boarding training and leadership training in groups of 12-500 people, and support the training and development of the Rooms Division.
While working full time at Gaylord National Michelle began teaching at Prince George’s Community College within the hospitality department sharing her passion for the industry and job experience within the Rooms Division. Upon learning of the opportunity to turn her enjoyable part-time position as an instructor into a full time career at ACC as the Department Chair for the departments of Hospitality, Meeting & Event Planning, and Travel & Tourism Michelle uprooted herself and her dog Brody and made the 27 hour drive to Austin, TX.
Now settled in Austin, TX living with her fiancé and four-legged child, Brody, Michelle stays involved with the industry in the community and shares her passion and knowledge of the hospitality industry with aspiring students on a daily basis.
Email: mcostanz@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.5174
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Liander Taylor
Professor, Associate Hospitality Management
Liander Taylor is an adjunct member of both the hospitality and culinary arts departments, recently relocating to the Austin area from the United Kingdom. She has over 6 years of experience working in higher education, teaching various Hospitality and Event related degree programs, this coupled with her fifteen years industry experience, provides passionate teaching and inclusive learning environments. She loves to research the history of hospitality and the trends currently emerging.
Email: ltaylorg@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.5181
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Stacy Alexander, CMP
Professor, Associate- Hospitality Management
Stacy “Liz” Alexander received her bachelor’s degree from the Hilton School for Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston and her MBA from Augusta State University.
Over a 25 year period she has worked in the areas of sales, food and beverage management and professional conference planning for hotels, corporations, universities and associations.
She has taught Hospitality Management and Meeting and Event Planning classes for ACC since 2004.
Email: ealexand@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.1790
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Latonia Booth
Adjunct, Associate Professor- Travel and Tourism
Latonia received her AAS in Meeting & Event Planning from Austin Community College in 2007. She has 20+ years of experience as a corporate event planner and is a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP).
Email: lbooth@austincc.edu Phone:(Cell) 512.466.1757
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Karen Duncan
Account Executive, Customized Training
Career Programs Admin-Travel & Tourism
Karen is originally from Chicago and received her Undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas with a BS, Recreation and Leisure Studies. She then obtained her Graduate Degree from the University of Illinois in Recreation/Sports/Tourism Management. Karen is also a Certified Travel Counselor-The Travel Institute and a Destination Specialist-The Travel Institute.
She has been with Austin Community College since 2000, working full time in Corporate Training Solutions and as an Adjunct Professor in Travel & Tourism. Karen is also owner of Peeks Cruises & Tours and Best Impressions Tourism Group.
Her past and present experiences include:
Insurance Agent and District Sales Manager with Allstate Insurance 1988-1998
Texas Parks and Wildlife 1984-1985
Resident of Pflugerville since 1987
Outgoing Board member and a past chair of Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce
Past board member of Planning and Zoning-Pflugerville
Graduate of Leadership Georgetown
Graduate of ACC Leadership Academy
Currently board member of Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area
Karen is married to Mitchell who works for Dell Computers and has two children, Porscha and Edwin.
Email: kduncan@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.0131
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Dan Eichler, MHM
Adjunct, Professor-
Hospitality Management
Education: University of Houston– Masters of Hospitality Management; Baylor University-BBA, Marketing
Courses Taught: Front Office Procedures
Email: deichle2@austincc.edu Phone: (Cell) 512.636.8468
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Bryan Gardner
Adjunct, Assistant Professor- Hospitality Management
Bryan is an honors graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a B.S. in Hotel Administration as well as a B.A. in Spanish.
He began his career in the hospitality industry at the MGM Grand Hotel, Casino, & Theme Park in Las Vegas, Nevada where he completed a non-paid internship in Training & Development. Upon completion of the internship, he was hired on permanently with MGM Grand as an Employment Specialist where he worked with others to recruit, select, and hire more than 7,000 employees. Bryan later transferred into operations where he worked in the hotel’s penthouse suites as a Housekeeping Supervisor for one and a half years. After graduating in 1995, Bryan joined Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts as an Assistant Housekeeping Manager in Santa Barbara, California. In 1996, he was promoted to Assistant Director of Human Resources and in 1998 he returned to Las Vegas to open the new Four Seasons Las Vegas in the same position. In the fall of 1999, Bryan also completed a pre-opening assignment at the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Currently, Bryan is the Director of Human Resources at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas, where he has been since the summer of 2000. He is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and is the designated as a Senior Professional in Human Resources or SPHR. In addition to this course, he has also taught Management & Leadership, Entrepreneurship & Leadership as well as Food & Beverage Purchasing at Austin Community College.
Email: bgardner@austincc.edu Phone: (Cell) 512.560.6407
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Nichole Golden
Coordinator, Special Events
Nichole was born and raised in Maryland. She graduated from East Carolina University with a BS in Hospitality Management and a minor in Business Management. Nichole moved to the wonderful city of Austin in March of 2011 with her husband William and their dog Weston. Nichole has worked as the Events Coordinator for the programs of Hospitality, Culinary Arts, Meeting & Event Planning, and Travel & Tourism departments at Austin Community College for a little over a year. Her past experiences include:
Fairfield by Marriott- Gaithersburg, MD: Seasonal May 2000-October 2003
Guest Service Agent
Courtyard by Marriott – Gaithersburg, MD: October 2003-July 2006
Sales Coordinator, Event Manager, Sales Manager, Assistant General Manager
Fairfield Inn by Marriott – Frederick, MD: July 2006-February 2008
Assistant General Manager
Courtyard by Marriott- Gettysburg, PA: February 2008-March 2011
General Manager
Email: ngolden@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.5334
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Shellda Grant
Adjunct, Assistant Professor- Hospitality Management
Shellda Grant has over 8 years of professional experience in Travel & Tourism including tourism grant writing, tourism program development, professional development, and travel specialization in group travel. She has earned her AAS in Hospitality Management with a specialization in Travel & Tourism from Austin Community College and her Bachelors in Travel & Tourism from Florida International University. She is actively involved in her community and serves as the PTA President for a local school, Board Member for the Community Bonds Oversight Community for AISD, and on the Board of Directors for the Travis County Appraisal District. Shellda has been the Alumni Coordinator and Executive Administrator for the Visitor Industry Council of Miami. Currently, Shellda is an instructor for the Internship course for Hospitality and Culinary Arts at Austin Community College and an Independent Travel Specialist.
Email: sgrant1@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.1799 ext. 26629
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Don Morris
Adjunct, Instructional Associate-
Hospitality Management and Travel & Tourism
Don Morris is an adjunct professor at Austin Community College since 1997. He has taught courses in Travel/Tourism, Hospitality Management, Meeting and Event Planning, Marketing and Public Relations. He also is employed at ACC as an instructional associate. He has served as president of the ACC American Federation of Teachers and two terms as president of the Adjunct Faculty Association.
His professional career spans over 30 years in the travel and tourism industry in a variety of positions and companies, including airlines, tour companies and retail/wholesale travel consulting. Don worked as an entrepreneur in his own independent travel consulting business in Austin, Texas from 1996-2006 before working full time at ACC.
His academic background includes a Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing and an Associate of Applied Science in Hospitality Management. He received CTA designation from the Travel Institute in 2001.
He has a wife of 20 years with two daughters, ages 32 and 15, and one 11 year old granddaughter. Don has a great love for learning, teaching and serving others.
Email: dmorris@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.1790 ext 23183 voice mail only
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Pavan Nayini
Adjunct, Assistant Professor- Hospitality Management
Pavan’s journey in Hospitality started right after high school with a simple desire to find a job where he could look sharp and handsome wearing a suit. Since then he has travelled two continents, attended three schools and worked for 5 different hospitality companies.
While attending hotel school back in India, Pavan worked his first hospitality job as a server for a catering company. As part of his degree, he also did a 6 month internship at a full service hotel in India where he had the opportunity to work in all major operational departments in the hotel. After graduating with a 3 year Diploma in Hotel Management, Pavan worked at a Bar/Pub as a Bartender and within a year got promoted as a Manager.
With a desire to earn a Master’s degree, Pavan enrolled into a Bachelor degree program and moved to the United States. Pavan’s education started with a diploma in Hotel Management from the Institute of Hotel Management followed by a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and obtained a Master’s of Business Administration in Financial Management from the Johnson and Wales University.
After college he worked for Extended Stay Hotels for a year followed by graduate school, where he earned an MBA in Financial Management. Soon after, Pavan had the opportunity to work for the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston as a consultant. This turned into fulltime employment taking him to Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach and Four Seasons Hotel Austin. Austin also gave Pavan the opportunity to fulfill his passion for teaching, as an Adjunct Faculty with the Austin Community College.
Email: pnayini@austincc.edu Phone: 512.223.5185
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