Lackawanna College officials on Thursday unveiled a hospitality and tourism school that will be available at the college's new campus in Hawley this fall.

The Mary and Harry Kiesendahl School of Hospitality and Tourism will include classes in hospitality management, camp management and culinary arts, said Christopher Kucharski, college spokesman.

The Kiesendahls have owned Woodloch Resort in Hawley since 1958, and naming the school in their honor is a nod toward their "pioneering" efforts in bolstering the tourism and hospitality industry in the Pocono Mountains region, he said.

The hospitality and tourism school will evolve in steps, first offering hospitality management courses this fall. Plans are to offer camp management and culinary arts classes by fall 2011.

The hospitality and tourism school will also help create a qualified work force in the region.

"It's been groomed toward that region," he said. "We try to fit our curriculum to the needs of the community."

The college's effort in that regard include a natural-gas specialization course in Towanda because of drilling activity in Bradford County.

The new school name also opens a fundraising campaign to benefit the Hawley campus, which is moving from its smaller campus in Honesdale. Occupying 16,000 square feet inside the multistory Hawley Silk Mill, the Lake Region Center campus will open this fall and offer other degree programs.

Contact the writer: smcconnell @timesshamrock.com