New Senior Living Management Online Certificate

As baby boomers head into their later years, the senior housing industry will need to train and recruit over 1.2 million new staff members by 2025.

To prepare future senior living business professionals in the Pacific Northwest, nationally and internationally, the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management (HBM) will launch a new online professional certificate program in senior living management geared toward non-degree seeking professionals, some of which may already be working in senior living industries.

The certificate will give students a well-rounded background in many managerial aspects of the senior living space, such as care services, lifestyle, operations management, sales and marketing, risk management, and many other facets of the business. Students will also develop hard skills, such as knowledge of practices unique to developing senior living communities, as well as soft skills, such as the emotional intelligence required to successfully manage in the senior living environment. The program will also delve into a deeper understanding of the unique needs of the generations requiring senior living services.

Scott Eckstein

“The certificate is a great opportunity for people from different industries seeking a career change, for example, a nurse who wants to switch from hospital services to more of a wellness management focus in assisted living, or a property or club manager interested in more career options,” says Scott Eckstein, the new senior living executive in residence for the HBM program at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett. “We are all potential future clients. Ensuring that our unique, hybrid business of care, hospitality, real estate, and technology has a highly educated and prepared workforce is paramount.”