San Diego State University

Apr 24, 2024

2020/2021 University Catalog

2020/2021 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Hospitality and Tourism Management, Recreation and Tourism Management

Undergraduate Information
Graduate Information

OFFICE: Professional Studies and Fine Arts 436B
TELEPHONE: 619-594-5110 / FAX: 619-594-4443
WEBSITE: http://psfa.sdsu.edu

Undergraduate Information

Hospitality and Tourism Management

WEBSITE: http://www.sdsu.edu/htm

Faculty

Emeritus: Gattas
Director: Winston
Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming Chair: Spilde
Professors: Spilde, Testa
Associate Professor: Sipe
Assistant Professors: Cynn-Ponting, Dillette
Lecturers: Blake, Campbell, Corr, Cowden, De Beers, Defino, Galloway, Greenberg, Khaleghi, Martin
Director of The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
Student Center for Professional Development: Christina Jeffries

The Major

Hospitality and tourism management is an interdisciplinary major which culminates in a Bachelor of Science degree offered by the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts. This program provides students with a solid undergraduate program emphasizing basic business management principles and their specific application to the hospitality and tourism industry and its components that make up the industry. The program integrates a significant number of courses from diverse disciplines into a comprehensive theoretical and applied program necessary for success in the hospitality and tourism professions. The program is directed at management positions in the industry, positions that require a broad understanding of management and its application to the businesses and organizations that flourish in this sector of the international, national, state, and local economies.

Students select one of the following emphasis areas for in-depth study: Hotel Operations and Management; Meetings and Events Operations and Management; Restaurant Operations and Management; or Tribal Gaming Operations and Management. With a solid core of business management courses and theoretical and applied study of the broad hospitality and tourism industry, students are educated to move readily into management positions in one of the state’s, nation’s, and world’s fastest growing economic sectors. The hotel and restaurant emphases will prepare managers to effectively administer businesses that provide lodging and food services to business and leisure travelers and tourists. The emphasis in meetings and events operations and management is aimed at preparing individuals to successfully manage destination based agencies that attract and entertain guests in a host region (convention centers, bureaus, festivals, sporting events, etc.). The tribal gaming emphasis prepares students to maximize the economic and social outcomes of tribal gaming facilities, which operate in a unique tribal government-owned business environment.

Advising

All students admitted to the university with a declared major in hospitality and tourism management must attend an advising meeting with the undergraduate advisers in the school every semester.

Impacted Program

The hospitality and tourism management (HTM) major is an impacted program. To be admitted to an HTM major emphasis, students must meet the following criteria:

Complete with a grade of C (2.0) or better: HTM 201 , HTM 219 , HTM 223 , HTM 250 ; ACCTG 201 ; ECON 101 and ECON 102 ; RTM 290 ; RWS 290 , and STAT 119 or ECON 201 . These courses cannot be taken for credit/no credit (Cr/NC);
Complete a minimum of 60 transferable semester units;
Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0;
Students who meet all requirements except the GPA may request to be placed on the waiting list. Students on the waiting list will be admitted on a case-by-case basis formulated around the program’s exception policy. Contact the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (PSFA-436B), 619-594-4964, for more information.

To complete the major, students must fulfill the degree requirements for the major described in the catalog in effect at the time they are accepted into the premajor at SDSU (assuming continuous enrollment).

Internships

A significant portion of the student’s educational program is dedicated to community-based learning components termed internships. Prior to the first internship, students must complete 400 hours of work experience (see school adviser for details). Each student must complete two, 300+ hour internships in hospitality and tourism businesses. These experiential learning components enable students to apply their classroom education to real world experiences in actual businesses. The HTM program has purposely entered into partnerships with San Diego’s finest hospitality and tourism enterprises to provide students with specialized facilities and experiences that complete a well-rounded and comprehensive educational experience for graduation and entry into this rewarding profession.

Major Academic Plans (MAPs)

Visit http://www.sdsu.edu/mymap for the recommended courses needed to fulfill your major requirements. The MAPs website was created to help students navigate the course requirements for their majors and to identify which General Education course will also fulfill a major preparation course requirement.

Recreation and Tourism Management

Accredited by the National Recreation and Parks Association.

Faculty

Emeritus: Dixon, Duncan, Hanson, Hutchinson, Lamke, Peterson, Rankin
Director: Winston
Professor: Beck
Associate Professors: Ponting, Sasidharan
Lecturers: DeSoto, Greenberg, Hemmens, Higgins, Ramaeker

The Major

A commitment to working with people to enhance the quality of their lives is important to a study of recreation and tourism.

Increasingly diverse opportunities are available in the recreation and tourism profession. The major offers a sufficiently wide range of courses for students who may wish to enter diverse recreation, tourism, or human services fields.

Students in this major elect one of three areas of emphasis. The outdoor resource management emphasis stresses conservation, natural science, ecology, and recreation/park administration. Society’s efforts to sustain a balance between the environment and recreational use are studied. Graduates find employment as naturalists, outdoor education specialists, outdoor resource management planners, park interpreters, and park rangers.

Recreation systems management stresses the effective organization, administration, and supervision of recreation, park, and tourism agencies, both public and private. Graduates find employment as administrators and supervisors with public, private or commercial park and recreation agencies. They assume professional positions with youth and family serving agencies, private clubs and condominium associations, a variety of leisure related businesses including tourism agencies, and municipal, county, and state organizations.

Sustainable tourism management prepares students to work in tourism, recreation, cultural, natural resource, and sports settings. It stresses the cultural and ecological tourism leadership needs of new tourism professionals by emphasizing the linkages between the economic, environmental, and social (including cultural and political) spheres and involves an interdisciplinary approach. Students learn about assessment, programming, and evaluation for planning and management of sustainable tourism businesses. Graduates find employment as managers and directors with transportation agencies, destination management organizations, travel and tour companies, tourism attractions, leisure, recreation, and sports organizations, cultural industries, adventure and ecotourism services, and lodging enterprises.

The sustainable tourism management emphasis requires international experience. Refer to the international experience section under the requirements for the Emphasis in Sustainable Tourism Management.

Advising

All students admitted to the university with a declared major in recreation administration must attend an advising meeting with the undergraduate advisers in the school every semester.

Impacted Program

The recreation administration major and emphases are impacted programs. To be admitted to the recreation administration major or an emphasis, students must meet the following criteria:

Complete preparation for the major;
Complete a minimum of 60 transferable semester units;
Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.3.

Major Academic Plans (MAPs)

Graduate Information

WEBSITE: http://mastershtm.sdsu.edu

Director of School: Carl Winston
Director of Graduate Programs: J. Jeffrey Campbell

Faculty

Lawrence A. Beck, Ph.D., Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Katherine A. Spilde, Ph.D., Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Mark R. Testa, Ph.D., Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Jess Ponting, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Vinod Sasidharan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Lori J. Sipe, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Sun-Ah Cynn-Ponting, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Alana K. Dillette, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management

General Information

The L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management offers graduate programs of study leading to a Master of Science degree in hospitality and tourism management and a Master of Science degree in meeting and event management. The degrees offer a specialized approach to graduate education for industry executives and are designed to meet the needs of mid-career executives who desire the necessary educational acumen for managing complex organizational systems in the hospitality, recreation, and tourism industry. Students have an average of five to 15 years of full-time professional work experience and four to eight years of managerial or equivalent experience in hospitality, meetings and events, recreation, and/or the tourism industry. The programs are designed for upwardly mobile industry professionals desiring additional professional and advanced education to proceed to the next level of leadership as a director, general manager, or senior leader within a hospitality, tourism, or recreation organization or agency. A wealth of knowledge and industry experience is brought to the classroom.

The curriculum focuses on the development of analytical, strategic leadership, and administrative/organizational skills specific to the industry and is designed to be innovative, unique, and forward thinking. A blended method of instruction using intensive, on-campus instruction complemented by online teaching and off-campus experiential activities and projects is specifically designed for professionals who wish to continue their education while maintaining their current positions within the industry.

The L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management programs are supported by six research centers and institutes to include the Center for Hospitality and Tourism Research; Sycuan Institute on Government Gaming; Center for Global Gaming Research; Institute for Meetings and Events; Center for Surf Research; and the Institute for Leisure and Tourism Management.

Admission to Graduate Study

Students applying for admission should electronically submit the university application available at http://www.calstate.edu/ apply along with the application fee.

All applicants must submit admissions materials separately to SDSU Graduate Admissions and to the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Graduate Admissions

The following materials should be submitted as a complete package directly to:

Graduate Admissions
Enrollment Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7416

Official transcripts (in sealed envelopes) from all postsecondary institutions attended;

NOTE:
- Students who attended SDSU need only submit transcripts for work completed since last attendance.
- Students with international coursework must submit both the official transcript and proof of degree. If documents are in a language other than English, they must be accompanied by a certified English translation.
GRE or GMAT scores (http://www.ets.org SDSU institution code 4682);
English language score, if medium of instruction was in a language other than English (http://www.ets.org SDSU institution code 4682).

Master of Science Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management

Master of Science Degree in Meeting and Event Management

The following materials should be mailed or delivered to:

L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Admissions Committee
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4531

Two letters of recommendation from persons in a position to judge academic ability (in sealed, signed envelopes);
One letter of recommendation from a person in a position to judge professional ability and potential (in sealed, signed envelope);
A two-page maximum personal statement giving reasons for choosing hospitality and tourism management or meeting and event management as a degree objective;
A two-page maximum personal statement summarizing applicant’s qualifications, skill sets, and life experiences as they apply to the hospitality and tourism management or the meeting and event management degree.

Master of Science Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management

(Offered through SDSU Global Campus)

Admission to Degree Curriculum

In addition to meeting the criteria for admission to the university, applicants must also demonstrate significant experience in management-level positions in hospitality, recreation, or tourism organizations. Students are fully matriculated in the university and meet all university requirements as established by the Graduate Division. Advancement

Advancement to Candidacy

All students must satisfy the general requirements for advancement to candidacy as described in Requirements for Master’s Degrees .