PROPOSAL FOR DISCONTINUANCE OF

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT CONCENTRATIONS

(Revised April 8, 2008)

 

FALL 2008

Contact Persons

Caran Colvin                                                   Janet Sim

College of Business                                        Department of Hospitality Management

Email: ccolvin@sfsu.edu                                 Email:  jsim@sfsu.edu

 

Discontinuance of Concentrations in B.S. Hospitality Management

 

A.   Importance of the Program to the UniversityÕs Mission

The mission of the Hospitality Management (HM) Program is to prepare students for management positions in the diversified hospitality/tourism industry, such as restaurant management, hotel management, event and other tourism businesses. The program provides an academically sound business foundation with core hospitality management courses and specialized classes in each professional area of the hospitality industry.

 

The original Hospitality Management Program with three concentrations 1)  Hotel Management;  2) Concentration in Restaurant & Institutional Foodservice Mgmt, and 3) Commercial Recreation and Resort Management was planned in the latter part of 1980Õs and implemented in 1990.  The program was planned as an interdisciplinary program in three colleges.  In 1995, the Hospitality Management Program was changed to the Department of Hospitality Management within the College of Business.  

 

SF State initiated a review of the HM Program in 2003, as there was a need to revise the program to reflect the rapid expansion of the industry.  Data were collected to identify industry needs and types of jobs available to graduates.  The Program Review committee members examined 54 U.S. hospitality management programs for a comparison study.  They also conducted surveys from 30 graduates and other current students as well as industry representatives and recruiters. 

 

The newly approved curriculum, approved by the Academic Senate on March 11, 2008, reflects the current growing and changing hospitality industry in the Bay Area, and also mirrors the UniversityÕs mission, ÒSan Francisco State University is still a leader, growing and changing with the City and the Bay Area, responding to and anticipating the issues that shape our daily lives and will influence our future." 

Discontinuance of the concentrations will not have any effect on the future employment status of the faculty and staff in the program.

B.  Quality of the Program

The external program reviewers were on campus to evaluate the HM program on November 16 and 17, 2005.  One recommendation from the external reviewers was to replace the more rigid ÒverticalÓ concentrations with more flexible ÒhorizontalÓ options to allow students to have more choices which reflect the diversity of the current industry.  In order to accommodate the changes from three concentrations (seven courses in each concentration) to six emphases (four courses in each emphasis), the core courses need to be revised.  The program review committee members identified important competency areas, such as HM information systems and HM revenue and cost control, to be included in the core. The new curriculum reflects the current diversified perspectives of the hospitality/tourism industry while keeping important competency areas in the core. 

The new curriculum would be a great benefit to the students.  In the original program, the three concentrations planned in the latter 1980s did not accurately represent the diverse hospitality and tourism industry.  The majority of the HM students were in one dominant ÒHotel ManagementÓ concentration.  In the new curriculum, students will have a choice of six emphases that will better represent the hospitality and tourism industry.  There are currently over 400 HM students who will be better prepared for the industry.

 

C. Efficiency and Demand for the Program

 

The HM program is housed in the College of Business (COB).  The new curriculum reflects a highly efficient program with core classes consisting of COB courses and professional courses in Hospitality Management.   There are also courses cross-listed between Hospitality Management and Consumer & Family Studies/Dietetics and Recreation and Leisure Studies. Cross-listing of classes is beneficial to the HM program by combining and sharing resources, while utilizing the best faculty in each discipline to meet the needs of the students.

 

The new Hospitality Management curriculum was designed to meet the management needs of a highly diversified hospitality industry covering not only the three concentration areas, but all aspects of hotels, restaurants and foodservice, meetings and conventions, recreation, resort, and tourism needs.

 

Since 1990, the hospitality and tourism industry has become the largest and fastest growing industry in the world.  Tourism is also an integral part of the economy of San Francisco.

The field of Hospitality Management has expanded to include important diversified elements of hospitality and tourism.  In addition, the profession requires students to possess a strong knowledge in business leadership and management. 

There has been a significant increase in the total number of declared Hospitality Management majors and FTES to meet the demands of the growing industry.  From 2001 to 2008, the total number of declared HM students increased from 200 students to 400 students; while the FTES increased from 82 FTES to 280 FTES.  The Student Faculty Ratio (SFR) is 38.3 for the year 2007-2008.

Please see the following chart on SFR as well as total cost per FTEF and FTES.  The data in the chart confirm that the program is highly efficient and there is room for growth.  The change in the curriculum will not have any effect on the cost.

 

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS -  HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FTES

Faculty Time Base

Faculty Salary

SFR

$/FTEF

$/FTES

Fall 2007

260.7

7

$292,303

37.24

$41,757.55

$1,121.22

Spring 2008

280.1

7.12

$268,556

39.34

$37,718.49

$958.78

AY 2007 - 2008

540.8

14.12

$560,858

38.30

$39,720.85

$1,037.09

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          

The HM Program at San Francisco State University will be a significant industry resource, supplying both the knowledge and graduates to hotels and other related sectors of the hospitality management in the dynamic hospitality/tourism industry in San Francisco and the world.

D. Student Advisement 

The College of Business Student Services Center has already prepared a listing of all current HM studentsÕ names and email addresses.  The Department of Hospitality Management has announced to all HM students on that list that new HM students entering the Hospitality Management Program in Fall 2008 will be required to follow the new curriculum.  Current Hospitality Management students have the choice of staying with the current program with three concentrations, or changing to the new curriculum with a choice of one of the emphases.   In preparation for the new HM curriculum, we scheduled four informational group meetings with current students:

Students have been informed that they should attend one of the above group meetings.  Additional group meetings will be planned as needed.  We are also working on a mandatory advising system so that HM students must get advising before they will be allowed to register for courses.

Existing students can also be easily transitioned to the new curriculum for the following reasons.

á      HM 110 which will be offered in Fall, 2008, is equivalent to the original HM 100 (1 unit) Intro to Hotel Mgmt, 101 (1 unit) Intro to Foodservice Mgmt and HM 102 (1 unit) Intro to CRRM combined.  Therefore, even though we will be phasing out HM 100, 101 and 102, they are equivalent to HM 110.

á      HM 200 (2 units) HM internship is removed from the core, but replaced by 200 hours of approved work experience as pre-requisite to HM 515 Internship.

á      HM 364 HM Information Systems, HM 458 Revenue and Cost Control and HM 577 Restaurant and Catering Management will be moved from one of the concentrations to the core.

á      HM 515 HM Internship is a generic HM internship course to replace the original HM 415, or CFS 481 or REC 680.

á      HM/REC 390 Leisure Travel and Tourism is a replacement of the original REC 260 in one of the concentrations.  Therefore HM/REC 390 is equivalent to the original REC 260.

Other than HM 200 which will be replaced by 200 work hours, the original HM courses will not be dropped, but will be revised to fit program needs.  Therefore, students can be transitioned into the new curriculum rather easily.  There are two other Bay Area universities (University of San Francisco and San Jose State University) that offer four-year degree programs in Hospitality Management.  However, students should not have to take longer to complete our newly revised HM Program at SF State.