Major in Hospitality and Event Management

The Hospitality and Event Management major combines courses in food service, lodging, event planning, entertainment, and entrepreneurship to give students a strong skill set for entry management positions in hospitality professions. Elective credits allow students to take courses in areas of interest to enhance their education. The curriculum strongly emphasizes management and leadership skills required for success in the hospitality industry.

The hospitality industry is the second largest employer in Colorado and the United States. The Hospitality and Event Management program maintains strong ties with the food service, lodging, and event planning industries locally, statewide, and nationally to connect graduates with a wide variety of employment opportunities in the expanding commercial and non-commercial segments of the hospitality management industry. The department oversees practicum experiences and internships in the industry and aids in job placement upon graduation. Participation in the experiential learning laboratory, The Aspen Grille, a student-run campus restaurant, is required and internship and practicum opportunities are highly recommended to enhance practical training and development. 

Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

1. A conceptual understanding and systems approach to the business of hospitality management.
2. The ability to make logical decisions by organizing, analyzing, and interpreting information and formulating rational solutions in a hospitality business environment.
3. The knowledge and skills to successfully manage a hospitality operation, including allocating resources such as time, labor, and material inputs to achieve customer satisfaction.
4. An understanding of the managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing, staffing, controlling, and budgeting in various hospitality environments.
5. The behaviors of effective, ethical leaders by demonstrating the fundamental principles of leadership in a hospitality business environment.

Potential Occupations

The hospitality industry encompasses careers in restaurants, hotels, resorts, spas, event venues, catering, breweries and wineries, bed and breakfast inns, ski areas, business and industry dining venues, hospitals, correctional facilities, and military facilities in the United States and around the world.

Examples of career positions include but are not limited to restaurant managers, caterers, event planners, wedding planners, banquet managers, hotel sales and marketing, hotel guest operations, hospitality real estate acquisition, hotel managers, food writing and media, brewery hospitality operations, commercial wine and liquor sales, chefs, purchasing agents, conference coordinators, guest service agents, tourist attraction managers, spa operations managers, housekeeping managers, timeshare sales and marketing, bed and breakfast owner/managers, travel agents, school food service managers, hospitality food and equipment sales representatives, health inspectors, hospital food service managers, food importers, and country club managers.

Learn more about the Hospitality and Event Management major on the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition website.