Enrollment in newly expanded USF hospitality program up 200%
TAMPA, Fla. - After an expansion last fall, the University of South Florida says the number of students taking hospitality courses has increased 200-300% each semester.
USF's Muma College of Business expanded its School of Hospitality and Tourism Management program from the Sarasota-Manatee campus to the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses.
The expansion also includes new partnerships with McKibbon Hospitality, Aramark and Mainsail Lodging and Development.
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"For us to be able to have the program here to produce the talent directly right from the University of South Florida to all these establishments around us, has been a blessing for them and for us," Cihan Cobanoglu, dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management said.
According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2023 State of the Hotel Industry Report, the need is great. Among the findings, it says staffing is expected to remain a significant challenge for US hotels in 2023, with hotels projected to employ 2.09 million people in 2023, down from 2.35 million in 2019.
For the participating companies, it gives them opportunities to find future employees and expose them to other aspects of the industry.
"The importance of these types of programs like we're doing is cultivating the next generation of hospitality leaders. It's helping us to expose hospitality to a generation that might not have had an interest in it or might not have known that you could grow a career in hospitality," Randy Hassen, CEO of McKibbon Hospitality, said.
A man behind a deli counter.
Through internships and fellowships, students are able to get real-world experience to apply what they learn in the classroom.
"Hospitality is an applied field. You need to have some burns here. You need to have the ink in your shirt pocket," Cobanoglu said.
Current students able to take part in the fellowships offered by the program say it gives them more exposure and allows them to gain invaluable experience.
Sign promoting USF hospitality program.
"Just being able to see the concepts come to life in whatever it is they're doing. It really does make you a cut above the rest, because it's not just on paper, you know, you're doing an assignment, but it's also you're able to conduct it in real life. So that's great," Laur-Ann Daley, USF student said.
Other students say being able to get that experience outside of the classroom is why they applied for the program.
"It's helpful a lot for me because of my background as an educationist. So, in that time, I didn’t have such operational experience. So now I'm getting my theory from the school. Then practice in the industry are doing the operation time," Usman Khan, USF student said.
USF says it’s looking to start a Hospitality minor and a certificate program in Beverage Management and Event Management.