New Facilities and Hospitality Management Program Hopes for Warm Reception

One million U.S. jobs currently exist in the related fields of facilities, property, hospitality and casino management. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities in these fields are expected to grow by 10 to 20 percent annually through at least 2012.

Such trends are part of the reason the University of Cincinnati will begin the state’s first baccalaureate program in

Facilities and Hospitality Management

with the start of spring quarter on

March 27

. “The operation and management of facilities is becoming increasingly complex and challenging, requiring a range of skills related to mechanical, technical, business and organizational knowledge along with a healthy dose of people skills,” said Constance Cooper, head, Business and Commerce Department in UC’s

College of Applied Science

.

The new UC program is the only one in the state that offers instruction in both facilities  and hospitality management. Other local programs exist as two-year programs in hospitality management; however, the closest baccalaureate program resembling the scope and depth of the new Cincinnati program is located in Michigan.

The UC program is comprehensive and practical, consisting of a core of business, English, humanities, information systems and mathematics along with cooperative education requirements. Co-op, founded by UC in 1906, requires students to alternate quarters spent in the classroom with quarters of paid, professional work directly related to their major. So, students in the new program will not only learn in the classroom, they’ll learn on the job in paid practicums with employers.

On co-op, students will be placed to work in hotels, airports, convention and conference centers, nursing homes, hospitals, schools, museums, resorts, theme parks, industrial plants and more. At times, the program’s classes will also be set in the same professional locales. For instance, spring quarter’s core courses – facilities management, hospitality management, and casino management – will meet on occasion in UC’s Kingsgate-Marriott facility to provide students with immediate exposure to the field.

It was the co-op option that attracted Finneytown resident Ryan Tomaro, 20, into the new program. He’s currently a pre-business sophomore in UC’s McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, and he can’t wait for the day he’s managing an athletic facility like Shoemaker Center in UC’s Fifth Third Arena.

“Even if it means going to school a little longer, I know this is what I want to do. I’ve loved and played basketball all my life, especially UC basketball. I’ve always known I wanted to be involved in running an arena like Fifth Third Arena, but I never found anything that quite fit what I wanted till now. And I’m especially excited that I’ll be able to co-op. That means I won’t have to wait to work in the setting I want.” 

In addition to the co-op requirement and core courses, other offerings in the new program are

• Business Law
• Construction Drawing
• Conversational Spanish
• Energy Management
• Environmental Law
• Fire Safety
• Landscape Design
• Marketing
• Special Event Planning
• Technical and Professional Writing

For more information about the new Facilities and Hospitality Management program, call UC’s College of Applied Science at 513-556-1715 or UC’s Office of Admissions at 513-556-1100. Or, visit http://www.uc.edu/cas/facility