Five years after launching, Middle Tennessee State University’s Tourism and Hospitality Management program has been designated as the first and only accredited hospitality degree program in the state.
Providing students with real-world experience as they pursue their degree, the Department of Health and Human Performance major is designed to prepare students for lifelong careers in food and beverage services, hotels, resorts, entertainment venues, festivals, travel agencies and more.
“We are training future leaders for the industry — that next level up,” said associate professor Elizabeth Whalen, program coordinator of Tourism and Hospitality Management. “We are teaching best practices. We are teaching management skills. We are teaching accounting and finance, marketing principles.”
The MTSU program — which earned the designation from the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration in late spring — has been a work in progress to fit the ever-evolving industry.
Students are required to work in the tourism, hospitality and events industry as part of coursework, logging at least 300 hours in two different semesters — which averages about 20 hours a week — at two different organizations that apply to course credits.
“Students don’t realize how much the industry offers and how many opportunities are available,” said Whalen, who took the helm of the program in 2020. “I have a student graduating at 23 who is getting a job as a regional manager, and you can’t do that without a degree.”
Program a ‘game-changer’ for Memphis native
Learning about MTSU’s tourism and hospitality program was a game-changer for junior Kenady Rix of Memphis.
“I have a natural passion for serving others,” said Rix, who was awarded a $3,000 scholarship from the Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association Education Fund. “So, when I started this major back in Spring 2023, I realized that this is the career field I’ve been searching for all along, and I see myself growing further as a leader within the hospitality industry in the years to come.”
MTSU’s tourism and hospitality degree track started in 2019 and grew out of what was leisure sports management with the tourism focus added. There was a lot of overlap in both degree pathways.
But over the past four years, the curriculum has changed and then the programs separated to have three major areas of focus: tourism, hospitality and event planning, Whalen explained.
Degree paths give direction to students
With tourism, assistant professor Karen Tan teaches students about managing a destination, policymaking and infrastructure development. Whalen’s specialty is the hospitality concentration, which focuses on a property-level objective. Assistant professor Yi “Vanessa” Liu focuses on the events concentration, with courses like weddings and special events and event risk management.
While the program is housed within the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, tourism and hospitality management students will get a business minor through required coursework in the Jones College of Business.
Whalen noted that “it’s important to have real-world experience in addition to classroom learning. It’s a steppingstone to leadership.”
A good example is Rix, who is working as a front counter shift leader and summer operations intern at Chick-fil-A in Murfreesboro.
“I’m learning different areas inside and outside of the restaurant that seamlessly work together to operate the business successfully, such as food safety, business leadership, human resources, marketing, community engagement and more,” Rix said.
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