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A Hospitality Program Like No Other: A Brief History of UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management

 

[1]
The Rosen College Campus

As the College celebrates five years at its beautiful Rosen campus, it is time to reflect upon the school’s twenty-five year journey from obscurity to world-renowned hospitality program…

With more than 2,600 students taking classes on a unique and state-of-the art campus, in the heart of Orlando’s hospitality and tourism corridor, with distinguished faculty and experienced industry executives, the Rosen College of Hospitality Management could be considered one of the best hospitality educational facilities in the world.  And surely the future portends even greater success for the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) unique branch campus.  But, as with any great enterprise, in order to fully appreciate current and future accomplishments one must first begin to understand the history and evolution of the program.

When the Rosen School of Hospitality Management (as it was then called) opened its doors on January 5, 2004, one could easily predict a bright future.  The Rosen School had become a reality due in large part to the generosity of local hotelier Harris Rosen, who donated the initial $18 million in money and land that jumpstarted the construction of the new campus.  Soon, many other central Florida hospitality companies—including Walt Disney World, Darden Restaurants, the Universal Orlando Foundation, Sea World, Marriott, and the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association—were also contributing money to the project.

By the time the new campus opened at the beginning of the Spring 2004 semester—with its 18 classrooms, a world-class library, a 200-seat dining room and bar, a stunning beer and wine laboratory, two spacious teaching kitchens, a 400-seat auditorium, and wireless Internet access throughout campus—it was clear that Rosen was unlike any other hospitality program.

In reality, however, the establishment of the Rosen campus was the culmination of a twenty-five year journey for those involved with UCF’s efforts to educate future hospitality leaders.

The Early Years

 

“Tremendous potential…”

Dr. Abraham Pizam was involved almost from the beginning and would become a key figure in the program’s eventual success.  The hospitality program that Dr. Pizam helped to begin was an outgrowth of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies, which had been established in 1979 in the College of Business Administration in honor of Dick Pope Sr., the owner of Cypress Gardens and one of the pioneers of Florida’s tourism business.  The Institute worked with the central Florida hospitality industry to conduct market research and to produce reports related to the area’s lodging and restaurant sectors.  When Dr. Pizam came to the Institute in 1983, he later recalled, “there was nothing here, except the institute, an interim director, and a secretary.  But I talked to the industry a lot… and became convinced there was tremendous potential.”

In addition to Dr. Pizam, the program’s first faculty members were Robert Ashley, Dr. Venkat Chandrasekar, and Dr. Audrey McCool, who were soon joined by Dr. Beshid Farsad and Dr. Ady Milman.  These original faculty members could be regarded as the true founders of UCF’s hospitality program, laying the foundation for later success by crafting the first degree and curriculum within the College of Business, as well as by navigating through subsequent changes in administrative structure and degree requirements as the program evolved.

There were some lean times in those first few years, but program administrators and faculty members persevered.  Throughout its first decade, UCF’s hospitality program endeavored to recruit more students, to fund its programs and facilities, and to set itself apart from other hospitality programs.  The program had difficulty finding a permanent home in the university, moving from the College of Business Administration, to an uncertain status under the purview of the Provost, to the College of Health and Professional Studies (later called the College of Health and Public Affairs), and then back to the College of Business in the early 1990s.  The program finally achieved status as an autonomous School in July 2000 and then was elevated to the status of a full College in May 2004, shortly after the opening of the Rosen campus.

As Dr. Pizam had foreseen, establishing connections with local industry professionals lead to several synergistic initiatives over the years.  For example, in 1986, the Central Florida Hotel-Motel Association (CFHMA) pledged $20,000 per year for five years to help start a professorship in convention and meeting planning.  These funds were soon augmented by a $50,000 grant from the Board of Regents.

In the mid-1980s, students interested in the food service industry worked at the cafeteria, preparing student meals, because the university lacked lab kitchen facilities.  Dr. Pizam mentioned the program’s financial woes and lack of kitchen facilities in a 1987 Orlando Sentinel article.  A week later, the newspaper reported that an “anonymous local hotelier” had promptly donated $10,000 worth of kitchen equipment to the program.  By 1990, the program was able to open its own 2,000 square foot kitchen and 1,000 square foot dining room.

The Dick Pope Institute was also very active in the 1980s and early 1990s, doing research for local and international industry professionals and producing Tourism Barometer, a newsletter with central Florida hotel occupancy rates and other tourism statistics.

By the early 1990s, the program was also beginning to mature and to take on a higher profile.  A $600,000 donation from General Mills Inc. (then the operator of Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants), along with a $420,000 grant from the state, led to an endowed chair in Restaurant Management (now called the Darden Eminent Scholar in Restaurant Management).  By this time, specialized tracks existed not only in Food Service Management, but also in Lodging Management, Conference & Convention Management, and Tourism & Travel Administration.

There were some constants through the years.  Hands-on industry experience was stressed from the beginning, and students were variously required to complete between 800 and 1,360 hours of paid employment in the industry during the course of getting their degrees (the current 800 hour figure was settled on in the mid-1990s).  In addition to Dr. Pizam, professors such as Robert Ashley and Dr. Ady Milman have remained part of the program since the 1980s and have played a significant role in shaping the character of the program.

By 1992, the program had returned to the College of Business Administration, and shortly thereafter Dr. Robert Ford took over as chair the program.  Dr. Ford’s appointment, and the return to the College of Business, signaled a philosophical shift towards a more management-based curriculum.  For the next several years the program continued to grow and mature, and by the late-1990s UCF was graduating nearly 100 hospitality students annually.

Nonetheless, expectations for the program were growing even faster, as Orlando’s tourism industry continued to expand.  A 1998 Orlando Sentinel article referred bluntly to UCF’s “less-than-stellar hospitality program” and mentioned that many industry professionals in the area felt that the program was underperforming and that university administrators were not supportive enough.  The article also mentioned that the Dick Pope Institute was by this time “virtually unused,” primarily because much of its state funding had been taken away in the early 1990s.

Whether by chance, or as a result of some of the harsh criticism being leveled at it, the program’s fortunes soon began to change for the better.

The Campus Takes Shape

 

Local hospitality industry donates millions…

Over the next few years, UCF’s relatively small hospitality program suddenly expanded into one of the largest and most important programs in the nation.  Among the keys to its meteoric rise were outside funding, university support, and strong leadership and vision from talented administrators and faculty members.

First, the law firm Baker & Hostetler and the American Resort Development Association donated $250,000 to build a timeshare program, and soon new specialized tracks were added in Vacation Ownership Resort Management and Theme Park & Attraction Management, specialized courses of study that exist in only a few other programs.

Then, as early as 1998, Harris and Trisha Rosen began publicly talking about donating $10 million for the purpose of establishing a world-class hospitality management program.  By late 2000, the Rosens’ donation was formalized: $10 million in cash and 25 acres of valuable land for the new campus to be built on.  The land would eventually be valued at approximately $8 million, making the Rosens’ total donation worth approximately $18 million.  The Rosens also donated an additional $1.1 million for scholarships.

Harris Rosen, a local hotelier who operates several profitable hotels in the International Drive area, was already known as a significant local philanthropist.  He had donated $2 million to UCF for scholarships in 1996 (half of which had been designated for hospitality management scholarships).  He had also won accolades for his Tangelo Park Pilot Program, a partnership wherein Mr. Rosen funds preschool and college education for children in Orlando’s Tangelo Park area, a predominantly African American, working class neighborhood.  Mr. Rosen was also well known for providing exceptional benefits to the employees at his hotel properties.

The scope of the Rosens’ gift was beyond anything the hospitality program had ever received, and it inspired many other constituencies to join the effort.  The state ultimately provided $18 million in matching grant money, and along the way many other local hospitality entities provided substantial funding, including: the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau ($5 million); Darden Restaurants ($2 million); Walt Disney World Company ($2 million); the Universal Orlando Foundation ($1 million); Anheuser-Busch Foundation/Sea World ($500,000); the J. Willard & Alice S. Marriott Foundation ($100,000); the American Resort Development Association International Foundation ($100,000); Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals ($100,000); and the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association ($50,000).

University administrators, who at times in the past had seemed uncertain what to do with the hospitality program, now moved quickly to increase its stature.  In mid-2000, the program was elevated to the status of a full school outside the College of Business, reporting directly to the Vice Provost, and thus came to be called the Rosen School of Hospitality Management.  Dr. Pizam, who had been hired to establish UCF’s original hospitality program, was fittingly appointed Interim Dean of the new School, a post he would eventually fill permanently.

Administrators and faculty sought to recruit more students in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in anticipation of a heightened profile for the program, and enrollment rose rapidly in this era: by 2000 there were approximately 300 hospitality majors at UCF; by 2003, there were more than 800 majors; and by the time the new campus opened in 2004, the number of hospitality majors topped 1000.

Faculty members also worked hard in the late 1990s and early 2000s to revamp and improve the curriculum.  The program replaced many general business requirements with more hospitality-focused class offerings.  The program’s restaurant management offerings also matured during this period: the Center for Multi-Unit Restaurant Management (which focuses on providing executive education opportunities to restaurant industry professionals) was created under the directorship of Dr. Christopher Muller in 1999, and a standalone Restaurant Management undergraduate degree was approved in 2002.

Among the key faculty members who helped elevate UCF’s hospitality program to the next level were Robert Ashley, Dr. Deborah Breiter, Dr. Bill Fisher, Dr. Stephen LeBruto, Dr. Ady Milman, Dr. Christopher Muller, Dr. Abraham Pizam, and Dr. Randall Upchurch.  Building on the work of their predecessors, these and other faculty members helped update the curriculum, design the new campus, and establish a solid financial and operational infrastructure for the growing program.  These faculty—as well as previous and subsequent professors in the program—will also be remembered for their contributions in the classroom by the countless students they influenced, many of whom are now working in positions of leadership in the hospitality industry.

Finally, in the fall of 2002, following various efforts for securing appropriate land for the project, ground was broken at the site of the new campus, on Universal Boulevard, near International Drive and the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.  Program administrators and faculty members foresaw that locating the new school in the heart of Orlando’s tourism and attraction area would provide students with almost unlimited internship and job opportunities: more than 40 million tourists visit central Florida each year, and most of their activity takes place within just a few miles of the Rosen campus location.

The Future of Hospitality Management

A program like no other…

The newly-constructed Rosen campus opened in January 2004 to wide-eyed students, staff, faculty, and media.  Completely wireless, and with 159,000 square feet of facilities ranging from classrooms to labs to a library and beyond, the campus impressed nearly everyone who came.  The following May, the Rosen School was elevated to the status of a full College within the University.  The small hospitality program that had moved around from college to college, with uncertain funding and stature, was now the beautiful Rosen College of Hospitality Management, with more than 1,000 students, approximately 20 full-time faculty, dozens of staff members, and a rapidly growing reputation.

Additional services and milestones soon followed, including a shuttle to transport students between the Rosen campus and the main UCF campus, additional hospitality and general education course offerings, the library gaining status as a World Tourism Organization Depository (one of only seven libraries in the United States to have such a distinction), the opening of two apartment-style dormitories, partnerships with other hospitality programs around the world, and the introduction of a new undergraduate degree in Event Management and a new Ph.D. program in Hospitality Education (offered in conjunction with the UCF College of Education).   Hospitality students could now live at and take their entire course of study on a campus devoted to their specialized field of study, in the middle of one of America’s most popular tourist destinations—something no other hospitality program in the nation can match.

The Rosen College campus now bustles with more than 2,600 future hospitality leaders, taking courses in one of three undergraduate degrees and two graduate degrees, with a renowned faculty composed of both distinguished academics and successful industry executives.

What will the next five—let alone twenty-five—years bring?  Only time will tell, of course, but additional innovations are already in the works, including a one-of-a-kind degree in Golf and Club Management scheduled to begin in the near future.  If the past is any indication, chances are good that the Rosen College will continue to lead the way into the future of hospitality management education.

 

Sources

  • Hospitality Management clipping file in the UCF Library Special Collections department
  • Interviews with UCF faculty members
  • Orlando Sentinel, selected issues 1983-2008
  • Rosen College of Hospitality Management website, http://www.hospitality.ucf.edu
  • UCF Catalogs, selected years 1983-2002
  • UCF Commencement programs, selected years 1983-2002
  • UCF Faculty/Staff Directories, 1981-2002
  • UCF Press Releases, 2004
  • Selected Milestones in the History of UCF’s Hospitality Program

  • 1979: Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies established
  • 1983: UCF hospitality program established
  • 1990: $600,000 donation from General Mills leads to endowed chair in Restaurant Mgmt.
  • 1996: Harris Rosen donates $1 million for hospitality management scholarships
  • 2000: Harris and Trisha Rosen donate $18 million in money and land for new campus
  • 2002: Restaurant Management degree program begins
  • 2004: Rosen campus opens
  • 2006: Event Management degree program begins
  • 2008: Number of hospitality majors tops 2,500
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    [2]
    Dr. Abraham Pizam

    Profile: Dr. Abraham Pizam

    Born in Romania in 1937

    Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Political Science/Sociology, Hebrew University, 1963
  • Master’s degree in Public Administration, New York University, 1965
  • Ph.D. in Business Administration, Cornell University in 1970
  • Previous positions included:

  • Infantryman in the Israeli Army
  • Head, Tourism Development Department, Haifa University
  • Head, Master’s program in Hospitality Management, University of Massachusetts
  • Joined UCF in 1983 to create the university’s first hospitality program and to serve as Director of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies

    Currently serving as Dean, UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management

     

     

    [3]
    Mr. Harris Rosen

    Profile: Mr. Harris Rosen

    Born in New York City in 1939

    Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration, Cornell University, 1961
  • Previous positions included:

  • Convention salesman, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City
  • Officer in the U.S. Army
  • General Manager of an Acapulco resort
  • Walt Disney Productions hotel planning administrator
  • Currently serves as President and COO, Rosen Hotels & Resorts, a hotel management company with seven properties and more than 5000 rooms in Orlando

    By Tim Bottorff, Head Librarian, Rosen College Library