Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• SHA HF 701: Hospitality Operations Analysis
  This course investigates the distinctive operational characteristics, operational mechanics, technology and management practices of hotels and restaurants. Throughout the course, students will be provided with advanced techniques and tools to analyze and improve operational capabilities of a hospitality organization. Analysis of daily operations with a focus on developing viable solutions to problems is emphasized. The first half of the course will focus on the theoretical principles and operational tactics of lodging operations and on how the departments within the rooms division of an individual hotel operate. Students will explore the managerial aspects of hotel reservation, the front office, housekeeping, engineering and security. The second half of the course will focus on principal operating problems facing managers in the restaurant industry. Topics such as concept development, pricing strategies and restaurant revenue management, menu performance analysis, cost control, labor management and customer service processes are addressed. 4 cr. Offered Summer II.
• SHA HF 702: Innovation and Disruption in Hospitality
  In today's suddenly uncertain world, disruptions are the norm and are mandating that we adapt our organizations and our individual selves. To stay ahead and remain resilient, businesses must ready themselves for crisis and change management. They must also excel at problem-solving and identifying opportunities to innovate effectively. Using case studies, media coverage and other content, this course will examine some of the most dramatic changes encountered by the hospitality industry, from the onset and impact of Uber and Airbnb to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitality leaders need to know how to be the disruptors in the industry, as well as learn how to survive and capitalize when the industry is disrupted. In both situations, effective innovation is key to staying relevant and succeeding. Each week the class will meet to discuss different challenges that businesses have faced and approaches that entrepreneurs have taken to manage them. Examples will focus on both proactive change (addressing disruptions through innovation and early detection), as well as reactive change (leading in times of crisis). This course is offered in the FALL term in lieu of the required HF 701 for students entering with extensive industry experience. It is also offered in the Spring as an elective for those who have completed HF 701 and for those pursuing the Innovation & Entrepreneurship concentration.
• SHA HF 707: Hospitality Entrepreneurship
  This course is intended to be a capstone experience for students seeking to understand hospitality entrepreneurship and innovation as a professional business system. Student teams will create, develop and design a concise Pro Forma Business Plan for a start-up non-profit or profit-driven hospitality enterprise. At the end of the semester teams will make a competitive presentation integrating the principles and skills mastered in previous coursework to a panel of successful hospitality entrepreneurs. 4 cr. Offered Fall Semester.
• SHA HF 711: Hospitality Financial Management
  Accounting has been described as the language of business. Consequently, the ability to speak and understand this language is a fundamental competency for practitioners of business. A central aspect of accounting is the composition of financial statements that depict the underlying economic reality of the firm being operated. This course is intended to introduce fundamental elements that are used to compose these financial reports. Specifically, course content will include an examination and quantitative analysis of the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows from both a conceptual and pragmatic perspective. How these statements are both composed and relate to business planning, control and decision making in hospitality enterprise will be a central topic. 4 cr. Offered Summer II.
• SHA HF 733: Hospitality Organizational Leadership
  Graduate Prerequisites: SHA HF 701 - The hospitality / travel and tourism industry employs over 284 million people, representing about 1 in 11 jobs worldwide. In such a labor intensive field, leading and managing people are two critical elements for operating successful organizations. This course will focus on leadership and management for the hospitality industry. Using a leadership continuum as a framework, we will explore several different levels of leadership, from a traditional leadership role as the head of a major corporation, team leadership and the personal aspect of self-leadership. Several different leadership models will be analyzed and applied to the hospitality industry. An emphasis on creating organizational culture through human resource strategies and how to manage change effectively will be two critical components of the course. The course explores key aspects of human resources functions such as employment law, employee recruitment & selection, compensation and benefits, labor relations, diversity and managing hospitality human resources in a global environment. 4 cr. Offered Fall Semester.
• SHA HF 740: Graduate Internship in Hospitality Management
  The Graduate Internship allows students to gain industry experience. The zero credit internship involves 400 hours of relevant hospitality work experience and is required for all graduate students. Practical learning opportunities are available through our various hospitality partnerships, including hotels, restaurants and other placements. 0 cr. Offered Spring Semester.
• SHA HF 762: Hospitality Branding and Marketing
  This course offers participants innovative and practical approaches for addressing strategic marketing challenges to improve revenue, profit, and customer loyalty. Using case studies from hotels, restaurants, and hospitality firms worldwide, and referencing cutting-edge research, students will learn the latest applications of strategic thinking and analysis to marketing challenges facing the hospitality industry. They will understand strategic-marketing concepts and principles, and apply the ideas, concepts, and principles to develop innovative and profitable strategies. Recent evolutions in globalization, technology and sustainability necessitate that modern marketing be reconstituted to move into the digital age. Given the role and critical importance of a digital mindset in operating today's businesses, the course will also leverage case studies and real-world examples to help students master the "new marketing" on a strategic and tactical level. In so doing, the course will enable students to explore the design and implementation of marketing programs and activities to build, measure, and manage brand equity for a sustainable competitive advantage. 4 cr. Offered Summer II.
• SHA HF 768: Digital Marketing Strategies
  Graduate Prerequisites: SHA HF 701 and SHA HF 762 - This is an advanced course in hospitality marketing focused on the variety of digital marketing tools currently available for hotels and restaurants. Internet marketing for our industry has evolved drastically in the past 10 years. With more than 50% of people researching travel online, an understanding and appreciation of how hotels and restaurants use digital marketing initiatives to reach their consumers is necessary to succeed in the industry. Knowing how to market through Facebook with boosted posts, run search engine marketing campaigns through Google AdWords, and geo-targeting market segments through online media advertising will enhance your marketing savvy and make you more marketable as you enter the job market in hospitality. Effective marketing for your hospitality asset today means taking the following steps: your website must be responsive and provide the most user friendly experience on the desktop as well as mobile and tablet devices; Search Engine Optimization and the technical coding and functionality to ensure your website also ranks high when web surfers conduct searches using key words. Additionally, there will be a review of the most revenue-generating internet marketing techniques and finally booking mechanisms and distribution channels. 4 cr. Offered Fall Semester.
• SHA HF 771: Hospitality Revenue Management Strategies
  Graduate Prerequisites: SHA HF 701 and SHA HF 711 - Hotel Revenue Management focuses on how a hotel can produce the highest amount of "profitable" revenue given its fixed capacity and variable demand. The fundamental principles and concepts of hospitality revenue management that include pricing and discounting strategies, overbooking practices, segmentation, competitive analysis, demand and revenue forecasting, performance analysis will be discussed throughout the term. To expand revenue management streams outside of the hotel rooms, Total Revenue Management strategies are explored. Non-traditional hospitality segments discussed include space optimization and cruise revenue management. 4 cr. Offered Spring Semester.
• SHA HF 777: Meeting Planning and Special Events Management
  Graduate Prerequisites: SHA HF 701 - This course is designed to provide an introduction to the principles of special event management. The planning, development, management, and implementation of festivals, entertainment events, corporate and other events will be the focus of study. Specific topics will include bid preparation, forecasting project revenues, estimating budgetary goals, contract negotiations, event-marketing strategy, event related case studies, event technology, public and corporate sponsorship. Fundraising techniques will discussed. In addition to operational and logistical needs of various types of events, insurance and risk management concerns associated with these events are addressed. The course emphasizes the principles and concepts of etiquette and protocol. Proven event execution tactics are introduced to ensure event return on investment. 4 cr. Offered Fall Semester.
• SHA HF 778: Hospitality Analytics
  Graduate Prerequisites: SHA HF 701, SHA HF 711, and SHA HF 762 - This course will provide students with fundamental knowledge of business analytics and information visualization combined with extensive opportunities for developing hands-on skills for applying hospitality business analytics to managerial decision-making. Students will learn fundamental mathematical and statistical concepts as well as statistical modeling techniques to solve operational, financial and marketing issues that hospitality organizations face today. Students will also learn how to leverage widely used Microsoft Excel to build out data-driven insights and craft story telling visualization around the data-driven insights. 4 cr. Offered Fall semester.
• SHA HF 781: REST BUSINESS
  This course description is currently under construction.
• SHA HF 790: Independent Study Projects
  With permission from the Program Director, students may engage in independent business or research projects. Independent study projects may be used to satisfy the requirement of elective courses.(1-4 credits). On Demand.
• SHA HF 792: IND.STUDY PRO
  GRAD IND STUDY
• SHA HF 801: Hospitality Research Methods
  Students enrolled in the course will develop an understanding of the process of conducting social science research, especially as it pertains to the hospitality industry. This course will introduce students to the scientific method of inquiry and explain important considerations pertaining to quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches. Students will develop skills in conducting literature searches, reading empirical research studies, and applying these methods. Students leave the course better able to understand and critically examine published research findings as well as generate their own research questions and design robust research interventions to provide answers to these inquiries.
• SHA HF 802: Faculty Directed Research
  FACDIR RESEARCH
• SHA RE 717: Hospitality Real Estate Finance & Feasibility
  This course is designed to facilitate a working knowledge of hospitality properties as financial and real estate assets. Students will learn the hotel market and feasibility research process, to understand how to analyze hotel markets across the world, identify and evaluate key forces that impact the performance of hotel markets and the hotels within them, determine the right hotel product for each site and market and forecast future performance. The course will also provide a grounding in the basic concepts of real estate finance and how they are used by stakeholders to make hospitality investment decisions. The class culminates with the preparation of a feasibility study where the students will conduct a highest-and-best-use analysis, project a ten-year proforma for their hospitality asset, estimate development costs, and then prepare an internal rate of return analysis to determine the financial viability of the asset. Students will also arrive at the estimated market value of the proposed hospitality development using the discounted cash flow and direct capitalization approaches. Students will also create their own financial models in this course and learn how to use them effectively as tools to support critical decision-making.
• SHA RE 722: Hospitality Design
  This course is designed to introduce students to the principles of facility planning, layout and design for hotel, dining, kitchen, public and service areas. At the completion of the course, students will be able to explain the design process common to all hospitality facilities, as well as the activities that occur during each phase of this process.
• SHA RE 745: ​Introduction to the Hospitality Real Estate Lifecycle
  This course is designed to outline the real estate process within the hospitality industry. Coursework will draw a clear distinction between job functions, particularly hotel development, acquisitions, and asset management. Course work will follow the life cycle of a hotel asset, from sourcing a deal to disposition. Students will develop an understanding of financial modeling as well as a baseline knowledge of how macroeconomic trends impact decision making when making hospitality investments.
• SHA SE 726: Large Venue Management
  Students will learn about the event industry from the perspective of large-scale public assembly venues, including convention centers, sports arenas, stadiums, concert halls, and theaters. This course's content will help students understand how events hosted in public assembly venues are funded/financed from conception to completion. Topics covered include the history of public venues, facility selection and booking, scheduling and coordinating facility operations, crowd management, safety and security, and booking and management. Throughout this course, students will dive into the environment of large-scale events through case studies and examples of invoices, rental agreements, and financial statements to help illustrate the financial realities of operating event venues.

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