Core Courses

The hospitality management core courses complement the College’s business core and were selected to provide students with a sound hospitality management background and enable them to develop competencies in hospitality business analytics, service management, hotel operations management, marketing and revenue management.

HMGT 3300: Introduction to Hospitality
This survey course provides students with an understanding of the hospitality industry and the role it plays in both the U.S. and global economies. This course offers an overview of the industry, its economic impact, its history, its current and future challenges, and its business characteristics. The main goal of the course is to expose students to the hospitality industry and provide an understanding of the unique aspects of managing businesses in this industry.

HMGT 3500: Guest Service Management
This course explores the dimensions of successful service management of hospitality organizations. It also offers an in-depth study of the provision and management of high-quality service provided within a hospitality business. It prepares students for enlightened guest service management and suggests creative approaches. The course will use an integrated viewpoint on issues of measurement, continuous service improvement, staff member training from a guest perspective, and the ability to benchmark among hospitality competitors are discussed.

HMGT 3397: Work Experience in Hospitality Management
All hospitality majors, upon completion of 400 hours of verifiable work experience in the hospitality, tourism, or related industries must sign up for this course. The work experience may be obtained any time from the freshmen year at KSU to the semester of graduation at KSU and must be completed in its entirety before a degree will be awarded. This course carries no credit hours, and thus no tuition fees. Grading is Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory based on successful completion of the work-hour requirement and a reflection paper, which details work experiences and involves the students’ self-critique of their skills and knowledge in preparation for a career in the hospitality industry.

MGT 4100: Hospitality Marketing and Revenue Management
Students in this course survey common marketing practices and revenue management issues that are unique to the hospitality industry. These practices include sales procedures, revenue management (i.e., setting room rates), the use of technology to maintain a leadership position compared to one’s competitors, building a loyal customer base, a discussion of the relationship of marketing to overall organizational success, and an analysis of a hospitality operation’s annual marketing plan.

HMGT 4300: Hotel Management and Operations
This course examines hotels with students gaining a basic understanding of the various departments within these lodging venues. The relationship between major departments such as rooms division, and food and beverage are illustrated. Managerial and operational functions and decisions are identified and discussed. Students are exposed to key abilities and skill sets necessary to manage such facilities by familiarization with the role of a managerial position.

HMGT 4500: Strategic Analytics for Hospitality Managers
This course focuses on the analysis of data as they apply to operational and financial decision making. Stemming from the operational hospitality manager’s perspective, industry-specific tools are used to conduct predictive and prescriptive analytics, and financial and non-financial performance analysis, including but not limited to, service measurement, expenses and profitability, turnover and human resources information, guest satisfaction, competitor performance data, and other measures of operational performance in hospitality.