Graduates of the MS program in hospitality-tourism management are well prepared to step into numerous mid-level service management and training director positions. The program is focused on service and innovation, as well as leadership functions within many service and corporate settings and at post-secondary academic institutions.

The hospitality-tourism management program may be taken on a full- or part-time basis. The length of time required to earn a degree varies according to the student's undergraduate preparation and the number of graduate courses taken per quarter. To earn the MS degree, all students must take a minimum of 48 quarter credit hours, 36 of which must be registered through RIT. For full-time students, the program requires a minimum of four quarters of study at the graduate level. Part-time students generally will require seven or eight quarters of study at the graduate level.

Corporate Meeting Planner

Corporate Travel Manager or Corporate Travel Policy Analyst

Director of Training

Special Events Manager

Tour Wholesaler

The curriculum is a combination of a required core in service management plus concentration courses. It also contains elective courses appropriate for the candidate's background and interests, and either a research thesis or a graduate research project. Course offerings generally are scheduled for evenings or weekends, and also are available online to facilitate part-time students.

The curriculum for the MS in hospitality-tourism management introduces the major concepts associated with all aspects of service management, whether they are applied specifically to the hospitality-tourism industry or the wider service industry. This commonality becomes even more evident when the nature of the concepts is depicted. Among the general concepts investigated are service strategy formulation and service delivery alignment (understanding and co-creating customer value, innovation and creativity, service leadership, service design implementation, and metrics development), customer-focused research (understanding what customers value, building service environments, and change in service organizations), and human resource issues and capital development (human capital strategies and metrics for evaluation).

The core courses facilitate the paradigm shift from manufacturing to service and move the focus from traditional organizational structures to an organization where employees must provide several functions, sometimes simultaneously. This multifunctional approach provides a new avenue to examine service organizations and explore such issues as teamwork, learning organizations, organizational change, performance metrics, and customer relationship management.

Each course not only introduces the service philosophy, but also examines the real differences in hospitality-service management outcomes necessitated by the adoption of a new service paradigm. In so doing, these courses set the stage for the professional "cluster" courses.

Elective courses provide students with an opportunity to individualize their graduate programs in line with their career and professional interests. With the approval of the department chair, students are allowed to take a selection of elective courses from outside the hospitality-tourism management program. Courses may be taken from the hospitality and service management program, the human resource development program, the E. Philip Saunders College of Business, and the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. Students are cautioned to observe course prerequisites in their selections.

Of the 8 to 12 quarter credit hours of electives, students are relatively free to select courses that they feel best meet their needs. All elective courses must be graduate-level. If previous course work exists, a student may transfer a maximum of 12 graduate quarter credit hours from another university. A maximum of 8 graduate quarter credit hours may be taken as independent study or practicum courses.

A thesis or research project is required of all candidates. Thesis topics should complement the candidate's undergraduate training, career experiences, and graduate interests. The thesis or project is a formal document that reflects the candidate's professional preparation and may be of an applied research genre, a reflection of the student's ability to utilize professional modeling and other techniques to explain decision-making within the hospitality-tourism industry and/or to transform an organization or department.

The graduate faculty, in addition to the chair of the program, can aid the candidate in selecting a relevant thesis/project topic.

Prior to being admitted to the MS program, applicants must illustrate that their previous training, ability, practical experience, and education indicate a reasonable chance of success. The complete list of admission requirements includes the following:

• Graduate application
• Baccalaureate degree or equivalent from an accredited institution
• Official undergraduate transcript(s) (in English)
• Two professional recommendations
• A resume
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above, or evidence of relevant professional performance.
• Foundation course work with grades of 3.0 or higher (if required)

The Test of English as a Foreign Language is required for international students. Applicants must achieve a minimum score of at least 570 (paper-based), 230 (computer-based), or 88-89 (Internet-based) to be considered for admission. Scores from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam will be accepted in place of the TOEFL exam. The absolute minimum score for an unconditional acceptance is 6.5.