Rosen College of Hospitality Management
 |
|
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1983 |
| Dean | Abraham Pizam, Ph.D. |
| Undergraduates | 2,816 |
| Postgraduates | 118 |
| Location |
Orlando, Florida, United States |
| Campus |
Urban 20 acres (0.081 km2) |
| Website | Official Site |
The Rosen College of Hospitality Management is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States.
The college is renowned as one of the finest schools of hospitality in the United States and, in 2016, was rated #5 among all hospitality schools worldwide (and the youngest of the top five rated schools). Rosen College is also one of the fastest growing academic programs at UCF.
UCF offered its first program in Hospitality Management in 1983. The program was the outgrowth of UCF's Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies, which began in 1979. Dr. Abraham Pizam led the department from its founding in 1983 to 1993. Dr. Robert Ford served as department chair from 1993 to 1998. Dr. Pizam returned in 1998 and is the current dean.
Despite being based in Orlando – one of the world's premier tourist destinations – the program had difficulty getting started, being realigned several times: originally it was aligned under the College of Business, then it would become an independent program, then it would lose independent status and be aligned under the College of Health and Professional Studies, then realigned once again under the College of Business. The difficulties with the program led to a 1998 Orlando Sentinel article, which bluntly criticized UCF's administration for its "less-than-stellar hospitality program" (and for allowing the Pope Institute to dwindle to nearly nothing, courtesy of drastically-reduced state funding).
Whether intentional or not, the Sentinel article served as a catalyst for improvements. A $250,000 donation led to new and unique study tracks in Vacation Ownership Resort Management and Theme Park & Attraction Management. The turning point would come in 2000 when Harris Rosen, owner of Orlando-based Rosen Hotels & Resorts and long-time supporter of the university, donated $10 million in cash and 25 acres in land (valued at $8 million), along with an additional $1.1 million in cash for scholarships, to the program. The donation spurred others (among them an $18 million matching gift from the State of Florida and $5 million from the Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau), and the program would once again become an independent school (named Rosen School of Hospitality Management after its major benefactor), with Dr. Pizam being named Interim Dean.
The new campus would open in January 2004, with the School being elevated to College status in May of that year.
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