MS-STH Program Structure

The program consists of 10 courses (PDF), or 30 credit hours, in sustainable tourism and hospitality. Designed for working professionals as well as full-time students, you can decide the pace that is suitable for your life. Courses may be taken in any order, provided prerequisites are met. Completion of the program will typically require one year for full-time students and two years for part-time students.

Core Courses

The MS-STH program includes the following core courses (in suggested sequence):

Fall

• SUTO 6000 Principles of Tourism and Sustainability
• SUTO 6100 Environmental Systems and Sustainability
• HMGT 6410 Strategic Management of Lodging Operations
• HMGT 6400 Critical Analysis of Food Service and Beverage Management Systems
• Directed Elective (choose one from the list below)

Spring

• SUTO 6200 Development and Management of Sustainable Tourism
• SUTO 6300 Policy and Planning for Sustainable Tourism
• HMGT 6310 Strategic Management of Conventions and Special Events
• HMGT 6420 Current Issues and Strategies in Hospitality Management
• Directed Elective (choose one from the list below)

Directed Elective Options (Choose 2)

^Course has a pre-requisite

• ANTH 6050* (Advanced Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology) *Or any Sociology or Anthropology or Geography classes at the graduate level. For example, some students have enjoyed taking qualitative research methods from anthropology or sociology
• ECON 6401 (Microeconomic Theory II),
• ECON 6402^ (Microeconomic Theory II)
• ENG 7465 (Folklore)
• FINA  6214 (Government Regulation of Business)
• GEOG 6335 (Tourism Development)
• GEOG 6360 (Geography of Global Climate Change)
• ICS 7005 (Human Dimensions of Coastal Management)
• MAST 6650 (Management of Coastal Cultural Resources)
• MGMT 6102 (Comparative Management)
• MGMT 6802^ (Organizational Behavior)
• MGMT 6822 (Business and Society)
• MGMT 6812 (Entrepreneurship)
• MKTG 6162 (Marketing Management)
• MKTG 6822^ (Marketing Strategy)
• MKTG 6652^ (Seminar in Marketing)
• MKTG 6772^ (Sustainability Marketing)
• OMGT 6123 (Quantitative Methods),
• OMGT 6213^ (Operations and Supply Chain Management)
• PLAN 6305 (Developmental planning and the Environment)
• PADM 6100 (Politics & Management in Public Agencies)
• RCSC 6220 (Managing Commercial and Tourism Industry Leisure Services)
• RCSC 6300 (Statistics and Analysis in Health and Human Performance)
• RCSC 6110 (Research Methods in Recreation Sciences)
• SOCI 6216 (Social Statistics)
• SUTO 6400 – Sustainable Tourism Internship- (only if an internship is readily set up and a faculty member has agreed to supervise it and provide it as a 3-credit course)
• SUTO 6600 – Study Abroad in International Sustainable Tourism and Management I (if the study abroad trip is approved by the MS-STH program)
• SUTO 6610 – Sustainable Tourism Field Studies in Regional and National Settings (only if a field study/special project is readily set up and a faculty member has agreed to supervise it and provide it as a 3-credit course)
• SUTO 6710 – Special Topics in Sustainable Tourism (only if a special topics project has already been set up and a faculty member has agreed to supervise it and provide it as a 3-credit course—a special topics course may be for a case study, a research project, etc.—again—only if set up in advance with a specific faculty member
• SUTO 6900 – Independent Study in Sustainable Tourism

Flexibility

The unique structure of the program allows students to customize their graduate school experience through course flexibility, internship opportunities, and hands on experience in sustainability.

All courses are offered completely online in an asynchronous manner, meaning you don’t have to come to campus nor do you have to login at specific dates and times. Students must have a strong motivation to work independently as well as collaboratively with fellow students and faculty.