Program Overview

Experience Industry Management

The Experience Industry Management (EIM) department prepares students to be leaders in an industry that promotes healthy lifestyles, protects memorable places, and facilitates life-enhancing experiences for individuals, communities, and the global society. The program is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT).

Academic Programs

• BS Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration: This program prepares students for professional employment in destination management and marketing, corporate, mega, and social event planning, sport promotion and game-day operations, experiential marketing, hospitality management, tourism operations, park management, community recreation, employee experiences, outdoor recreation leadership, and convention and meeting management.
• Event Planning and Experience Management Minor: This minor prepares students for a professional career in experience design, event planning, leadership, and management for a variety of event genres including corporate events, conventions, festivals, meetings, exhibitions, mega and hallmark events, sporting, international, and non-profit events.

Concentrations

The BS Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration offers several concentrations:

• Event Planning & Experience Management: Prepares students for a professional career in experience design, event planning, leadership, and management.
• Sport & Recreation Management: Prepares students for management positions with sport and recreation entities.
• Tourism, Hospitality & Destination Management: Prepares students for a professional career with organizations that provide experience industry products or services for national and international tourists.

Course Descriptions

A wide range of courses are offered, including but not limited to:

• RPTA 101: Introduction to the Experience Industry: History, philosophy, theory, and organization of the experience industry.
• RPTA 110: Orientation and College Success in Experience Industry Management: Orientation to Experience Industry Management and Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration fields.
• RPTA 112: Introduction to Parks and Outdoor Recreation: Introduction to park and outdoor recreation systems.
• RPTA 114: Introduction to Hospitality and Travel: History and development of the hospitality and travel industries.
• RPTA 121: Theories and Frameworks of Experience Design: Foundational knowledge, introductory frameworks, and entry-level experience design theory.
• RPTA 160: Introduction to Sport Management: Introduction to the philosophy, organization, issues, and career paths of sport management.
• RPTA 201: Sociocultural Dimensions of Work and Leisure: History and theoretical framework associated with the interplay between work and leisure in the United States.
• RPTA 203: Resource Law Enforcement: Law enforcement applied to natural resource conservation on public and private lands.
• RPTA 210: Experience Design: Methods of experience design, program planning, theme creation, execution, and evaluation in experience industry settings.
• RPTA 216: Resort and Lodging Operations: Exploration of the technical operations integral to resort and lodging.
• RPTA 221: Professionalism and Customer Experiences: Service qualities and behaviors across the experience industry.
• RPTA 255: Leadership and Diverse Groups: Development and application of leadership skills in recreation activity settings.
• RPTA 260: Community Relations and Sports-Based Youth Development: Philosophy, foundations, policy, and techniques underlying community relations and sports-based youth development.
• RPTA 270: Selected Topics: Directed group study of selected topics.
• RPTA 275: Facilitation and Teambuilding: Techniques and models used in leadership, facilitation, and teambuilding.
• RPTA 302: Environmental and Wilderness Education: Education and teaching techniques that apply to learning experiences in an outdoor environment.
• RPTA 313: Sustainability in the Experience Industry: Investigation of the experience industry from a sustainability perspective.
• RPTA 314: Sustainable Travel and Tourism Planning: The planning and development of tourism destinations, agencies, and services from a sustainable development perspective.
• RPTA 317: Hospitality, Convention and Meeting Management: Role of conventions, meetings management, and events in the hospitality and travel industry.
• RPTA 318: Destination Marketing & Management: Examination of the development and critical roles that destination management and marketing organizations play in the tourism industry.
• RPTA 320: Strategic Event Planning: Strategy and successful practices in special event planning.
• RPTA 321: Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management: Management issues in meeting the needs of experience industry businesses and organizations.
• RPTA 323: Sport Marketing and the Fan Experience: Exploration of professional sports and intercollegiate athletics through the lens of sport marketing and the fan experience.
• RPTA 325: Leadership in Outdoor Experiences: Theoretical principles and experience in leadership, judgment, and decision-making in outdoor and adventure settings.
• RPTA 328: Environmental Leadership and Community Engagement: Theories and practices of leadership and community engagement for a wide range of environmental issues.
• RPTA 330: Directed Field Experience: Practical work experience in related phases of the experience industry in an organization under qualified supervision.
• RPTA 342: Risk Management for the Experience Industry: Legislative and legal aspects of public, private, commercial, and non-profit experience industry organizations.
• RPTA 350: Sport and Event Venue Management: Management of sport and event venues.
• RPTA 360: Assessment and Evaluation of Experience Industry Management: Evaluation of experience industry programs using a variety of research methodologies.
• RPTA 370: Experiential Marketing Strategies for Experience Industry Management: Core principles of experiential marketing within the realm of tourism, hospitality, and destination management.
• RPTA 393: Hospitality Sales and Service: Hospitality sales and service in the convention and event industry.
• RPTA 400: Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates: Individual investigation, research, studies, or surveys of selected problems.
• RPTA 405: Principles of Experience Industry Management: The study, analysis, and practice of management processes as they are applied to experience industry management organizations.
• RPTA 412: Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications: Selected topics on aspects of experience industry management.
• RPTA 413: Tourism and Protected Area Management: Practices of tourism and recreation resource management in protected areas.
• RPTA 416: Interpreting Experience Industry Data Analytics: Interpretation of data and metrics used in the experience industry.
• RPTA 420: Strategic Event Implementation: Management strategies and practices for small to large-scale community festivals and events.
• RPTA 424: Financial Management in the Experience Industry: Financing experience industry products and services in public, private, commercial, and voluntary settings.
• RPTA 450: Resource and Grant Development: Explores principles of grant writing and resource development.
• RPTA 460: Senior Project in Experience Industry Management: Selection and completion of an individual senior project.
• RPTA 461: Senior Project: Completion, under faculty supervision, of an investigative project typical of problems which graduates must solve in their fields of employment.
• RPTA 463: Pre-Internship Seminar: Exploration of professionalism, internship opportunities, and practices.
• RPTA 465: Internship: 400 hours of full-time concentration-specific practical work experience over a ten-week period in an approved organization.
• RPTA 470: Selected Advanced Topics: Directed group study of selected topics for advanced students.
• RPTA 471: Selected Advanced Laboratory: Directed group laboratory study of selected topics for advanced students.
• RPTA 472: Leadership Practice: Tasks associated with development of personal leadership skills.
• RPTA 500: Individual Study: Advanced independent study planned and completed under the direction of a member of the department faculty.
• RPTA 502: Current Issues in Recreation, Parks and Tourism: Societal issues that influence the management and delivery of recreation, parks, and tourism services.
• RPTA 527: Leisure Behavior and Theory: Theories of recreation and leisure; conceptual and theoretical foundations of leisure.
• RPTA 539: Graduate Internship in Recreation, Parks and Tourism: Application of theory to the solution of problems of recreation, parks, and tourism or related businesses in the field.
• RPTA 570: Selected Topics in Recreation, Parks and Tourism: Directed group study of selected topics for advanced students.
• RPTA 571: Selected Advanced Laboratory in Recreation, Parks and Tourism: Directed group laboratory of selected topics for advanced students.
• RPTA 581: Graduate Seminar in Recreation, Parks and Tourism: Group study of selected developments, trends, and problems in the field of recreation, parks, and tourism.
• RPTA 599: Thesis in Recreation, Parks and Tourism: Individual research in recreation, parks, and tourism management under the general supervision of faculty, leading to a graduate thesis.

Faculty

• Marni Goldenberg: B.S., California State University, Sacramento, 1995; M.S., Purdue University, 1997; Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2002.
• P. Brian Greenwood: B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1996. M.S., North Carolina State University, 2001; Ph.D., 2007.
• Jerusha B. Greenwood: B.S., University of Utah, 1998; M.S., 2002; Ph.D., North Carolina State University, 2006.
• Kevin Lin: B.A., Bejing International Studies University, 2008; M.A., Califorinia State University, Chico; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2014.
• Keri Schwab: B.A., James Madison University, 2000; M.A. and Ph.D., University of Utah, 2011.
• Sandy Shen: B.Mgmt., Southeast Univ, China, 2010, M.Sc., Peking University, China, 2013, Ph.D. Univ. of Guelph, Canada, 2020
• Pei Zhang: B.S., Wuhan University of Science and Technology, 2009; M.S., University of South Carolina, 2013; Ph.D., University of South Carolina, 2017.