Cal Poly Experience Industry Management Department Named Third Best in Nation
SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly’s Experience Industry Management Department has been named the third best department in the nation for the study of parks, recreation and leisure, according to a new report by higher education research firm College Factual.
Cal Poly’s Experience Industry Management Department is the first of its kind in California, encompassing a program that mirrors a national shift that blends sports, tourism, travel, lifestyle, conventions, meetings, events, experiential marketing, adventure, outdoor experiences, destination marketing, hospitality, community recreation and related industries.
Students in the Experience Industry Management Department earn a Bachelor of Science degree in recreation, parks and tourism administration. Concentrations are offered in sport and recreation experience management, tourism, hospitality and destination management, and event planning and experience management. The department also offers a minor in event planning and experience management.
Cal Poly’s program was selected by College Factual based on a methodology that included education quality, average earnings of graduates, and accreditation, among other factors. Cal Poly graduates earn more than 26 percent more than the standard graduate with the same degree from other colleges, according to the report.
Cal Poly recreation, parks and tourism administration graduates are tackling jobs as global event strategy managers, destination marketing coordinators, experience design directors, event planners, adventure travel guides, outdoor experience leaders, park managers, hospitality managers, sales and catering directors, employee experience specialists, tourism marketing directors, community recreation coordinators, and professional sports team executives in the U.S. and throughout the world.
“Recognition on a national level with the likes of the University of Illinois, Texas A&M University, the University of Utah, and Indiana University is a tribute to the exceptional quality of Cal Poly students and a faculty who embrace change and a futuristic view of disciplines that comprise the growing and evolving experience industry,” said Bill Hendricks, head of the Experience Industry Management Department.
About Experience Industry Management
Experience Industry Management is the facilitation and design of experiences across all sectors of industries related to tourism, hospitality, event planning, outdoor recreation, community recreation and sport management. It is one of nine departments in Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Graduates of the program have started their careers at some of the industry’s most compelling organizations, such as the San Francisco Giants, Pebble Beach Resorts, Salesforce and George P. Johnson.
About Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, comprehensive polytechnic university. The university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is comprised of expert faculty members who take pride in their ability to transform academically motivated students into innovative professionals ready to solve the complex challenges associated with feeding the world in sustainable ways. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including ranch land, orchards, vineyards and forests, all of which provide the basis for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing methodology. It is the fifth-largest college of agriculture in the country, with 4,000 undergraduate students.
Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo
805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu
October 18, 2018