Bachelor of Science in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management

The School of Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management is committed to the broad land-grant mission of New Mexico State University. The school’s mission is to serve the needs of our constituents through innovative teaching, research, service, professional applications and partnerships in a multicultural and international environment.

This bachelor's degree program prepares students for supervisory and management positions in all areas of the diverse and growing hospitality and tourism industry. The full bachelor of science degree program is available through NMSU's main campus as well as completely online through NMSU Online. The program also provides a foundation for continuing development to advance to more senior management or to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. In this service-oriented, professional program, faculty, students and industry partners bring together theory and practice to forge hospitality management excellence. The curriculum is designed to educate students as individuals and professionals in a changing society. Students take a core curriculum featuring courses in a broad spectrum of skills and knowledge needed for industry and personal success. They develop an individual plan with a faculty mentor for selecting professional elective courses based on their interests. A grade of C- or better must be earned in each upper-division HRTM class to satisfy the requirement of the major.

Students are required to participate in an internship program that is offered only after the completion of 400 hours of hospitality work experience. The internship sequence consists of three, one-credit courses: HRTM 307 Professional Development, HRTM 408 Hospitality Internship, and HRTM 409 HRTM Internship Seminar and includes another 400 hours in the field, normally the summer between the student's junior and senior year. The HRTM 408 course is a prerequisite for several of the student's final 400-level courses. Thus, at the end of both the work experience practicum and the internship, students will have completed a minimum of 800 hours of professional work experience in the field.

Special Features of the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management

The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management provides excellent opportunities for experiential learning. Students take hands-on food and beverage and meetings and events courses in the 100 West Café and Bobby Lee Lawrence Academy of Wine. The Hospitality Technology Lab seats 36 for courses using hospitality simulation and general software programs.

The School of HRTM has a special relationship with the NMSU Courtyard by Marriott hotel and Total Management Systems, Inc. to provide educational opportunities for our students. Corporate executives and property managers are frequent guest speakers in classes. Part-time jobs, internships, and management opportunities are available at the property as well as the company’s other locations throughout the state. Other industry partners that are actively involved in the program and provide scholarships and other opportunities for students include the New Mexico Beef Council, New Mexico Restaurant Association, the American, Greater Albuquerque and El Paso Hotel & Lodging Associations, New Mexico Hospitality Association, New Mexico Wine Association, Latino Hotel Association and many more.

The School houses the Marriott Hospitality Futures Center. The center is funded through a grant by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation. Its office suite has been designated to allow the campus and surrounding community to discover the many opportunities available when exploring a career in hospitality. It hosts facilitated workshops, and has a strong dedication to outreach throughout New Mexico, El Paso, and the surrounding areas to student groups, public schools, and our industry partners. The HRTM’s Annual Career Fair brings 30 - 40 companies to campus each spring semester to interview students for jobs, internships, management training programs, and other career opportunities. Many recruiters come to campus at other times of the year as well.

Trips to major industry trade shows throughout the country and field trips to hospitality properties are only a few of the professional activities available to our students. HRTM’s Faculty Led International Program (FLIP) takes students to Florence, Italy each summer. The School’s National Society for Minorities in Hospitality chapter is extremely active and represents HRTM at many college, university, and national activities. Other student organizations include Eta Sigma Delta, Delta Sigma Pi, College Ambassadors, and Peer Mentors.

About NMSU

A comprehensive land-grant institution of higher learning, New Mexico State University is dedicated to teaching, research, and service at the undergraduate and graduate levels. NMSU is a NASA Space Grant College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is home to the very first Honors College in New Mexico. U.S. News and World Report rank NMSU in the top tier among Best National Universities.

A Brief History

New Mexico was still a territory when Las Cruces College opened the doors of its two-room building in the fall of 1888. The organizers of Las Cruces College—led by Hiram Hadley, a respected educator from Indiana—had even bigger plans in mind.

In 1889, the New Mexico territorial legislature authorized the creation of an agricultural college and experiment station in or near Las Cruces. The institution, which was designated as the land-grant college for New Mexico under the Morrill Act, was named the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

Las Cruces College merged with N.M.A. & M.A., and the new school opened on January 21, 1890. That first semester there were 35 students in the college level and preparatory classes and six faculty members. Classes met in the old two-room building of Las Cruces College until suitable buildings could be put on the 220-acre campus three miles south of Las Cruces.

By 1960, the school had grown greatly, and its name was changed by state constitutional amendment to New Mexico State University.

Today New Mexico State University sits on a 900-acre campus and enrolls 16,428 students from all 50 states and from 71 nations. Regular faculty members number 694 and staff, 3,113.

Be Bold. Shape the Future

New Mexico State University sits on a 900-acre campus and enrolls more than 14,000 students from 49 states and 89 foreign countries. NMSU is a NASA Space-Grant College and is home to the very first Honors College in New Mexico. A Hispanic-Serving Institution, NMSU serves a multi-cultural population of students and community members across the state at five campuses, a satellite learning center in Albuquerque, cooperative extension offices located in each of New Mexico's 33 counties, and 12 agriculture research and science centers. Plus, distance education programs give students maximum flexibility.

Our Honors College, the very first one established in New Mexico, offers qualified undergraduates the opportunity to further enrich a challenging academic program via rigorous classes taught by master teachers.

NMSU Leads 2025

The strategic goals outlined in NMSU LEADS 2025 reflect the university’s mission and vision and are vital to NMSU’s success. These include advancing student success; elevating research and creativity; amplifying extension and outreach, and building a robust NMSU system. The strategic goals are designed to be broad enough for each unit within the university system to find a way to contribute. Additionally, the university will focus on a number of grand challenges facing the state and communities around the globe. These include creating healthy borders, modernizing critical infrastructure and transforming education in New Mexico.

Our Mission

The mission of the New Mexico State University system is to serve the diverse needs of the state through comprehensive programs of education, research, extension and outreach, and public service. As the state’s land-grant and space-grant university, and as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, NMSU fosters learning, inquiry, diversity and inclusion, social mobility, and service to the broader community.

Our Vision

By 2025, the NMSU system will excel in student success and social mobility for our diverse student populations, achieve the highest Carnegie research status (R1) and maintain our Carnegie Community Engagement classification.

Our Values

• Leadership : Promoting and creating the ability for Aggies to shape the future
• Excellence : Providing the highest level of education, research, outreach, and service
• Access : Welcoming diverse populations to higher education and to the NMSU community
• Diversity & Inclusion : Embracing our differences as an asset and actively seeking to include wide-ranging perspectives
• Student-Centered : Supporting the education of our students through every aspect of our university, every day

These values are encapsulated as BE BOLD. Shape the Future.

New Mexico is Our Campus

NMSU provides learning opportunities to a diverse population of students and community members at five campuses, a satellite learning center in Albuquerque, cooperative extension offices located in each of New Mexico's 33 counties, 12 research and science centers and through distance education.

Degrees and Certification

Bachelor's and graduate degree programs are available through the following colleges based in NMSU Las Cruces: Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering; Health and Social Services; Honors and the Graduate School. Certificates, licensure programs and associate degree programs are available from the community colleges in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Doña Ana County and Grants, and the College of Arts and Sciences in Las Cruces.

• Undergraduate Majors
• Graduate Programs

Athletics

A member of the NCAA Division 1 Western Athletic Conference in 15 of its 16 varsity sports. NMSU football plays as an independent. Our Pan American Center can accommodate 12,590 and Aggie Memorial Stadium seats 30,000.

Arts and Recreation

The university offers a variety of arts and recreational activities. Museums and art galleries, professional theater, music ensembles and symphony, visiting artists, national performers, professional roadshows, on-campus public radio and TV stations, a student-run radio station, an 18-hole golf course, tennis, activity and aquatic centers are available at NMSU Las Cruces.

Accreditation

New Mexico State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Higher Learning Commission, 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500, Chicago, IL 60604. Telephone: 800-621-7440.