Since its inception nearly three decades ago, the University of Central Florida\u2019s Hospitality Management program has seen unprecedented growth, expanding from small subset of the University\u2019s College of Business to its own College with nearly 3,500 students. And come May 4th, UCF\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management will see one of its founding students walk across the graduation stage for the final time, as 48-year-old Scott Smith will receive his Ph.D. in Hospitality Education. Smith\u2019s Ph.D. will mark the first time in Rosen College\u2019s 29-year history that a hospitality management student has earned a bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degree all from UCF.<\/p>\n
Born and raised in Orlando, Smith had the unique experience of watching his modest hometown developed into the world\u2019s premiere tourist destination. And just as quick as hotels and attractions began spreading throughout area, so did Smith\u2019s fascination with the hospitality and tourism industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was 16, I applied for a job at Disney and haven\u2019t stopped working in the hospitality industry since,\u201d said Smith. \u201cI\u2019ve just always had a fascination with the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1982, Smith enrolled at UCF as a freshman, and two years later the UCF\u2019s College of Business began a degree program specializing in hospitality management \u2013 an opportunity that Smith was excited to take advantage of that semester.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember seeing these posters around campus advertising this new hospitality management program,\u201d said Smith. \u201cAs soon as I saw the posters, I knew I had to be part of the program, and so I ended up enrolling into the first two hospitality classes ever offered by UCF.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the summer 1987, Smith graduated from UCF as one of the first ten students to declare the hospitality major and immediately began working in Orlando\u2019s competitive hotel industry. Roughly 15 years later, Smith was at the peak of his career, serving as the general manager of one Orlando\u2019s busiest hotels, when he decided to pursue a master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was at the peak of my career and I kept thinking about the next step to take in my life, and I decided to go back to school and get a master\u2019s,\u201d said Smith. \u201cCoincidentally, that year UCF was starting a master\u2019s program in Hospitality and Tourism Management, so I agreed to step down as GM of my hotel, accept a sales & marketing manager position, and began pursuing my master\u2019s at UCF.\u201d<\/p>\n
While pursuing his master\u2019s degree, Smith was approached by the then Associate Dean, Dr. Stephen LeBruto, to teach classes at the Rosen College as an adjunct professor.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing asked to teach hospitality management classes was a great opportunity for me because I got to see if this was the right direction for my career,\u201d said Smith. \u201cTeaching just felt right, it felt natural.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s decision to begin teaching in the classroom seems to have been the right career move as he was voted the eighth best university professor in 2009 by Ratemyprofessor.com, which ranks more than a million college professors.<\/p>\n
Smith eventually joined the Rosen College faculty full time, as a Ph.D. candidate.<\/p>\n
This past semester, Smith completed his doctoral dissertation, which focused on consumer perceptions of hotel pricing and cancelation policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a hotel guy, who has run the sales and marketing department, and I was very interested in researching consumer behavior with regard to hotel pricing,\u201d said Smith. \u201cI wanted to examine why people pick the hotels they do and why they cancel their reservations. Dr. H.G. Parsa was able to help me direct my research and guide me through the entire process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith also credits his success to two of his current colleagues Dr. Abraham Pizam and Professor Bob Ashley, who have both served on UCF\u2019s Hospitality Management faculty since the program\u2019s inception.<\/p>\n
After the May 4 commencement ceremony, Dr. Scott Smith will look to continue educating students about the competitive hotel industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since its inception nearly three decades ago, the University of Central Florida\u2019s Hospitality Management program has seen unprecedented growth, expanding from small subset of the University\u2019s College of Business to its own College with nearly 3,500 students. And come May 4th, UCF\u2019s Rosen College of Hospitality Management will see one of its founding students walk across the graduation stage for…","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":35641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1410,5338,1004,5594,4068,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-35639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","tag-abraham-pizam","tag-bob-ashley","tag-commencement","tag-h-g-parsa","tag-rosen-college-of-hospitality-management","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n