Hotel Schools

Arizona State University
Phoenix, Ariz.

Arizona State University’s School of Community Resources and Development offers several options related to sustainable tourism. These include a B.S. in Tourism Development and Management with a concentration in Sustainable Tourism or a sustainability oriented concentration in Resort and Accommodations Leadership. Also offered is a fully online Master of Advanced Study in Sustainable Tourism and a less intensive alternative of an online graduate level certificate in Sustainable Tourism

Cornell School of Hotel Administration
Ithaca, N.Y.

The Cornell School of Hotel Administration offers a course called “Sustainable Global Enterprise Practicum in the Hospitality Industry.”

East Carolina University
Greenville, N.C.

East Carolina University includes a Center for Sustainable Tourism. The Center for Sustainable Tourism has a Master in Science Sustainable Tourism program.

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland

As part of a “Facilities Management” course, students at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne learn about renewable energy from on-campus solar and wind power installations.

Eshotel Paris
Paris, France

Eshotel offers a “Tourism and the Environment” course (in English) to all students.

Florida International University
North Miami, Fla.

Florida International University offers an undergraduate course in “Sustainable Tourism Practices.” The course explores management strategies suitable for controlling a growing industry. At the graduate level, the school offers many environment-related courses: “Environmental Management Systems for Tourism,” “Ecological Anthropology,” “Theory of Landscape Architecture,” “Ethics and the Environment,” “Ecology of the Costa Rican Rainforest,” “Global Environment and Society,” and several others.

George Washington University
Washington, D.C.

In George Washington University’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, graduate students can focus on Sustainable Destination Management as an area of study. Ecotourism is included in the study area. In partnership with The International Ecotourism Society, George Washington University also offers many distance learning courses in sustainable tourism and ecotourism.

Georgia State University
Atlanta

The J. Mack Robinson College of Business offers an internship with Melia Hotels where students can actively research sustainability in operations.

Grand Valley State University
Allendale, Mich.

Grand Valley State University’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) integrates the study of sustainability and green topics/practices across the curriculum while featuring a specific course (HTM 368 Geotourism) which includes topics such as community development, land use and planning, conservation of resources, and tourist satisfaction and marketing with an emphasis on sustaining or enhancing the environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of local residents.

Green Lagoon School of SustainEco & WWT Medicine
La Fortuna, Costa Rica

At Green Lagoon School of SustainEco & WWT Medicine, the mission is to raise the appreciation and awareness of sustainable ecotourism to higher levels day after day within the school’s business and scope of disciplines: Tourism, EcoAdventures, Hospitality, Organic Gastronomy, Green Energy, Renewable Natural Resources, Wilderness-Wellness, and Naturapathic & Travel Medicine.

Green Mountain College
Poultney, Vt.

Green Mountain College, a liberal arts college, incorporates the environment and sustainability issues throughout its curriculum. The college offers a resort management major and just started a hospitality management program.

Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

Harvard University, as part of its Extension School, is offering a course in Environmental Management of International Tourism Development.

Kendall College
Chicago

Kendall College offers a concentration in Sustainable Management in Hospitality and Tourism. All students take The Economics and Technology of Sustainability course as part of the Bachelors degree in Hospitality Management. In addition, students can specialize by taking the six-course concentration which is taught using lecture, scenario planning and case studies. The courses offered include: Foundations for Success in Sustainable Hospitality; Sustainable Operations in Hotels, Venues and Food & Beverages; Global Resource Management and Environmental Regulations; Certifications, Ecolabels, Standards and Awards; Sustainable Supply Chain Management; Research, Analytics, Metrics and Reporting for Sustainability.

Manfred Steinfeld School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Chicago and Schaumburg, Ill.

At the Manfred Steinfeld School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, part of Roosevelt University, sustainability and green practices are discussed throughout the curriculum. Students are encouraged to research topics of interest. “Green Meetings Management” is one course offered.

Mercyhurst College
Erie, Penn.

This college, which offers majors in hotel management and hospitality management, meets 100 percent of its electricity needs through the purchase of wind power.

MiraCosta College
Oceanside, Calif.

Several courses at MiraCosta College are taught emphasizing sustainable practices. A few of these include: “Hospitality Facilities Management,” “International Tourism,” “Corporate/Business Travel Management,” “Restaurant Management,” “Culinary Basics.”

Missouri State University
Springfield, Mo.

The Missouri State University Department of Hospitality and Restaurant Administration emphasizes “green” and sustainability issues throughout its curriculum. It now offers a degree in geotourism.

Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Ariz.

This school offers courses in “Ecotourism,” “Planning for Sustainable Development,” and “Destination Development.”

Penn State University, School of Hospitality Management
University Park, Pa.

Students at Penn State University, School of Hospitality Management learn about corporate social responsibility and sustainablity in the Human Resources class. Across many disciplines, courses are offered that pertain to sustainable development.

Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana

At Purdue University, sustainability is embedded across the curriculum and the school has a course focused on sustainability in the hospitality industry.

Southern Illinois University in Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois

Students must select one of the following courses: Social Perspectives on Environmental Issues; Humans and Their Environment; The Role of Energy in Society; or Geography, People and the Environment as a core course prior to the introduction of green topics such as sustainability, green hotels, green restaurants and ecotourism.

St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg, Fla.

St. Petersburg College has launched an Office of Sustainability. Among the initiatives: adding instruction in green lodging to the college’s hospitality program.

State University of New York at Delhi
Delhi, N.Y.

Students at the State University of New York are required to enroll in a series of courses where sustainability is infused throughout the curriculum. Foundations of sustainability are presented in the basic food production, lodging accommodations management, and in hotel front office management courses. At the upper division, issues of sustainability and green practices are mastered through demonstrations and presentations of empirical and practical research. Students may elect to take the Green and Sustainable Meetings and Events course which applies these concepts to the event management segment of the industry.

SUNY Cobleskill
Cobleskill, N.Y.

Although the school does not have a specific course in the Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Tourism department, topics such as sustainability, green hotels, green restaurants and ecotourism are covered in several courses.

Temple University
Philadelphia

Sustainability (including responsibility to the community and volunteerism) is one of the core values and part of the assurance of learning program at Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management. Courses touching on sustainability include Sustainable Event Management, in which students honor businesses with the Green Initiatives Awards program. Under the guidance of Instructor Harith Wickrema, these students research, evaluate and nominate businesses, as well as secure sponsors and trade show participants.
Students also oversee the event itself, which incorporates an array of innovative green elements.

University of California Irvine
Irvine, Calif.

The school offers an online course called “Fundamentals of Green Spas, Hotels and Resorts.”

University of Colorado
Boulder, Colo.

The following courses are available: “Strategies in Sustainable Tourism: Issues Facing Resort and Gateway Communities in the U.S. and Canadian West,” “Sustainability: Business and the Environment,” “Assessing Sustainable Energy Technologies,” and “Sustainable Operations.” The Center of Sustainable Tourism is located at the University of Colorado. Its mission is to help students in the Leeds School of Business understand the challenges facing tourism businesses in the context of broader sustainability issues.

University of Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii

The University of Hawaii has an Environmental Sustainability in Tourism Program as part of the School of Travel Industry Management.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas

In the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, courses are offered in “Facilities Management” and “Green Hotels.”

University of New Hampshire
Durham, N.H.

The Hospitality Management program at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, provides courses in hotel management, food service & restaurant management, conventions
& event management.

University of North Texas
Denton, Texas

The University of North Texas offers a degree in International Sustainable Tourism.

University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa

The school has a Sustainable Tourism and Environment Program.

University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont

The school will offer a Global Sustainable Ecotourism Development course in July 2010.

Yachana Lodge, Yachana Technical High School
Amazon Region, Ecuador

Yachana: Geotourism Lodge and School, living laboratory of sustainable tourism in practice. World class, award winning geotourism destination in the Amazon region of Ecuador. Smart Voyager certified in good practices. We practice sustainable tourism.

If your school offers a green, hospitality-specific course and is not listed above, contact Glenn Hasek atgreenlodgingnews@aol.com.