Prior to graduating with a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree and a major in Hospitality and Tourism Management students must complete 1000 hours of work in the hospitality field.  The work experience is broken into two components:

HTM 261 Internship; the purpose of the first 600 hour requirement is to help student's confirm their field of interest.  Hospitality and Tourism experience requirements are broadly defined to include providing services and/or service products that meet the needs of others.  This broad service industry work requirement is satisfied by working in one or a combination of service industry jobs during summers, or after school starting in high school, and concluding by their junior year at JMU.

 

HTM 461 - Supervisory Internship normally takes place during the summer between the student's junior and senior year after CoB 300.  It must be a minimum of 400 hours.  This experience focuses on the hospitality field the student wants to work in post graduation.  The student is responsible for securing the internship.  The ideal internship should have many of the following characteristics and should have the starred (*) aspects:

 

HTM 261 Internship Company Characteristics:

§         Work opportunity in the services industry

§         Bi-monthly progress review by a supervisor

§         Evaluation of the work

 

HTM 461 Supervisory Internship Company Characteristics:

• Work 40 or more hours per week
• Shadow management when not working in assigned department(s)
• Attend orientation and training programs
• Assign a mentor to meet with the intern at least bi-weekly
• Complete management level work assignments whenever possible
• Assist management with a significant project during the internship
• Receive evaluations from supervisors in each department worked
• Meet with a mentor and receiving an overall evaluation for the 400 plus hours worked*
• Complete a minimum of 400 hours of work*

 

Student Requirements for HTM 261:

• Register for HTM 261 during the freshman, sophomore, or junior year
• Complete a one page paper summarizing place(s) of employment, job title(s), job description and hours worked
• Meet briefly with your Internship instructor to review and provide work experience verification
• Supply either a W-2 form, letter from your boss, or some form of work experience verification

 

Student Requirement for HTM 461:

• Gain prior internship approval from the HTM Department Coordinator or Department head*
• Complete the online HTM internship information requirements prior to starting your internship
• Contact the internship instructor during the internship if there are any concerns or changes to the internship structure.
• Meet with the internship instructor in the fall after completing the summer internship work experience
• Provide a job description, property description, job evaluation, and project sample to your instructor during the fall exit interview meeting
• Complete the internship survey form in the fall so that future interns can make informed internship decisions and learn about the various internship opportunities