
Established in 1984 to serve and support Chicago's number one industry, the Manfred Steinfeld undergraduate program is a premier four-year hospitality program in Illinois. Named for Manfred Steinfeld, the program's benefactor and chairman and former CEO of Shelby Williams Industries, the Roosevelt program seeks to produce leaders and innovators in hospitality and tourism management. With Chicago as our campus, the curriculum is implemented by an experienced faculty and staff from the nation's hospitality, event planning and tourism industries. Students include a lively mix of entering freshmen, transfer students and a representative international population.
No better place exists to learn about this industry than the Chicago metropolitan area with its wealth of world-class hotels and restaurants and its rich blend of ethnic cultures and cuisines, arts and entertainment, sports and recreation. With offices overlooking several of Chicago’s major tourism destinations, the school offers an undergraduate program preparing students for management and leadership careers in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Roosevelt’s Hospitality program prepares students in the following concentration areas: lodging management; food and beverage management; meeting, events and exhibition management; and tourism administration.
The program is tuned in to the local community with a service learning project and partnership with the Marriott Foundation to benefit Chicago Public School graduates with severe learning and cognitive disabilities. This is how we embrace social justice and put values into action.
Choose from meeting and event management, lodging management, food and beverage management, or tourism administration.
Students develop professional leadership abilities, technical skills, and creative problem-solving skills appropriate for the hospitality workplace. Our hands-on coursework in management theory and practice, operations analysis, organizational development, multiculturalism and cultural diversity, will give you the experience you need to lead creatively and strategically. Our expert faculty provide real world exposure to industry experts through guest lectures and site visits, incorporating a strong experiential component with a dedicated internship director, as well as our service learning project in partnership with the Marriott Foundation.
A minor in Hospitality and Tourism Management is available to non-Business majors. Any major that can accommodate the requirements is welcome to declare this minor.
Students interested in this minor should consult with the advisors for the Heller College of Business regarding the rotation of classes. It typically takes three semesters to complete this sequence.
I found the knowledge gained in the Organizational Development class was so helpful when it came to job interviews. I was able to point back to things I learned in that class several times. I was able to use the personal strengths that were identified in the strengths profile test when answering interview questions about what I would bring to a particular position or organization, and they helped me identify the type of position and organization I want to work for. I truly feel the education I received at Roosevelt prepared me for re-entering the workforce and I feel so confident as I get started in my first official job in the meetings industry! So a huge thank you to the Roosevelt faculty!
Because of Roosevelt’s location, we are able to use the city as our ‘laboratory’ like no other school in the country. We have the largest convention center in the country (McCormick Place), the most highly visible attraction in the state (Navy Pier), some of the world’s largest hotels (Hyatt, Hilton, Sheraton), the newest and most popular urban park in the country (Millennium Park), the second largest concentration of trade and professional associations with meetings and convention departments in the country, and some of the best restaurants, most notable private clubs, and highest rated hotels in the world (Hilton, Ritz Carlton, The Peninsula and The Four Seasons). If there is an area of hospitality, tourism, convention, exposition or events management that students are interested in pursuing, we have it in Chicago, and Roosevelt University is in the middle of it. We put you in contact with the leaders of the industry.