2023-2024

Hotel and Restaurant Management, Bachelor of Science

Hotel and Restaurant Management

The W. A. Franke College of Business

Beginning fall 2024, this program will also be offered at the Mesa Workforce Development Center.

This degree not only prepares students with the professional knowledge and skills to succeed in the hospitality industry, but also provides opportunities for growth and experience in that industry. Throughout a student's time in the program, students will focus on a set of hospitality courses including, but not limited to, guest services, food preparation, and sales.

This program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA)

This program is nationally recognized by the Council on Hotel, Restaraunt, and Institutional Education (CHRIE)

  • To receive a bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete at least 120 units of credit that minimally includes a major, the liberal studies requirements, and university requirements as listed below.

    • All of Northern Arizona University's diversity, liberal studies, junior-level writing, and capstone requirements.
    • All requirements for your specific academic plan(s).
    • At least 30 units of upper-division courses, which may include transfer work.
    • At least 30 units of coursework taken through Northern Arizona University, of which at least 18 must be upper-division courses (300-level or above). This requirement is not met by credit-by-exam, retro-credits, transfer coursework, etc.
    • A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on all work attempted at Northern Arizona University.

    The full policy can be viewed here.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • At least 72 units of major requirements

  • Up to 9 units of major prefix courses may be used to satisfy Liberal Studies requirements; these same courses may also be used to satisfy major requirements.

  • Elective courses, if needed, to reach an overall total of at least 120 units.

Please note that students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement.

Students may transfer up to 75 units of credit from an accredited Arizona community college. Contact your advisor for details.

Minimum Units for Completion 120
Major GPA 2.5
Highest Mathematics Required MAT 114
AZ Transfer Students complete AGEC-A Recommended
Progression Plan Link View Progression Plan

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management program is to prepare students for successful hospitality careers and productive citizenship. This is accomplished by providing a curriculum that is responsive to the needs of Arizona’s growing hospitality industry and the conditions of the twenty-first century. Graduates are able to gain entry-level management positions in a variety of hospitality sectors, such hotels, resorts, restaurants, country clubs, theme parks, stadiums, casinos, event planning, microbreweries, wine bars, food and beverage vendors, and spas. Because the hospitality industry is so diverse and lucrative, a degree in hotel and restaurant management from a nationally-ranked program opens the door to vast opportunities for advancement.

Students will gain skills and knowledge for implementing effective systems and solid business practices, creating a strong, positive workplace culture, and controlling costs and increasing revenues to maximize profitability. The students will also learn how to mange customer and employee relationships and expectations effectively and analyze financial and operational information and reports to make informed, tactical, and strategic decisions.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Hotel and Restaurant Management Content Knowledge
    • List and explain the career choices in the hospitality industry.
    • Demonstrate work and career preparation and understanding of professionalism within the hospitality industry.
    • Classify hotels and restaurants in terms of their ownership, affiliation, and levels of service.
    • Describe how hotels and restaurants are organized, and explain the roles and responsibilities of the various departments and job positions.
    • Identify and define important concepts related to the successful management and operation of hotels and restaurants.
    • Identify customer service and guest relations standards and policies that must be in place for the successful operation of a hotel and restaurant.
    • Describe and identify foundational cooking tools, techniques and ingredients used in the professional kitchen.
    • Apply and evaluate safe, sanitary procedures, habits, and behaviors in hotel and restaurant facilities.
    • Apply a systems approach to room and public space cleaning.
    • Discuss facility sustainability principles that address environmentally preferable products, water and energy conservation, indoor environmental quality, operational and maintenance practices, and building and equipment design.
    • Discuss the importance of effective leadership and management and distinguish between leadership and management skill sets and competencies.
    • Have a clear sense of the purpose of leadership, the ethical dimensions of leadership, and the relationship between leaders and followers.
    • Define and evaluate strategic management and leadership trends and issues in the hospitality sector.
    • Perform common hotel and restaurant tasks and analyses using industry-specific and generic applications.
    • Calculate key hotel and restaurant performance metrics (e.g., ADR, Occupancy %, Labor and Food cost %, RevPar, etc.)
    • Describe control systems necessary to monitor the purchasing, receiving, storing, issuing, production and service functions in a food service operation.
    • Explain effective methods for scheduling staff and controlling labor cost.
    • Prepare hotel and restaurant budgets and revenue and expense forecasts.
    • Use ratio and variance analysis for interpreting hospitality financial statements.
    • Explain how an information system is managed and protected within a hospitality organization.
    • Understand and apply hospitality industry analytics to maximize total hotel and restaurant revenues and profits.
    • Describe and understand foundational hospitality marketing principles, concepts, theories, and terminology such as segmentation, targeting, positioning and marketing mix variables (e.g., product/service development, pricing, location, distribution, and promotion).
    • Have a basic understanding of the law of contracts and torts which affect the hospitality industry.
    • Understand the legal relationship between a hotel and its guests and the laws related to employment in the hospitality industry.
    • Explain how to recruit, hire, and train staff with the goal of maximizing performance and retention while maintaining high company standards.
    • Apply time value of money concepts to assess expenditure programs, loans, and other applications.
    • Apply disciplinary knowledge and analytical tools for conflict management, problem solving, and decision making.
    • Create a business plan for the key functional areas of a hospitality organization.
    • Demonstrate the ability to integrate the concepts of hospitality management, operations, leadership and ethics, human resources, marketing, finance, and accounting to analyze interdisciplinary case and simulated management situations.
    • Prepare and present case analyses, and to respond to questions regarding the formulation and evaluation of alternatives and the recommended course of action.
  • Analytical/Problem-solving Skills
    • Analyze and interpret a balance sheet and income and cash flow statements to evaluate financial performance and support operational and strategic decision making.
    • Analyze and interpret non-financial information, such as changes in consumer behaviors and spending patterns, to assess its impact on financial and market performance and operational and strategic decision making.
    • Recognize and resolve common hospitality operational issues and problems.
  • Communication and Leadership Skills
    • Communicate in a manner consistent with the professional language of the hospitality industry in both written and oral formats.
    • Deliver effective presentations to small and large groups.
    • Use and integrate various theoretical approaches and principles to leadership in conflict resolution, intergroup and interpersonal relations, and team building.
  • Critical Thinking
    • Identify the essential question, issue, and/or problem.
    • Gather data relevant to the essential question, issue, and/or problem.
    • Interpret appropriate data effectively.
    • Recognize and evaluate assumptions, major alternative points of view and related theories, principles, and ideas relevant to the question, issue, and/or problem.
    • Develop informed conclusions/solutions.
    • Articulate implications and consequences that emerge from the conclusions/solutions.
    • Analyze and resolve cases specific to the hospitality industry.
    • Apply learned academic concepts to industry problems to generate applicable solutions.
  • Professional Responsibility
    • Discern the legal and ethical issues at stake in individual and collective decisions.
    • Choose an ethical and legal alternative and defend that choice.
    • Integrate professional, ethical, and legal standards into hospitality business practice.
  • Technical Skills and Knowledge
    • Use industry specific and generic business technology applications to retrieve, create, organize, and communicate information in ways that inform and enhance individual and organizational performance.
    • Understand and perform hospitality work tasks through lab and field work experiences.
    • Identify and explain common hotel and restaurant management terms, procedures, policies, processes, standards, business practices, and performance calculations and formulas.
    • Apply the concepts of planning, organizing, directing and controlling to the functional areas found in hospitality organizations.
  • Successful Adults - It is the commitment of the Faculty of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management to support and enhance the formation of our students as holistic individuals as emphasized in NAU’s Liberal Studies Curriculum. We believe that, in addition to the professional knowledge gained from the HRM program, our students will demonstrate the ability of:
    • Discovery (Investigation)
    • Integration (Synthesis)
    • Application (Engagement)
    • Cultural and Global Diversity Awareness (Recognition and Understanding)

Transfer Block

  • Students may transfer up to 75 units of credit from an accredited Arizona community college.

Major Requirements

  • This major requires 72 units distributed as follows:

    • Hospitality Administration: 45 units
    • Business Requirements: 12 units
    • Concentration Requirements: 15 units


    Take the following 72 units:

    Hospitality Administration Core (45 units)


    Business Requirements (12 units)
    Please note that you don't have to complete these courses before declaring your major in hotel and restaurant management.


  • Concentration Requirements (15 units)
    Hospitality Administration (HA) courses, or courses offered in other professional schools, such as The W. A. Franke College of Business, 9 units must be upper-division coursework (300-400 level) working with your advisor to choose courses appropriate to your career goals. You may not use general electives to meet this requirement.

General Electives

  • Additional coursework is required if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.

    You may take these remaining courses from any of the academic areas, using these courses to pursue your specific interests and goals. You may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or liberal studies requirements.

    We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you.

Additional Information
    • You must obtain and document 1200 hours of relevant employment in a hospitality-related enterprise for the technical, hands-on portion of your degree plan.
    • You must also earn a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 in all hospitality administration core and business auxiliary courses (combined) by the time you graduate.
    • *You must complete four Pathway milestone events prior to enrollment in HA 315W and all eight Pathway milestone events prior to enrollment in HA 490C.
    • We recommend you take CST 111 or CST 151 to satisfy Liberal Studies Social and Political Worlds requirements.
    Our Hotel and Restaurant Management degree plan is enhanced by the following resources:
    • The Arizona Hospitality Research and Resource Center was created to serve as a resource for our students and to provide research and service for the hospitality industry.
    • The Marion W. Isbell Endowment for Hospitality Ethics was established to encourage applied research in hospitality ethics and management and to increase awareness and resolution of ethical problems related to the hospitality industry through educational programs.

  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.