SHA case statement

Supporting Boston University School of Hospitality Administration Innovating the future of hospitality

EXPANDING DEFINITIONS The hospitality industry is the largest sector of the world economy serving people of all nations and all backgrounds. At Boston University School of Hospitality Administration (SHA), we are proud to open doors to careers for all people and give our students the global experiences and perspectives that will be essential to their success.

From the moment students enroll at SHA, they become part of a remarkable and exciting worldwide enterprise. We take pride

in preparing them for leadership without losing sight of the human connection that underpins all our work.

Our industry has seen significant change in recent years, but SHA graduates continue to thrive—in part because we prepare them to be entrepreneurs, leaders, and researchers. SHA is a school quite unlike any other, one whose values and innovation will guide the future of hospitality—and it will be led by our research and graduates.

“Any place where there is meaningful human-to-human interaction: that’s where hospitality occurs,” says Dean Arun Upneja. By expanding the definition of hospitality, SHA prepares our students more fully, whether the interaction occurs within hospitals, retail stores, retirement homes, sports venues, or museums—or in the traditional restaurant, travel, and lodging professions. And for the past decade Dean Upneja has been at our helm, galvanizing our commitment to redefining our field.

Today we are engaging with forward-thinking philanthropists who share our entrepreneurial mindset to further shape the future of hospitality. Please join us.

Any place where there is meaningful human-to-human interaction: that’s where hospitality occurs.

—Dean Arun Upneja

SHA INITIATIVES Valued human interactions and memorable experiences are no longer aspirational but foundational in our industry.

SHA is leading the nation in this new modality by providing the knowledge and strategies that will empower the next generation of hospitality leaders.

Preparing these individuals, collaborating with industry, putting research into action, and providing true leadership is our purpose.

A Vibrant Academic Experience & Research that Matters Education and real-world impact are one and the same at SHA. At the core of our academic mission is experiential learning which acclimates our students to real-world challenges. For instance, among our undergraduate offerings, our Advanced Hospitality Strategic Marketing course asks students to create a marketing plan for businesses including hotels, bars, restaurants, and even local cities. And, each year, at our Hospitality Leadership Summit, we give the floor to CEOs, entrepreneurs, scientists, and industry leaders whose pursuits shape the future.

We are now launching a Master of Science degree in Hospitality Management, which will prepare those wishing to pursue academic research for PhD programs focused on hospitality and tourism management. This program pushes

Boston University has finalized its strategic vision for the next decade. BU’s Strategic Planning Task Force consulted with the entire BU community to identify strengths to build on, challenges to meet, opportunities to seize, and emerging areas to explore.

The task force landed on these five strategic priorities that capture the core of who we are as a private research university and that will guide BU over the next 10 years. They are: 1.

A Vibrant Academic Experience

2. Research That Matters 3. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 4. Community, Big Yet Small 5. Global Engagement The School of Hospitality’s strategic vision is informed by, and aligns with, the University’s overarching priorities.

initiative which recognizes the dearth of hospitality school faculty who identify as Black, Hispanic, or Native American.

This conference aims to enable undergraduate and graduate students to learn from people of similar backgrounds, find mentorship opportunities, develop their professional networks, and see a place for themselves in academia—a critical need for new PhD program directors and deans of hospitality programs.

It’s imperative to learn from the status quo, but not acclimate to it. In everything SHA does, we provide opportunities to bring new perspectives to bear and hospitality innovation to life.

us even further into the fields of management and experience design, both of which require professionals who understand analytics and can tell stories with data. And, soon, we will offer an MS in Real Estate, which will prepare our students for the ever-evolving nuances of real-world development including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

Our students have the added benefit of looking to our faculty researchers as leaders in their field. They have been published in International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and Tourism Economics, among other peer-reviewed journals, and they are able to leverage the new Computing & Data Sciences unit at Boston University. SHA’s own Boston Hospitality Review is the authoritative magazine of our school, and case studies and industry news posted there provide the entire region with perspectives on recent trends in hospitality.

Expanding our research activities not only benefits the school, our faculty and students, but also serves the industry at large. Discoveries made at SHA today can influence industry changes on a broad scale tomorrow. Endowing a research fund will ensure our faculty have the resources they need to broaden the scope of their research in perpetuity.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community, Big Yet Small Since its inception in 1980, SHA has been thriving. SHA faculty and students include people with deep ties to the industry for which we are preparing our graduates, including aspiring and veteran professionals from real estate, luxury brand retail, and the senior living sectors. These are important ways in which our student and faculty body reflect the diverse fields where they make a difference. But we are going further.

We’ve launched the PhD Pathway Program, a nationwide

Consider endowing a Graduate Scholarship Fund. A scholarship for students enrolled in SHA’s graduate-level programs can open doors for nontraditional students. An endowed scholarship will help the school attract top graduate students from around the globe who represent the diverse world they serve. As SHA continues to expand its graduate programs, endowed scholarships allow us to remove financial barriers so young professionals can develop the skills required to become leaders in their respective industry sectors. And it creates a virtuous cycle. Top graduate students mean top-level research support for faculty.

Global Engagement Research has identified numerous benefits associated with providing students with international learning opportunities.

These include the development of cultural competence, student expertise, confidence building, promoting selfassessment, enhancing understanding of globalization and global interdependence, increasing interest in social constructs and volunteer work, shaping attitudes and vision, and improving critical thinking. Together, these build the knowledge and skills hospitality industry members need to engage in effective practice with people across the globe.

To support BU’s global engagement initiatives, SHA has created several international learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Our spring break experience allows students to discover hospitality cultures with recent trips including Paris and Panama; our Summer Service Learning program lets students study eco-tourism, seed-to-shelf projects, farm-to-table and ayurvedic practices for selfcare within the countries of Ghana, Thailand, India, Guatemala, and Ecuador. Study abroad programs and internships—including the TAJ India Summer internship in one of the most prominent hotels in the world—round out our offerings.

Consider supporting international activities by endowing a Student Experience Fund. Travel and living stipends for students participating in transformative programs abroad provide invaluable learning and personal growth experiences.

SHA GIVING OPPORTUNITIES As with all giving opportunities at SHA, we will work with you every step of the way to structure your gift and ensure you understand how your philanthropy is benefiting future hospitality professionals, faculty research, or academic leadership.

Complementing the endowment opportunities listed above— Research Fund, Graduate Scholarship Fund, and Student Experience Fund—there are many more ways to give, including one-time gifts supporting these same priorities. We invite you to visit our website, where you can learn more about how our programs are leading the way in the hospitality industry: bu.edu/hospitality

SHA ALUM SUCCESS SPEAKS FOR ITSELF Featured recently in BU’s alumni magazine, Bostonia, Catarina Chang (SHA’11) isn’t resting on her laurels, and her achievements are many: founder of Koy—a Korean food fusion restaurant near Boston’s Faneuil Hall; Doggy Port—a doggy day care in East Boston; She Socially—a digital marketing company; and now owner of Sunset Cantina, a BU community favorite on the same block as the School of Hospitality. Of her SHA education, Chang says, “Without professors familiar with the industry, or the experience of interacting with hospitality professionals from my very first courses, I don’t know when I would have felt confident enough to begin down my own path.”

Chang is a serial entrepreneur, and she combines the skills she picked up in SHA with ones she learned from her parents, who owned a gallery and frame shop in Andover.

“Catarina represents the spirit of our School of Hospitality,” says Dean Upneja. “We’re a small school, and so each student can find their pathway to success faster than they can in a general business school, and they can do it without quitting

their day jobs. Her work ethic and willingness to look towards trends in her industries incarnates our approach to the changing hospitality industry.

Philanthropists who are looking to the future need only see our graduates to understand the effect their gifts can have.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Arun Upneja, PhD Dean Boston University School of Hospitality Administration aupneja@bu.edu 617-358-6744

Kate DeForest Senior Director of Development Boston University School of Hospitality Administration kated@bu.edu 617-835-7332