Graduate Program Review
Texas Tech University
Program Reviewed: April 17-19, 2013
Onsite Review Dates: Department of Nutrition, Hospitality, and Retailing
Name of Reviewers
Internal:
Please include name, title, and Department
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External:
Please include name, title, and Department
Baker Ayoun, Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics,
and Hospitality Management, Auburn University.
* When filling out this form please select one box only.
A. Academic Unit Description and Strategic Plan
Please evaluate the following:
Excellent
Very Good
Vision, Mission and Goals
Strategic Plan
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Appropriate
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Needs
Improvement
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Please elaborate if you have identified any items in this section as Excellent.
Please elaborate if you identified any items in this section as Needs Improvement. Provide recommendations in the
area of Strategic Planning.
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Other comments (optional)
Given that the Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management (RHIM) & Retail Management and Nutritional
Sciences are drastically different in nature, and given that the expertise of this reviewer is in the field of Hospitality
Management, this report will specifically address the Hospitality and Retail Management graduate program in the
Department of Nutrition, Hospitality, and Retailing.
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In the self‐study report and the meeting with faculty, appropriate vision, core values, and learning goals in relation to
the Hospitality and Retail Management graduate program were articulated. However, these programs are yet to
establish and internalize assessment exercises that track whether these goals are being met. Establishing assessment
mechanisms will serve as a measure for the effectiveness of the Hospitality and Retail Management program in
attaining its intended outcomes. If the results indicate that the experiences of the students are inadequate or
compare less favorably to the experiences provided by similar programs in other institutions, revisions to program
procedures and expectations, faculty emphasis, curriculum, may be developed and implemented.
The Hospitality and Retail graduate program is functioning well. However, there seem to be strong opportunities for
improvement. It is my believe that such improvements are better suggested by the students. My recommendation is
that the Department head and graduate advisors conduct regular exit interviews and surveys with individual
graduating students, employers of the graduates, continue to invite external reviewers, and conduct regular focus
groups with former and existing students. These procedures may present an opportunity to help the Department
identify insights and patters that will assist in ensuring that student educational experiences are improving
continuously. Furthermore, such assessment tools will also help the Department to identify the knowledge and
experiences that have served its students particularly well so that these experiences are maintained and
strengthened.
Reflecting the international nature of the hospitality industry itself, a number of the faculty members are engaged in
international activities through research, sabbatical, or service. This international presence is encouraged and the
Department is resommneded to support such efforts in the future, especially internationalizing the faculty, research,
B. Program Curriculum
Please evaluate the following:
Excellent
Alignment of program with
stated program and
institutional goals and
purposes
Curriculum development,
coordination, and delivery
Student learning outcomes
assessment
Program curriculum
compared to peer programs
Very Good
Appropriate
NA
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Needs
Improvement
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Please elaborate if you have identified any items in this section as Excellent.
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Please elaborate if you identified any items in this section as Needs Improvement. Provide recommendations in the
area of Program Curriculum.
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Other comments (optional)
There is an extensive list of hospitality graduate courses in the Department. Discussions with graduate students
indicated that a number of these courses are not offered, others are offered irregularly, and some courses don’t
make when they are offered.
As graduate student enrollment increases, the Department should consider establishing distinct tracks or areas of
emphasis to the graduate programs to reflect the diverse academic interest of the students, including Lodging
Management, Event Management, Food Service, etc. Such procedure will also assist the program in attracting
students seeking admission into graduate programs with areas of emphases that resemble their own emphasis and
areas of interest. Such well-defined set of tracks/areas of emphasis allow for timely progress to degree completion
and more frequent scheduling of courses that are in demand.
The way the curriculum is presented seems to be leaving less differentiation between Master’s and Doctoral levels.
Students indicated that a more planned difference between both levels in terms of challenge and knowledge
generated is needed. Doctoral students feel that they are not challenged enough as they progress toward higherlevel graduate courses within the Department. The Department is strongly recommended to develop at least two
courses designed mainly for doctoral students (and possible Master’s students on thesis-track): one course dedicated
to advanced research applications, and another course dedicated to a core specialization area.
C. Faculty Productivity
Please evaluate the following:
Excellent
Qualifications
Faculty/Student Ratio
Publications
Teaching Load
External Grants
Profile
Teaching Evaluations
Professional Service
Community Service
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Very Good
Appropriate
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Needs
Improvement
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NA
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Please elaborate if you have identified any items in this section as Excellent.
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Please elaborate if you identified any items in this section as Needs Improvement. Provide recommendations in the
area of Faculty Productivity.
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Other comments (optional)
Members of the graduate faculty in the Hospitality and Retail program have wide and relevant
disciplinary areas of interest that are suitable for a graduate program. The graduate faculty are
generally perceived by their students as being caring and supportive. The two most recent faculty
recruitments have reflected the Department's commitment to increasing faculty diversity.
Although the number of refereed and scholarly publications has increased, there is a varied level of
productivity among graduate faculty. The majority of the scholarly publications can be attributed to
a small number of faculty members. The wide difference among faculty is also mirrored in the
number of theses and dissertations chaired by the faculty members. Having highly productive and
active researcher faculty members is essential to the success of the graduate program; it is evident,
however, that graduate faculty are not contributing equally to the scholarly goals of the
Department and its graduate programs. This is concerning, and is probably a contributing factor to
the inconsistent level of scholarly productivity among graduate students. This issue should be
addressed by the Department.
D. Students and Graduates
Please evaluate the following:
Excellent
Time to degree
Retention
Graduate rates
Enrollment
Demographics
Number of degrees
conferred annually
Support Services
Job Placement
Very Good
Appropriate
NA
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Needs
Improvement
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Please elaborate if you have identified any items in this section as Excellent.
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Please elaborate if you identified any items in this section as Needs Improvement. Provide recommendations in the
area of Students and Graduates.
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Other comments (optional)
In terms of the number of students enrolled in the Hospitality and Retail Management graduate
program, this program is already among the largest in the country. Admission rate has been
increasing dramatically in the past few years, but the average GRE scores of admitted students
tends to compare less favorably with programs in several other peer institutions. If accurate, the
statistics provided in the self-study report indicate a bigger number of years to graduate for the
doctoral program.
The following are the main concerns with regard to students and graduates:
- Assessing the fit of applicants with the graduate program: Adjustments to existing procedure
of graduate application review can increase the effectiveness of the graduate program.
Currently, graduate applications are being placed in a room and a number of faculty
members stop by at their convenience and review the applications and provide their
comments. Some applications may be later discussed among faculty for a final decision.
Consequently, different applications receive different evaluations, influenced by the lack of
unified criteria for admission decisions. Timing of decision on any one application may also
vary. It is recommended that the Department establish a regular Graduate Admission
Committee consisting of graduate faculty who are equipped with an agreed upon set of
admission criteria that the Department think will ensure it admits the students with the
right fit with the Department and its emphases.
- Advising: Discussion with graduate students revealed that there is a degree of confusion
among graduate students as to the expectations, program flexibility, and available
resources. This is more than just the rules and procedures that are covered in a seminar
course or discussion with the graduate advisors of the program. What seems to be unclear is
the less technical advising that lead to the full immersion of the doctoral student into the
culture of academia, including the preparation for successful job placement and effective
functioning as a faculty member. In addition to the initiation of student progress steps, the
Department is recommended to develop an official agreement among graduate faculty on
concrete means and guidelines to make advising more consistent for all graduate students,
especially those students enrolled in the PhD program. Establishing such an agreement
among graduate faculty will assist the Department in ensuring that a consistent message
and level of advising is delivered to all students.
- It is clear from the statistics provided in the self-study report that the Department is active in
providing financial support to many of its graduate students. Discussions with graduate
students indicate that they are very happy with the level of financial support they receive
from the Department. Of concern here, however, is that although an impressive number of
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students are receiving support, none of the students are serving as Research Assistants. All
students are serving in the role of Teaching Assistants. While having graduate students
serving as TAs is helpful in producing experienced instructors, time involved in classroom
instruction is time away from research. This practice may not support research-productive
doctoral students who are particularly competitive upon graduation to find a faculty
position at high-ranked institutions.
- Given the varied level of scholarly productivity among the graduate faculty, it comes as no
surprise that there is even more varied levels of scholarly productivity among graduate
students, especially in terms of journal publications by doctoral students. Students strongly
feel that “research” is not pushed enough in the graduate program. The level of scholarly
productivity expected to doctoral graduates to land a faculty position at high-ranked
institutions has been increasing. Discussion with graduate students in the Hospitality and
Retail Management program indicates that there is a notable lack of such productivity. In
fact, although that doctoral graduates are finding faculty positions, most of them don't seem
to be going to top-ranked university programs. The lack of competitive scholarly activities
may be a direct contributing factor to this observation.
To strengthen a culture of research among doctoral students in particular, the following is
recommended:
- Revisit the current expectation that the graduate student need to select his/her major
professor during the third semester, and consider the second semester as the expectation.
- Develop an agreement among graduate faculty with regard to graduate student scholarly
productivity expectations of the number of journal publications and conference and
professional presentations before the student graduates.
- Initiate student progress steps toward the Department research expectation of each doctoral
student in particular. Require students to review this annually in a meeting with the
graduate program advisors.
- Provide research assistantships, not just teaching assistantships.
- Although several students are aware of the importance of research for their future careers,
they are burdened with core material covered in the major courses to the point where it
seems that they don't have time to do research. Faculty teaching graduate courses are
encouraged to design their courses so that a stronger emphasis on research is required in
their graduate courses. Although students are currently being told that they need to submit
to conferences, graduate faculty are advised to more aggressively assist students in the
process of transitioning their research projects into conference and journal submissions.
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Students are expecting more assistance in transitioning their seminar and course papers into
published work.
E. Facilities and Resources
Please evaluate the following:
Excellent
Facilities
Facility Support Resources
Financial Resources
Staff Resources
Developmental Resources
☐
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Very Good
Appropriate
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Needs
Improvement
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NA
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Please elaborate if you have identified any items in this section as Excellent.
Click here to enter text.
Please elaborate if you identified any items in this section as Needs Improvement. Provide recommendations in the
area of Facilities and Resources.
Click here to enter text.
Other comments (optional)
The Department is offering a good level of support to its graduate students. A review of the selfstudy report and discussion with graduate students and faculty revealed that the Department is
offering plenty of office space for students (especially those with graduate assistantships), wellequipped and updated workstations, travel funds, among other support. Students are very happy
with this level of resources and support available to them by the Department. The number of
graduate assistantships, and the accompanying tuition waiver and stipends, is competitive with
other institutions, and students feel this financial support is enough for them to be able to be
productive.
Discussion with graduate students revealed an opportunity for the Department to increase
interaction of graduate students through graduate student retreats and social and professional
gatherings. It is believed that such events will improve the graduate student experience and will
keep the students aware of what their fellow students, especially more senior students in the
program, are doing and what their interests are.
For such an applied field of study as hospitality management, the availability of teaching facilities is
an integral part of the education experience for the students. The on-campus restaurant (Skyviews)
is an excellent lab for RHIM students, especially those with interest in the restaurant side of the
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hospitality field. However, such teaching facilities for the lodging operations side of the field is yet
to be developed for students with interest in lodging management as an area of emphasis. Until
such a teaching faculty becomes available for RHIM program, the Department is encouraged to
continue to identify alternative options for students to get this much needed exposure. This is
especially necessary given that students indicated that they are hoping to take more than one
course in Lodging Management.
F. Overall Ranking
Overall Ranking
Excellent
Very Good
Appropriate
☐
☐
☒
Needs
Improvement
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Please provide summative conclusions based on the overall review.
Overall, the Department has a reasonable Hospitality and Retail Management graduate program. Discussions with
faculty and students indicate that the Hospitality and Retail Management program enjoy a professional and collegial
atmosphere. Students and faculty have mutual admiration toward each other. Students feel that the faculty is caring,
available and approachable. Members of the graduate faculty are to be commended for the work that has been
accomplished, and the growth that has been consistent in the graduate program over the past few years.
Despite the several positive indicators of success, there is a number of concerns that warrant the attention of the
administrators of the Department and graduate program. Students enrolled in the program tend to have varied
experiences, not necessarily by choice but depending primarily on the level of involvement as well as the productivity
and motivation of the faculty member they work with as major professor. The lack of structure that guarantees
consistency in educational experiences among students is a reason for this inconsistent level of experiences.
Please provide summative recommendations based on the overall review.
A number of recommendations have been offered in this report. The recommended changes are well aligned with
the Department’s vision statements and core values, which emphasize quality education. The recommendations will
assist the Department in strengthening the quality of its Hospitality and Retail Management graduate program. The
workload carried by graduate faculty, the facilities available, and the number of graduate students enrolled indicate
that the Hospitality and Retail Management graduate program is currently functioning at its capacity. While this
graduate program may continue to grow in the future, establishment of solid internal systems and procedures that
ensure consistency in educational experiences provided to all graduate students become an essential thing to do.
When these foundational systems are in place, the Department will be in a better position to not only increase the
number of graduate students but also leverage the impacts of program graduates on the profession, especially at the
doctoral level.
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