H.G. Parsa Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

Rosen College Professor Recognized for Innovation, Creativity

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:15:05 +0000

The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE) recently held its 66th Annual Summer Conference, where hospitality educators from around the world had an opportunity to network, discuss new trends and research, and recognize colleagues for exceptional teaching efforts. Among those recognized at the 2012 Annual Conference was Dr. Po-Ju Chen, associate professor at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the �鶹ԭ��.

Dr. Chen received the 2012 John Wiley & Sons Award for Innovation in Teaching. The Award recognizes an ICHRIE member for his or her implementation of innovative, creative, and effective teaching techniques in hospitality education at the high school, diploma, college and university level.

The award was given to Dr. Chen for her innovative teaching methods, which include incorporating interactive learning, leadership exercises, role playing and media enhancement.

“I’m very thankful and honored to have been given this prestigious award,” said Dr. Chen. “It is a remarkable feeling to be recognized as an innovator, and I’m grateful to all those who have helped me become the educator that I am today.”

Past award winners include: Audrey McCool, Sandra Kapoor, Lynn Huffman, Janice Pratt, Joseph LaLopa, Lori Sipe, Cynthia Deale, Ravi Pandit, Rai Shacklock, Cihan Cobanoglu, Linda Shea, Godwin-Charles Ogbeide, as well as fellow �鶹ԭ�� Rosen College faculty members Dr. H.G. Parsa and Dr. Denver Severt.

In addition to teaching, Chen is actively involved in community outreach, both nationally and internationally, and she served as the 2010 president of the Florida/Caribbean CHRIE Chapter. Dr. Chen has also received several other awards for teaching and research.

The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education is the global advocate of hospitality and tourism education for schools, colleges, and universities offering programs in hotel and restaurant management, foodservice management and culinary arts. In recent years, ICHRIE’s focus has expanded and its mission statement has evolved, making it a marketplace for facilitating exchanges of information, ideas, research, products and services related to education, training and resource development for the hospitality and tourism industry.

Smith Sets Rosen College Record

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:13:45 +0000

Since its inception nearly three decades ago, the �鶹ԭ��’s Hospitality Management program has seen unprecedented growth, expanding from small subset of the University’s College of Business to its own College with nearly 3,500 students. And come May 4th, �鶹ԭ��’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management will see one of its founding students walk across the graduation stage for the final time, as 48-year-old Scott Smith will receive his Ph.D. in Hospitality Education. Smith’s Ph.D. will mark the first time in Rosen College’s 29-year history that a hospitality management student has earned a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree all from �鶹ԭ��.

Born and raised in Orlando, Smith had the unique experience of watching his modest hometown developed into the world’s premiere tourist destination. And just as quick as hotels and attractions began spreading throughout area, so did Smith’s fascination with the hospitality and tourism industry.

“When I was 16, I applied for a job at Disney and haven’t stopped working in the hospitality industry since,” said Smith. “I’ve just always had a fascination with the industry.”

In 1982, Smith enrolled at �鶹ԭ�� as a freshman, and two years later the �鶹ԭ��’s College of Business began a degree program specializing in hospitality management – an opportunity that Smith was excited to take advantage of that semester.

“I remember seeing these posters around campus advertising this new hospitality management program,” said Smith. “As soon as I saw the posters, I knew I had to be part of the program, and so I ended up enrolling into the first two hospitality classes ever offered by �鶹ԭ��.”

By the summer 1987, Smith graduated from �鶹ԭ�� as one of the first ten students to declare the hospitality major and immediately began working in Orlando’s competitive hotel industry. Roughly 15 years later, Smith was at the peak of his career, serving as the general manager of one Orlando’s busiest hotels, when he decided to pursue a master’s degree.

“I was at the peak of my career and I kept thinking about the next step to take in my life, and I decided to go back to school and get a master’s,” said Smith. “Coincidentally, that year �鶹ԭ�� was starting a master’s program in Hospitality and Tourism Management, so I agreed to step down as GM of my hotel, accept a sales & marketing manager position, and began pursuing my master’s at �鶹ԭ��.”

While pursuing his master’s degree, Smith was approached by the then Associate Dean, Dr. Stephen LeBruto, to teach classes at the Rosen College as an adjunct professor.

“Being asked to teach hospitality management classes was a great opportunity for me because I got to see if this was the right direction for my career,” said Smith. “Teaching just felt right, it felt natural.”

Smith’s decision to begin teaching in the classroom seems to have been the right career move as he was voted the eighth best university professor in 2009 by Ratemyprofessor.com, which ranks more than a million college professors.

Smith eventually joined the Rosen College faculty full time, as a Ph.D. candidate.

This past semester, Smith completed his doctoral dissertation, which focused on consumer perceptions of hotel pricing and cancelation policies.

“I’m a hotel guy, who has run the sales and marketing department, and I was very interested in researching consumer behavior with regard to hotel pricing,” said Smith. “I wanted to examine why people pick the hotels they do and why they cancel their reservations. Dr. H.G. Parsa was able to help me direct my research and guide me through the entire process.”

Smith also credits his success to two of his current colleagues Dr. Abraham Pizam and Professor Bob Ashley, who have both served on �鶹ԭ��’s Hospitality Management faculty since the program’s inception.

After the May 4 commencement ceremony, Dr. Scott Smith will look to continue educating students about the competitive hotel industry.

Hospitality Student’s Tasty Commercial

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:59:45 +0000

It was “lights, camera, action!” for students in Dr. H.G. Parsa’s Restaurant Management class at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management. They were charged with the task of producing a 60-second mock commercial with a hospitality context.

Dr. Parsa explains, “It was a creative project designed so that students would appreciate and understand marketing principles and promotion strategies. They conceived the idea, executed it and presented it to the class.”

Creative juices flowed and student Chris Regan’s video for the fictional “Buddy’s Restaurant” took first prize. The senior majoring in Hospitality Management decided to work solo and called upon the talents of his friends Ian Hilton and Paul Boyd to act in the advertisement. Regan shares, “My buddies and I always come up with little ideas that would be funny for a video and this was just one that we had in our back pocket for a while.”

The commercial advertises a meal combo at Buddy’s Restaurant. “My parents always call me Buddy,” shares Regan. He staged the scene in a typical break room; a setting that Regan felt his target market would be familiar with. “I set up an everyday situation but then allowed the story to take a 90-degree turn that no one expected. I think that is what makes a good commercial stand out – it’s more memorable.”

Regan has edited video for various production companies and enjoyed a TV Productions class in high school. His acting experience was limited to a couple of plays in middle school, but his natural talent is apparent in the commercial.

A panel of Rosen College judges concluded that Regan’s commercial stood out among the others in the class. Judges included: Associate Dean of Administration and Finance, Dr. Tadayuki Hara; Chair of the Foodservice & Lodging Management Department, Dr. Joe Hutchinson; and Ph.D. Candidate, Mr. Milos Bjosic.

To view Regan’s winning commercial, please see: .

Hospitality Professor Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:23:59 +0000

Rosen College of Hospitality Management Professor Dr. H.G. Parsa was recently awarded the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award from the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (ICHRIE).

This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Parsa’s outstanding leadership in his field of study and his significant contributions to hospitality and tourism through published scholarly research. Nominations for this international award were accepted from around the world. Dr. Parsa is the 16th ICHRIE member to win this research achievement award and only the second in the state of Florida.

Dr. Parsa received the award during the ICHRIE 2011 Annual Conference held July 27-30 in Denver, Colorado. The award was presented by ICHRIE President, Ms. Susan Fournier and Dr. Dennis Reynolds with Washington State University in front of more than 500 attendees representing over 27 countries.

Additionally, �鶹ԭ�� President Dr. John C. Hitt acknowledged Dr. Parsa’s accomplishment to the �鶹ԭ�� Board of Trustees at its Sept. 28 meeting.

“It’s an honor and I’m grateful for this,” shares Dr. Parsa. “This award could not have been possible without the help of my students, colleagues and research associates over the last 20 years.”

He has been a member of ICHRIE since 1989 and is a past recipient of the organization’s John Wiley & Sons Teaching Innovation and Bradford Wiley Excellence in Research Awards. Over the past two decades, Dr. Parsa served the ICHRIE community with an active research agenda that includes over 200 presentations/publications. He has played an active role on several ICHRIE committees including the Services SIG nominations committee, and as the founding organizer of the Research SIG awards committee. Additionally, Dr. Parsa was an active contributor to development of the ICHRIE Career Academy.

He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research and his work has appeared in refereed journals such as Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Tourism Management, Journal of Services Research, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. Previously, Dr. Parsa was Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Foodservice Business Research.

Dr. Parsa is best known for his paper “Why Restaurants Fail?” published in the Cornell Quarterly, which was the most downloaded paper in the hospitality field for 2005. His research interests include: pricing strategies in foodservice; analysis of factors that contribute to small-business failure/success; sustainability and green practices in hospitality; franchising and quick-service restaurant-chain management; strategic marketing in hospitality; and changing American food habits. Dr. Parsa has secured several major research grants from various government and private agencies.

Prior to joining academia, Dr. Parsa spent more than a decade in the hospitality industry, working with several restaurant chains, private clubs and institutional foodservice operators. He has consulted major hospitality companies such as Marriott Foodservice Operations, McDonald’s International and White Castle. In addition to ICHRIE, he is a member of the Association for Consumer Research and the Society for Consumer Psychology.

About International CHRIE

Founded in 1946, the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education is the global advocate of hospitality and tourism education for schools, colleges and universities offering programs in hotel and restaurant management, foodservice management and culinary arts. In recent years, International CHRIE’s focus has expanded and its mission statement has evolved, making it a marketplace for facilitating exchanges of information, ideas, research, products and services related to education, training and resource development for the hospitality and tourism industry (food, lodging, recreation and travel services). Serving as the hospitality and tourism education network, we strive to unite educators, industry executives and associations. For more information, visit www.chrie.org.

Researchers Connect, Collaborate and Dine

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:59:55 +0000

The Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies (DPI) and the Office of Research & Commercialization (ORC) recently organized a ‘Collaboration Luncheon to Share Research Ideas.’ This gathering of the minds was held Friday, Sept. 16, at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

�鶹ԭ�� researchers in the areas of hospitality management, economics, sociology and civil/environmental engineering connected and were encouraged to collaborate on new research initiatives.

The luncheon promoted faculty scholarship while ideas of mutual interest that could lead to the development of competitive research proposals were discussed.

Rosen College faculty in attendance included: Dr. Po-Ju Chen; Dr. Robertico Croes; Dr. Duncan Dickson; Mr. Ron Logan; Dr. Kevin Murphy; Dr. Kal Nusair; Dr. Fevzi Okumus; Dr. H.G. Parsa; Dr. Manuel Rivera; Dr. Cheyenne Ro; Dr. Paul Rompf; Dr. Dipendra Singh and Mr. Scott Smith.

In addition to Rosen College faculty, other researchers included: Dr. Sarah Barber, Anthropology Department; Dr. James Wright, Sociology Department; Dr. Dingbao Wang, Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Department; Dr. David M. Nickerson, Statistics Department; Dr. Jose Maunez-Cuadra, Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies; Dr. Tom O’Neal, ORC; Dr. Amit Joshi, Marketing Department; Dr. Patrick Bohlen, Biology Department.

The purpose of the ORC is to foster new research activities among �鶹ԭ�� faculty. For more, please . The DPI is dedicated to increasing the benefits of tourism through research, public awareness and education. For more information, please visit the or e-mail dpi@ucf.edu.

Alumna Awarded for Restaurant Research

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:12:25 +0000

Jitka Perutkova, Rosen College class of 2009, was recently awarded the �鶹ԭ�� Libraries Annual Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

Her article, “Consumers’ Willingness to Pay and to Patronize According to Major Restaurant Attributes” was written under the mentorship of Dr. H.G. Parsa and published in the �鶹ԭ�� Undergraduate Research Journal.

Perutkova’s study focuses on identifying the most important factors in the consumer decision-making process while choosing a restaurant. Her findings may impact the restaurant industry, as they identify the scope of differential returns on investment on various restaurant attributes.

She was honored during �鶹ԭ��’s Research Week Award Breakfast on Friday, April 8, 2011. In addition to public recognition, she was awarded a cash prize of $250.

The article marked Perutkova’s first major research project. “It was something completely new for me. All the steps in the process were surprising, time consuming and required a lot of patience,” shared Perutkova.

She enjoyed collecting and analyzing data and the occasional surprise when the results didn’t match the prediction. Dr. Parsa helped guide her in the right direction and provided much-needed support. “I loved working with Dr. Parsa because he has an understanding of international students and wants them to succeed.” She elaborated that he generously passes along his knowledge for each student’s benefit.

While attending Rosen College, Perutkova majored in Hospitality Management and served as a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, Eta Sigma Delta and Phi Theta Kappa. She plans to collect new data and expand her research while pursuing a Master’s in Executive Management at Hodges University, with the ultimate goal of opening her own hotel.

Perutkova’s published article is available here: .

Restaurant Professor Fights Hunger

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:11:12 +0000

The drive took place during the fall 2010 semester and originated from an idea by Dr. H.G. Parsa. For the third year in a row, Dr. Parsa encouraged students in his Restaurant Management and Cost Control classes to donate food during the holiday season. This year, other professors followed suit and over 600 pounds of food were collected, triple the amount donated in 2009.

Food Production Laboratory Manager and Adjunct Professor, Peder Hagglund, transported the donation to the Second Harvest.

Dr. Parsa expressed appreciation that so many members of the Rosen College family addressed the problem of hunger in Central Florida, “Contributions by students…far exceeded our expectations.”

For more about the Second Harvest, please visit .