(Above) Autumn Montague and Regan Stoll and their classmates created marketing plans for the Varsity Center in 2025. (Photo by Russell Bailey) (Second photo) HTEM students collaborate in Lentz Hall dining in 2016. (SIU Carbondale photo) (Third photo) Students helped implement the Social Media in Tourism Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2012, donning “space suit” attire as appropriate for the location. (SIU Carbondale photo)
November 24, 2025
SIU’s celebrates 50 years of preparing students for the ever-evolving hospitality field
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Imagine having an exciting career that takes you to Greece and Beijing to work as a chef and dining coordinator for an athlete village. Or having a high-level career as a property developer, strategic planner and troubleshooter for Marriott Bonvoy. Those are the lives that Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management program (HTEM) has made possible for graduates.
It all began with a food systems management bachelor’s degree offered by SIU’s food and nutrition program in the College of Home Economics in 1975. Half a century later, SIU’s Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management program offers the perfect choice for adventurous, people- and service-oriented careers in one of the largest industries in the world. Graduates work in national and state parks and systems, trade shows and conventions, at culinary locales and casinos, in agritourism, within restaurant, hotel and venue management, and virtually anywhere people and events are found, said Niki Davis, professor of practice.
“Our students learn from faculty who have actually worked in the field and remain active, who bring real-life experience to the table,” Davis said. “They teach in the areas of their professional experience and provide a real-world perspective that prepares graduates to become leaders in their professions.”
Marking the milestone
As the program recognizes its 50th anniversary, Davis and the rest of the faculty and staff are creating an online celebration.
Former and current students, faculty and staff are invited to submit their favorite memories from their time with the program. In addition, HTEM Saluki alumni are welcome to share photos and “Where are you now?” updates. Send all submissions to hospitality@siu.edu for posting on a special webpage being created.
Experience that counts
With a student to faculty ratio of 13:1, students and their professors – who have a total of more than 100 years’ experience in the industry – closely interact and connect.
“This program is very flexible and customizable,” Davis said. “Students can complete courses on campus or online, they can earn an HTEM minor or an event planning and management certificate, and we have independent studies and special projects classes.”
And since the program’s earliest days, regardless of what name it went by, a special experience-oriented mantra was adopted — “The community is our classroom.”
“We want to make sure our students have ample opportunities for real-world experience through their coursework, as well as with internships and externships,” Davis said. “Experiential learning is a big part of our curriculum because that ensures our students are better prepared for career success and more marketable upon graduation.”
There are seemingly countless places where SIU’s HTEM students get hands-on learning. Within the campus environment, you’ll find them working and learning, helping with Student Center events, Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center, Saluki Athletics, Events and Outreach, and more. Through off-campus partnerships, students obtain valuable experience with Carbondale Main Street, the Varsity Center for the Arts, the Shawnee Hills Wine trail and individual wineries, Black Diamond Harley Davidson and other sites.
Trish Welch, faculty emerita in the program, is credited as the HTEM “matriarch” as she oversaw its launch, and for many years, its development, and she established the community as a classroom ideal. For many years, her students hosted “Fabulous Fridays” at the Student Center’s Old Main dining room. The themed feasts were planned – including complete cost analysis, menus, purchasing supplies and more – and executed by the students, who also worked with University Housing dining staff to learn how to prepare for large-scale events.
Hands-on experiences like this ensure students learn to think on their feet and adapt quickly, she said. For instance, during one meal a student was carrying an entire tray of desserts and accidentally dropped it, but the Salukis quickly re-evaluated resources and improvised, switching up the menu to offer diners a selection of desserts.
“We also utilized local hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Carbondale, Marion, Murphysboro and beyond as our classrooms,” Welch said. “It’s a wonderful town and gown partnership that benefits everyone.”
Teams of four or five students have worked with enterprises, doing complete analyses of their strengths, weaknesses, assets, business models and more and then present formal business plans incorporating suggestions for ways to improve profitability, grow and expand.
“Graduates are equipped with valuables skills, critical thinking and a large bag of tricks to help them succeed in an ever-changing, exciting and intense industry,” Welch said.
The proof of “community is our classroom” concept’s effectiveness is the numbers and the career successes. Accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration and an institutional member of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, the program had a remarkable 85.7% retention rate for the 2023-2024 academic year, the most recent for which the statistics are available.
Perhaps even more notable is the fact that 100% of the students are typically employed in the HTEM industry or are continuing their education with graduate school within 90 days of graduation.
While completing her master’s degree, Davis was Welch’s graduate assistant, she is proud to say. SIU has paved the way for students to own restaurants, travel agencies and other businesses both locally and around the world, become managers of large hotel and serve as the chief purser for Norwegian Cruise Lines, among other myriad positions in hospitality, Welch and Davis note.
Quite a journey
Since its inception, the HTEM program has continually adapted, Davis said.
When Welch arrived on campus, there was only an undergraduate dietetics program in the College of Home Economics. From the first food and nutrition classes, focusing largely on restaurant work, the program moved to the agriculture college in 1983. The program became food systems management, as it became obvious that there was a need for professionals not only in food and nutrition, but in managing restaurants and other places food is served, including hotels, hospitals and other venues.
Four years later, it was known as hotel, restaurant and travel administration. By 2009, the program was known as hospitality and tourism administration. In 2018, HTEM was born, and four years ago, event planning evolved into a certificate.
Davis said HTEM is also looking toward the future by working to establish a food and beverage management certificate and collaborating with the School of Journalism and Advertising on plans to create a food and travel media certificate and with the School of Forestry and Horticulture to create a sustainable tourism certificate.
“This whole program has evolved over time as different aspects of the hospitality industry have changed and expanded,” said Welch, who grew up in the business as her father owned three restaurants.
For instance, the tourism industry has exploded in the region as the winery business has boomed and there are farms for pumpkins, cut flowers, apples and more. Throw into the mix the beautiful scenery and the region’s other amenities, and it’s a big hospitality, tourism and event management draw that the HTEM program is teaching students to tap into for careers.
“The hospitality industry is in a growth phase not only globally, but in Southern Illinois, which provides our graduates, many of whom are local, with career opportunities right here in the region,” Davis said.
For more information about the HTEM program or the online 50th anniversary commemoration, visit the website or email hospitality@siu.edu.