Oklahoma State University's School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration researchers earn global ranking

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration at Oklahoma State University was ranked eighth among the top 100 hospitality and tourism programs in the world by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. The ranking is based on total research output in 11 leading journals for hospitality and tourism from 2002-2006.

“This is a significant accomplishment and represents efforts by the faculty to create a high quality research program,” Bill Ryan, interim director of the school said.

“This ranking, when combined with previous recognition as one of the top hospitality education programs in the United States, demonstrates that The School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration is committed to being a leader in shaping the future of hospitality education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels through a land grant university model.”

According to the article, the developing degree program may have played a major role in the research growth of the school.

“The College of Human Environmental Sciences instituted a doctorate in 1992 and one of the options within this doctorate is an HRAD option,” College of Human Environmental Sciences Dean Stephan Wilson said. “This option has rapidly grown to international prominence”

“Universities that grow significantly in size and universities with new doctorate of philosophy programs seem likely to increase the number of publications at a quicker rate than other universities,” the authors said.  “For example, Oklahoma State University’s rank of eighth in the current 5-year period after not making the top 20 in the previous 10-year period may be indicative of the establishment of a growing Ph.D. program.”

Christine Johnson, Associate Professor and Associate Dean of CHES Research and Graduate Studies, said the high ranking is a result of hard work by HRAD faculty and students.

“This recognition is a direct reflection on the quality of the HRAD faculty and students at OSU,” Johnson said.  “These types of honors will help the program grow as this study is read by and shared with prospective doctoral students.”

The rankings were compiled by a research team at the University of Central Florida.  Other schools in the top 10 included The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Cornell University, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Pennsylvania State University, University of Surrey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Purdue University, Michigan State University and University of Central Florida.

Hailin Qu, HRAD Regents Professor and William E. Davis Distinguished Chair, said he was particularly pleased with the ranking as it reflects the quality of the program.

“This is a proof that HRAD is committed to achieving global excellence in hospitality and tourism instruction, research and outreach,” he said.

“This recognition will motivate us to rise higher,” said CHES Dean Stephan Wilson.  “CHES is comfortably among the top ten colleges of its kind in the United States and is among the top 6 percent internationally. We are proud to add this ranking of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration to the College’s list of peer recognitions.”