2026-2028 Catalog

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

The Experience Industry Management (EIM) department prepares students to be leaders in an industry that promotes healthy lifestyles, protects memorable places, and facilitates life-enhancing experiences for individuals, communities, and the global society. The program is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT).

In addition to major requirements, the curriculum provides a full range of general education and support courses. These courses are designed to fully educate and prepare students for culturally diverse and inclusive environments, community engagement, and international understanding in a global society.

Concentrations

Event Planning and Management

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

Prepares students for a professional career in experience design, event planning, leadership, and management for a variety of structured and co-created experiences, including festivals, celebrations, conventions, meetings, and expositions, social life-cycle events, mega and hallmark events, sporting, international, and non-profit events. Courses focus on strategic event planning, marketing, structured experience and co-created experience design, implementation, and management.

Sport and Recreation Management

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

Prepares students for management positions with sport and recreation entities ranging from professional sport franchises to community nonprofit organizations to adventure recreation outlets and intercollegiate athletic programs. Career elective tracks include: Professional Sport and Intercollegiate Athletics, Adventure Sport and Outdoor Recreation, Coaching and Sports-Based Youth Development, and Community and Nonprofit Recreation. Areas of study include: sport marketing and promotions, sport and environmental ethics, leadership and facilitation, special event planning, sports-based youth development, community relations, grant funding and development, and coaching.

Tourism, Hospitality, and Destination Management

Offered at: San Luis Obispo Campus

Prepares students for a professional career with organizations that provide experience industry products or services for national and international tourists. Students may choose to emphasize in areas such as resort and lodging experience management, tourism planning and destination management, food and beverage experience management, tour operations, tourism, hospitality, and destination marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Program Learning Objectives

  1. Demonstrate the ability to think critically and creatively and make reasoned decisions based on an understanding of ethics, a respect for diversity, and awareness of issues related to sustainability in the experience industry and its associated fields.
  2. Communicate effectively while working independently and collaborating in groups.
  3. Demonstrate expertise in the experience industry and its associated fields in relation to the larger world of arts, sciences, and technology.
  4. Develop skills necessary to engage in lifelong learning and continuous self-improvement as professionals in the experience industry.
  5. Demonstrate the following entry-level knowledge in the Experience Industry Management field: a) the nature and scope of the experience industry; b) techniques and processes used by professionals and workers in the experience industry; and c) the foundations of the profession in history, science, and philosophy (COAPRT Standard 7.01).
  6. Demonstrate the ability to design, implement, and evaluate services that facilitate targeted human experiences and that embrace personal and cultural dimensions of diversity (COAPRT Standard 7.02).
  7. Demonstrate entry-level knowledge about operations and strategic management/administration in the experience industry (COAPRT Standard 7.03).
  8. Demonstrate, through a comprehensive internship of not less than 400 clock hours and no fewer than 10 weeks, the potential to succeed as professionals at supervisory or higher levels in the experience industry (COAPRT Standard 7.04).

Degree Requirements and Curriculum

In addition to the program requirements listed on this page, students must also satisfy requirements outlined in more detail in the Minimum Requirements for Graduation section of this catalog, including:

  • 40 units of upper-division courses
  • 2.0 GPA
  • Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR)
  • U.S. Cultural Pluralism (USCP)

Note: No Major, Support or Concentration courses may be selected as credit/no credit. In addition, no more than 12 units of cooperative or internship courses can count towards your degree requirements.

MAJOR COURSES
EIM 1101Introduction to the Experience Industry3
EIM 2210Experience Design: Theories and Applications4
EIM 2255Leadership and Diverse Groups3
EIM 3313Sustainability in the Experience Industry3
EIM 3360Assessment and Evaluation of Experience Industry Management3
EIM 3370Experiential Marketing Strategies for Experience Industry Management3
EIM 4405Principles of Experience Industry Management3
EIM 4416Interpreting Experience Industry Data Analytics3
EIM 4424Financial Management in the Experience Industry3
EIM 4460Senior Project: Experience Industry Management3
or EIM 4461 Senior Project: Student Research
EIM 4463Pre-Internship Seminar1
EIM 4465Internship12
Concentration
(See list of Concentrations below)18
SUPPORT COURSES
BUS 2212Financial Accounting for Nonbusiness Majors 23
or AGB 2214 Agribusiness Financial Accounting
BUS 2215Managerial Accounting 23
or AGB 3323 Decision Making with Agribusiness Accounting Information
BUS 3346Principles of Marketing3
ENGL 3310Corporate Communication (Upper-Division 4) 13
Select from the following: (2) 13-5
Stretch College Algebra
College Algebra
Precalculus
Business Calculus
STAT 1110Applied Statistical Concepts and Methods3
or STAT 1210 Business Statistics I
GENERAL EDUCATION (GE)
(See GE program requirements below)37
FREE ELECTIVES
Free Electives 31-3
Total Units120
1

Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement.

2

Choose either BUS or AGB route. BUS 2212 is a prerequisite for BUS 2215 and AGB 2214 is a prerequisite for AGB 3323.

3

If a General Education (GE) course is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.

Concentrations

Event Planning and Management

REQUIRED COURSES
EIM 1114Introduction to Hospitality and Travel3
EIM 3317Hospitality, Convention and Meeting Management3
EIM 3320Strategic Event Planning3
EIM 4420Strategic Event Implementation3
Approved Electives
Select from the following:6
Legal Responsibilities of Business
Marketing Research
Marketing Analytics
Interpersonal Communication
Business and Professional Communication
Media Effects
Resort and Lodging Operations
Facilitation and Teambuilding Experiences
Destination and Hospitality Marketing & Management
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Sport Marketing and the Fan Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Resource and Grant Development
Leadership Practice
Fundamentals of Food
Introduction to Human Nutrition
Elements of Food Safety
Food and Nutrition: Culture and Customs
Fermented Foods
The Science of Food for the Consumer
Institutional Food Service
Public Relations
Contemporary Advertising
Public Relations Writing and Editing
Responding to Emergencies: Comprehensive First Aid, CPR, AED
Experimental Foods
Floral Design
Business Statistics II
Stagecraft I
Stagecraft II
Global Wine and Viticulture
Branded Wine Marketing
Wine Marketing Research and Market Analysis
Wine Industry Sales
Total Units18

Sport and Recreation Management

REQUIRED COURSES
EIM 1112Introduction to Parks and Outdoor Recreation3
or EIM 1160 Introduction to Sport Management
EIM 2260Community Relations and Sports-Based Youth Development3
or EIM 2275 Facilitation and Teambuilding Experiences
EIM 3323Sport Marketing and the Fan Experience3
or EIM 3325 Leadership in Outdoor Experiences
Approved Electives
Select from the following:9
Professional Sports & Intercollegiate Athletics
Legal Responsibilities of Business
International and Cross Cultural Management
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Human Resources Management
Organizational Behavior
Marketing Research
Marketing Analytics
International Marketing
Organizational Communication
Business and Professional Communication
Microeconomics
Strategic Event Planning
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Sport Marketing and the Fan Experience
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Strategic Event Implementation
Leadership Practice
Contemporary Advertising
Sport and Performance Psychology
Sport and Gender
Sports, Media, and United States Popular Culture
Adventure Sport & Outdoor Recreation
Introduction to Parks and Outdoor Recreation
Introduction to Hospitality and Travel
Environmental and Wilderness Education
Destination and Hospitality Marketing & Management
Strategic Event Planning
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Leadership in Outdoor Experiences
Environmental Leadership and Community Engagement
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Leadership Practice
The Global Environment
Responding to Emergencies: Comprehensive First Aid, CPR, AED
Orienteering
Introduction to Forest Ecosystem Management
Environmental Management
Resource Law Enforcement
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Engaging in Sustainable Global Development
Coaching & Sports-Based Youth Development
Developmental Psychology
Strategic Event Planning
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Strategic Event Implementation
Leadership Practice
Responding to Emergencies: Comprehensive First Aid, CPR, AED
Sport and Performance Psychology
Sport and Gender
Sports, Media, and United States Popular Culture
Community & Nonprofit Recreation
Developmental Psychology
Organizational Communication
Business and Professional Communication
Urban Planning History
Introduction to City Planning
Microeconomics
Strategic Event Planning
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Strategic Event Implementation
Resource and Grant Development
Leadership Practice
Contemporary Advertising
Responding to Emergencies: Comprehensive First Aid, CPR, AED
U.S. and California Government
Public Policy and Administration
Total Units18

Tourism, Hospitality, and Destination Management

REQUIRED COURSES
EIM 1114Introduction to Hospitality and Travel3
EIM 2216Resort and Lodging Operations3
EIM 3317Hospitality, Convention and Meeting Management3
EIM 3318Destination and Hospitality Marketing & Management3
Approved Electives
Select from the following:6
Resort & Lodging Experience Management
Agribusiness Data Literacy
Agribusiness Data Analysis
Legal Responsibilities of Business
International and Cross Cultural Management
Marketing Research
Marketing Analytics
International Marketing
Microeconomics
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Resource and Grant Development
Leadership Practice
Public Relations
Engaging in Sustainable Global Development
Business Statistics II
Branded Wine Marketing
Wine Industry Sales
Tourism Planning & Destination Management
Legal Responsibilities of Business
International and Cross Cultural Management
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Marketing Research
Interpersonal Communication
Advanced Public Speaking
Introduction to City Planning
Methods in Land Use and Transportation
Cities in a Global World
Microeconomics
Strategic Event Planning
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Strategic Event Implementation
Resource and Grant Development
Leadership Practice
Global Geography
Public Relations
Contemporary Advertising
Public Relations Writing and Editing
Introductory Psychology
Social Psychology
Branded Wine Marketing
Wine Marketing Research and Market Analysis
Wine Industry Sales
Food & Beverage Experience Management
Legal Responsibilities of Business
International and Cross Cultural Management
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Marketing Research
International Marketing
Advanced Public Speaking
Microeconomics
Strategic Event Planning
Visitor Services in Experience Industry Management
Directed Field Experience
Special Problems for Advanced Undergraduates
Advanced Experience Industry Management Applications
Strategic Event Implementation
Resource and Grant Development
Leadership Practice
Fundamentals of Food
Introduction to Human Nutrition
Food and Nutrition: Culture and Customs
Elements of Food Safety
Fermented Foods
The Science of Food for the Consumer
Institutional Food Service
Public Relations
Contemporary Advertising
Public Relations Writing and Editing
Experimental Foods
Global Wine and Viticulture
Branded Wine Marketing
Wine Marketing Research and Market Analysis
Wine Industry Sales
Total Units18

General Education (GE) Requirements  

General Education (GE) Requirements

  • 43 units required, 6 of which are specified in Major and/or Support.
  • If any of the remaining 37 Units is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.
  • See the complete GE course listing.
  • A grade of C- or better is required in one course in each of the following GE Areas: 1A (English Composition), 1B (Critical Thinking), 1C (Oral Communication), and 2 (Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning). 
Lower-Division General Education
Area 1English Communication and Critical Thinking
1AWritten Communication3
1BCritical Thinking3
1COral Communication3
Area 2Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning
2Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (3 units in Support) 10
Area 3Arts and Humanities
3AArts3
3BHumanities: Literature, Philosophy, Languages other than English 3
Area 4Social and Behavioral Sciences (Area 4 courses must come from at least two different course prefixes.)
4AAmerican Institutions (Title 5, Section 40404 Requirement)3
4BSocial and Behavioral Sciences3
Area 5Physical and Life Sciences
5APhysical Sciences3
5BLife Sciences3
5CLaboratory (may be embedded in a 5A or 5B course)1
Area 6 Ethnic Studies
6 Ethnic Studies3
Upper-Division General Education
Upper-Division 2/5Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning or Physical and Life Sciences3
Upper-Division 3Arts and Humanities3
Upper-Division 4Social and Behavioral Sciences (Area 4 courses must come from at least two different course prefixes.) (3 units in Support) 10
Total Units37
1

Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement.

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