Experiential Learning and Academic Support: Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management, Experiential Learning, & Orientation - Serena

To the west of our Harper Humanities Gardens is our Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management, one of the top hospitality programs in the world, housed in a distinctive brick building with a bright red dome.  

At the University of Denver, there are many opportunities for experiential learning. 80% of students complete at least one internship, over 50% complete at least two internships, and over a third of our professors are grant-funded right now, meaning they are doing some type of research that students can get involved with, 2,000 students participate in over 120 service courses each year, and there are over 100 student organizations with leadership opportunities.  

One example is right here at our Hospitality Management school. Inside we have our on-campus coffee shop, Beans, which is entirely run by students. Managers at Beans are typically the junior or senior students in the Hospitality Management program, and they can add to their resumes that that they have managed and ran a small business before even graduating from college. This building also houses the Tuscan Ballroom where alumni events, reunions and even weddings are planned and run by students working in event management.  

A personalized education is a hallmark of the DU experience – we want to make sure every student is on the right track and able to find support at every turn so you won’t get lost in the crowd. In order to make sure you are prepared to dive into all that DU has to offer, first-year students participate in a week-long orientation before the start of classes, where they move into their residence hall early and get acclimated to campus. They are also placed into orientation groups of around 15-25 students, organized by their First-Year Seminar, or FSEM, class. This is incredibly helpful, because you spend a week learning the ins and outs of student life with a smaller group of people, and you continue to grow those friendships for the rest of the quarter as you take your FSEM class with them.  

For my FSEM Class I took “Tabletop Games: Define & Design” and part of my final for that class was creating a board game and playtesting it with my fellow classmates both in my FSEM and at DU. 

The professor of your FSEM class serves as your first-year advisor. You’ll meet them during Discoveries Orientation, which happens the week of move-in, typically the Tuesday after Labor Day. After your first year, you will have an academic advisor in your desired major.