On Oct. 17, 2016, undergraduate students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business who are in the Hospitality Business Fellows (HBF) program traveled a few miles down the road to visit the headquarters of Chesapeake Hospitality, a nationally-recognized hotel management company.

Chesapeake Hospitality is a full-service management firm that began 60 years ago when a husband and wife bought a small hotel in College Park, Md. It has since become a third-party management company that operates 29 independent and branded hotels representing approximately 5,300 rooms located along the East Coast.

Sophomores and juniors – along with Janet Wagner, HBF faculty champion and professor of marketing – met with Steven Smith, executive vice president and principal at Chesapeake Hospitality (shown in photo), and he explained the business of hotel operations and the different professional opportunities available.

This was the first of many planned excursions for the HBF program, which focuses on teaching students the strategic tools and analytical skills they need to succeed as business leaders. In late November, the group will visit with professionals at the Southern Management Corporation, the largest privately owned residential property management company in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area. 

HBF is a three-semester plus summer internship program, designed in partnership with Choice Hotels, Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International. Students are invited to apply for summer internships in their major area (e.g., marketing, operations, human resources, finance) with partner companies. Courses are interactive and experiential, featuring speakers, projects, and in-class exercises.

Applications for Hospitality Business Fellows for 2017-18 will open December 2016. The Smith School offers 15 unique fellows programs. For more details on all of them, go to the Smith Fellows website. 

- Claudia Donnelly, Smith Undergraduate Program