Jan. 5, 2004 - ROSEN SCHOOL OPENS ITS DOORS: Future leaders in the region's hotel, tourism and restaurant industries walk through the doors of the new campus of the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management this week. 

The $28.1 million facility near International Drive holds its first classes today, and a formal dedication ceremony will be held in another month, said school spokesman Tom Evelyn. 

The Rosen school, named for Orlando hotelier and philanthropist Harris Rosen, will now have room to expand for years to come, according to the school's academic dean, Abraham Pizam. 

The new campus can hold about 2,000 students, more than double the current enrollment of 900. Pizam said he hopes to see undergraduate enrollment top 1,000 by next year, along with about 100 graduate students. 

Dana Reiss, a sophomore studying hotel management, said the new facility plus the close proximity of hotels and attractions are a nice combination for launching careers in the industry. 

"We have everything right there," Reiss said. 

The campus includes 22 classrooms, a 9,000-square-foot library, a 400-seat auditorium, a wine and beer laboratory and other features. Nearly 400 apartments in two residence halls are expected to open in late 2005. 

The new school was made possible in part through an $18.2 million donation from Harris Rosen and his wife, Trisha. The Rosens also pledged $1.1 million for scholarships for students attending the school. 

Rosen predicts that the school will develop a national reputation, and many of the graduates are expected to help run his own growing portfolio of hotels in the Orlando area. 

The location, state-of-the-art facilities and other factors, Rosen said, should mean that "within a relatively short period of time, this is a school that will be regarded as one of the best, if not the best, in hospitality management." 

The new school was designed in the Mediterranean style, matching the look of neighboring Rosen's Shingle Creek Resort, a 1,500-room hotel and convention facility opening in the fall of 2006. 

In addition to the Rosens, donors who contributed to the new school include the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, $5 million; Darden Restaurants Inc., $2 million; Walt Disney World Co., $2 million; Universal Orlando Foundation, $1 million; the Anheuser-Busch Foundation/Sea World, $500,000; the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, $100,000; the American Resort Development Association International Foundation Inc., $100,000; Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals, $100,000; and the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association, $50,000. 

Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5721. 

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