Professional Event Management Certificate

The Professional Event Management Certificate is focused on preparing students to design, plan, manage, implement, and evaluate experiences, meetings, and special events. Students will take hands-on event management coursework which covers planning, promotion, operational logistics, sponsorship, evaluation, contracting, media, fundraising, risk management, and vendor management. They will also learn using hands-on experience to implement a number of community and campus events. 

Program Coordinator: Dr. Donna Lee Sullins ([email protected]) 

Program Details

The PEMC program requires a minimum of 15 credit hours in designated courses. Students must earn a grade of C or better in each course used to meet the requirements, and maintain a B average (3.0 GPA) in the required courses.

Admission Requirements 

This certificate program requires at least three semesters to complete. Because of this, students must apply 3 full semesters prior to graduation or have already taken RPTS 311/HMGT 211. It is best to apply as soon as possible, prior to completing coursework, as there is no guarantee of admission. Please note, required volunteer hours may start counting from the beginning of your enrollment in HMGT 211, even if you are not officially accepted into the program until a later semester. 

Course Requirements 

The PEMC program has been recently updated. Please review the differences below.

Note: Students previously accepted into PEMC prior to summer 2023 can move to the new program after discussion with Melyssa-Anne Stricklin ([email protected]) to see how your completed credits fit the new program.

GPA Requirements 

Accepted to PEMC Prior to Summer 2023:

• Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in each PEMC applicable course
• Students must earn a grade of “Satisfactory” (pass) in RPTS 324 (zero credit course)
• Must maintain a “B” average (3.0 GPA) in the required PEMC courses
• It is departmental policy for the PEMC that you cannot retake RPTS 311 (HMGT 211), RPTS 320 (HMGT 320) or RPTS 321 in order to earn the required minimum grades or GPA for PEMC

Accepted During/After Summer 2023

• Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in each PEMC applicable course
• Must maintain a “B” average (3.0 GPA) in the required PEMC courses
• It is departmental policy for the PEMC that you cannot retake HMGT 211, HMGT 320 or HMGT 424 in order to earn the required minimum grades or GPA for PEMC

Event Volunteer Requirements 

One component of the Professional Event Management Certificate is the required volunteer hours each student must work in the events industry. Your Website Portfolio will include the information that documents your competition of these hours. In HMGT 424, you must submit at least 70% of your hours documented for the draft deadline to earn a grade on that assignment and 100% must be submitted for the final deadline to earn a grade on that assignment.

These volunteer hours can range from working as a parking attendant or trash clean-up crew through running the event. You are allowed to volunteer as a part of the planning phase, implementation phase, post-event evaluation phase, or a combination of these phases.

These volunteer opportunities are to be found by you, the student. They do not have to take place in the BCS area. You can look at a city’s event calendar, the Student Event Planners Association (SEPA) website, or other student organization event calendars to find opportunities.

• A minimum of 40 hours (unpaid) of service in conduct of event management and execution.
  • These 40 hours must be conducted at at least ten (10) separate events (recurring events or events of the same nature can count as separate events).
  • You must work each event for at least three (3) hours.
  • No community service will be accepted; e.g., Big Event, Replant, can food drives, etc.
  • No family/friend events; e.g., weddings, showers, birthdays, etc.
• These hours will be performed after you have been accepted into the PEMC program.
• Service hour requirements from RPTS 311/HMGT 211, RPTS/HMGT 320, RPTS 321, and HMGT 424 can apply, even if you earned those hours prior to acceptance into PEMC.

Great learning can occur from a greater variety of events. If you are still working towards your hour requirement, please consider events you have not yet worked as an outlet you may want to consider.

Portfolio Website Requirements 

You will build a portfolio website to represent your volunteer work. 

• Accepted Prior to Summer 2023: Final portfolio is submitted in RPTS 324
• Accepted During/After Summer 2023: Final portfolio is submitted in HMGT 424

PEMC – Website Portfolio 

Since many of you have expectations or aspirations for working with festivals, fairs, and special events, it is important to document the experience that you have gained, the hours worked or service given to planning and conducting events, and the knowledge you have gained from those experiences.  This will be important as you seek certification in event management and eventual employment in the field. Service is an indicator of a commitment to an ideal which is relevant to employers and demonstrates that you bring more than just job skills when you are hired. 

Format 

Be Creative! How you design your portfolio and the way you choose to organize it should reflect you. This may be the first impression someone will have of your work. As you are building this portfolio, continue to check to make sure this is an honest and clear representation of your work. 

• Your portfolio must be a website (Wix, Weebly, etc). 
• It must be one all inclusive website, not multiple documents sent together. 

What must you include? 

• Current resume (consider omitting your phone number and definitely omit your home address because your website will be available online to the world) 
• All of your volunteer hours for PEMC as well as any other events you would like to include. For each event, you must: 

• Complete the Event Verification Form with a supervisor signature. 
• Document specifically what you did to contribute to the success of the event using action verbs. 
• You can use bullet points. 
• Write a brief reflection answering: 
• Specifically, what did you learn from your experience? 

• What was the purpose of the event? 
• Document your participation (if you only helped with the planning phase, but not day-of, you are still required to have these) with both: 
• Photos of you actively planning/working the event; try not to have selfies (for virtual events, you still need a photos of you planning/working the event). 
• Photos of the event that include a variety of event elements (for virtual events, you can use screen shots for this requirement). 
• If applicable, if you were on the planning committee, include a written copy of the plan and any supporting materials.

Suggestions 

You should make your portfolio in a professional and creative manner. The best portfolios show more than just your event management experience. Do you have paid or unpaid experience in other creative outlets: photography, floral design, graphic design, etc.? Add sections to your portfolio with these creative outlets. Show off how awesome you are! Did you serve in a leadership role in a student organization that involved event management skills? Showcase your talents here!! 

Rubrics 

In RPTS 324/HMGT 424, you will submit a draft of your website portfolio and a final version of your website portfolio.

Exit Exam 

• Students must pass the exit exam prior to gaining the certificate. 
• The exam will be based on content covered in the three required courses, HMGT 211/RPTS 311, HMGT 320/RPTS 320, and HMGT 424/RPTS 321. 

• You can take the exam as many times as you need to until you pass. 
• The exam will be administered through Canvas in RPTS 324 (accepted prior to summer 2023) and HMGT 424 (accepted during/after summer 2023).

Career Options

This certificate prepares you to design, plan, manage, implement, and evaluate experiences, meetings, and special events. You’ll take hands-on event management coursework that covers: 

• Event Services
• Event Design
• Venue Management
• Planning
• Media and Promotion
• Operational logistics 
• Evaluation 
• Contracting 
• Sponsorship and fundraising 
• Risk management 
• Vendor management

You’ll also gain hands-on experience through implementing a number of community and campus events. 

Job Title	Description	Average Salary
Tournament Director	Oversee general tournament operations, such as: hiring staff, implementing policies and rules, interacting with people overseeing the facilities, instructing staff, and coordinating internal communication, finances, scheduling, statistics, marketing and participant recognition	$40,000
Meeting Planner	Oversee and facilitate all aspects of meeting planning: site selection, vendor negotiation, event registration, marketing, on-site staffing and post-event reporting	$63,000
Military Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Special Events Coordinator	Plan, implement and evaluate events and programs that improve the quality of life for service members and their families	$60,000
Theater Operations Manager	Recruit, train, motivate, develop and coordinate the activities of a location’s personnel to ensure an effective operation and excellent guest service	$48,000

Contact Us

• 

  Melyssa-Anne Stricklin

  Senior Academic Advisor, AGLS Advising Hub
  

  (979) 458-8515

  [email protected]

  AGLS 408B

• 

  Donna Lee Sullins

  Instructional Assistant Professor
  

  (979) 314-8160

  [email protected]

  AGLS 459