Morrow named director of industry relations for new school of hospitality and entertainment management

Lipscomb University is leading the way with a hospitality and entertainment program that not only creates memorable moments but also impacts the lives of those in the field.

Kim Chaudoin  |  07/23/2019

Lipscomb University has named community leader Beth Morrow as director of industry relations in its new School of Hospitality and Entertainment Management.

Morrow has deep roots in the Nashville community, having served at the city’s key tourism and hospitality organizations, and has more than a decade of higher education experience that gives her a unique perspective to build the university’s relationships with organizations in Nashville and across the country. In this role, Morrow will work with key stakeholders in Tennessee’s hospitality industry, aligning Lipscomb’s School of Hospitality and Entertainment Management programs and future growth to meet the unique future needs of the marketplace. 
 
"Beth’s rich background in Nashville and in this industry make her a vital part of building Lipscomb’s new School of Hospitality and Entertainment Management,” said Mike Fernandez, dean of the George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts, which houses the school. “Beth has a tremendous body of knowledge and network of industry leaders that will set Lipscomb’s school apart and pave the way for exciting opportunities for our students and for an educational experience that will prepare them to be leaders in the hospitality and entertainment industry."
 
In August 2018, Lipscomb University announced the launch of its new School of Hospitality and Entertainment Management as a way to meet workforce needs in the growing tourism and hospitality industries in Nashville and nationwide. Nashville’s tourism and hospitality industry generates close to $6.50 billion annually with more than seven years of record-breaking growth. In 2017 more than 68,300 individuals worked in industry-related jobs in the Nashville area and in 2018 15.2 million visitors came to the city. It is the second-largest industry in Nashville with projections for it to continue to be a leading industry.
 
“We see hospitality and entertainment management education and training as more than just equipping our students with the skills and knowledge to be successful in a complex industry — which is important,” said Morrow.  “We also view developing leadership skills as crucial,  something much deeper than understanding the daily tasks necessary to make an event happen flawlessly or a client having a comfortable stay at a hotel or a fabulous dining experience at one of the city’s best restaurants.  Learners committed to strategic financial management, decision-making, culture-shaping  and serving others from a place of integrity will lead in the next 25 years. We know hospitality management includes making unforgettable moments for guests but it also involves impacting the lives of those employed in the field at every level … in these places humanity happens.”  

Lipscomb’s school is one of the few in the country to offer a multidisciplinary approach to hospitality education. Through a collaboration of its George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts, College of Business, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Lipscomb’s program is strategically designed as an integrated curriculum that will provide students a foundation in business practices such as management, marketing and leadership; an in-depth study of entertainment disciplines, industries and production; food and beverage; and event planning to give students a holistic approach to hospitality studies. The program will offer undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional certificates and will have four areas of emphasis: lodging, food and beverage, tourism and entertainment.

The program is designed to prepare students for a variety of career paths in the growing hospitality industry. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, significant growth and demand are anticipated in the areas of meeting, convention and event planning; lodging management; and entertainment and production management to name a few. Lipscomb’s hospitality program also prepares students for careers in theme park management, restaurant management, catering management, travel management, hotel management, tourism and production planning among others. 

In addition to the robust academic program, Lipscomb has also developed an innovative on campus hospitality rotation program that will utilize a variety of real-world learning-labs including its downtown Spark campus, a main-campus hotel that offers 82 rooms, an entertainment technical services department, an event management department and a busy food service and catering organization. Students will have to spend a semester in each area literally working for the university to help serve its professional hospitality needs.  They will be paid for their positions but also be guided by a faculty member that helps them from an educational standpoint. “We feel strongly that this rotation program will not only make their education stronger but it will also help the university serve its community and ultimately better prepare our students for the reality of working in the Nashville’s vibrant and fast-paced industry,” Fernandez said. 

Morrow began her career in the industry 20 years ago as communications manager at Nashville Downtown Partnership, a private sector nonprofit corporation whose core purpose is "to make Downtown Nashville the compelling urban center in the Southeast in which to LIVE, WORK, PLAY and INVEST." She worked positions in nonprofit development and operations, leadership and direct services for the Crisis Intervention Center, Fifty Forward and the Belmont Community Organization (NC). She also served on administration and special projects teams and as associate director of convention services at the Nashville Convention & Visitors’ Corp. In addition, Morrow also worked as director of sponsorships for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.   

From 2008-2016, Morrow was associate dean and director in Lipscomb University’s College of Leadership & Public Service. In this role she provided oversight, planning and implementation for annual national and regional marketing and advertising, enrollment of graduate students representing approximately $2.5 million in tuition revenue per year and produced training curriculums, annual events and conferences. In addition, Morrow provided co-coaching, co-facilitation, co-training and co-consulting for roster of organizations, small business owners and nonprofit executives with the Institute for Conflict Management, including Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, the YMCA of Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  She provided communications and internal management for a new Institutes model of education at Lipscomb University as well as held cross-departmental responsibility for a new faculty/staff leadership development program created by University President Randy Lowry.

Three years ago, Morrow launched a consulting firm to assist organizations and stakeholders in mission-based management. Her clients have included local leadership at Senior Ride Nashville, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Alignment Nashville, the Academies of Nashville, TN Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, the Center for Nonprofit Management, The Heimerdinger Foundation, the National Museum of African American Music, R.H. Boyd Publishing Company and New Politics Leadership Academy.

Morrow holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from Lipscomb University. 
  
About Lipscomb University’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts
Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts offers undergraduate degrees in film production, fashion merchandising, fashion design, entertainment design, music composition, contemporary music, vocal performance, piano performance, instrumental performance, teaching, music, acting, directing, musical theater, theater ministry, theater teaching, studio art, graphic design, art therapy, visual arts administration, visual arts teaching and animation among other areas of study. Graduate programs include Master of Arts degrees in film and creative media, Master of Fine Arts degrees in film and creative media with writer and director tracks and a Master of Fine Arts/Master of Business Administration blended degree. For more information visit cea.lipscomb.edu.