As guest expectations continue to evolve, shaped by technology, personalization, and immersive storytelling, the hospitality and experience industries are entering a new phase of growth and transformation.
At the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, that shift is helping inform new approaches to how future leaders are prepared.
With the launch of the Universal School of Experience Leadership and Innovation, developed in collaboration with Universal Destinations & Experiences, Rosen College is introducing a first-of-its-kind academic model designed to prepare students for leadership roles across immersive and experience-driven industries.
Supported by a $10 million investment and built on a partnership that spans more than two decades, the new school represents an important step forward not only for the college, but for how hospitality and experience leadership education will continue to evolve.
Moving Beyond Traditional Education Models
As immersive and experience-driven industries continue to grow, experiences are increasingly shaped through collaboration across creative, technical, and operational teams.
Delivering seamless and meaningful guest journeys requires an understanding of how these areas connect and work together in practice.
The Universal School of Experience Leadership and Innovation is designed with that reality in mind.
Rather than separating disciplines, the school will integrate storytelling, technology, business strategy, and guest operations into a connected learning framework. Students will move through a structured academic journey that reflects how immersive experiences are planned, communicated, managed, and delivered in real-world environments.
They will begin by developing skills in design thinking, storytelling, and audience-centered strategy, learning how immersive and experience-driven organizations approach communication, engagement, and guest interaction. From there, they will explore how experiences are positioned and communicated to audiences through brand strategy, engagement, and global marketing. Finally, they will focus on execution, developing the leadership and operational capabilities required to support and deliver experiences at scale.
“This represents a meaningful evolution in how we prepare students,” said Alan Fyall, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Rosen College. “By aligning academic structure more closely with industry practice, we are creating opportunities for students to think across disciplines, connect creative strategy with operational execution, and develop the skills needed to lead in complex environments.”
A Partnership Built on Decades of Impact
While the school introduces a new academic model, it builds on a longstanding foundation.
For more than 20 years, Rosen College and Universal Destinations & Experiences have collaborated to create opportunities for students through internships, applied learning experiences, and industry engagement. Hundreds of Rosen graduates have gone on to contribute across Universal’s parks, experiences, and operations.
This next phase of collaboration represents a deeper integration of industry perspective into academic learning.
The Universal School of Experience Leadership and Innovation will connect classroom learning with real-world practice through curriculum input from industry leaders, executive engagement, mentorship, and applied learning opportunities grounded in current challenges across immersive and experience-driven industries.
Students will gain insight into how large-scale experience organizations operate, how guest experiences are designed and managed, and how creative, operational, and strategic decisions come together in practice.
Learning Through Real-World Application
At the core of the new school is a focus on applied learning.
Students will engage in projects that reflect real challenges faced by organizations in immersive and experience-driven industries. Through collaborative coursework, scenario-based exercises, and iterative development, they will learn how to move from concept to execution in environments where both creativity and precision are essential.
They will develop the ability to think critically, test ideas, respond to feedback, and adapt to changing conditions, skills that are increasingly important in fast-moving global industries.
For Trey Morris, a Theme Park and Attraction Management (B.S.) student who has already completed two internships with Universal, this approach reflects the type of preparation students value.
“Being part of this kind of learning environment changes how you approach everything,” Morris said. “You’re not just focused on one area, you’re seeing how storytelling, operations, and guest experience all connect. Building that perspective, especially through my experience with Universal, has given me a stronger sense of direction and confidence in where I am headed.””
A Dual-School Model for Leadership
The launch of the Universal School of Experience Leadership and Innovation also marks a broader evolution at Rosen College through the introduction of a dual-school model.
Alongside the new school, the School of Hospitality Leadership will focus on business strategy, financial performance, operations, sustainability, and organizational leadership.
While the Universal School will emphasize experience creation, innovation, and emerging technologies, the School of Hospitality Leadership will focus on developing the analytical, operational, and strategic capabilities required to manage and scale complex organizations.
Together, the two schools are designed to work in alignment, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of both experience leadership and organizational leadership.
Students will develop the ability to think creatively while also leading strategically, preparing them to contribute across multiple dimensions of the industry.
Preparing Students for What’s Next
As immersive and experience-driven industries continue to grow, the demand for talent that can operate across disciplines is expected to increase. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the leisure and hospitality sector is projected to add about 822,700 jobs between 2023 and 2033, accounting for roughly one in eight new jobs in the U.S. economy and ranking as the third-largest area of job growth.
Organizations are seeking leaders who can connect creative strategies with operational execution, understand both guest experience and business strategy, and navigate environments shaped by technology, data, and continuous change.
The Universal School of Experience Leadership and Innovation is designed to support that need.
By combining academic rigor with industry collaboration, and by aligning education more closely with how the industry operates, Rosen College is creating new opportunities for students to develop the skills required for the future of global experiences.
More importantly, it is establishing a framework where students will be prepared not only to enter the industry, but to contribute to its continued evolution.
Read More at Universal Destinations & Experiences, UCF Introduce New School to Develop the Future Leaders of Themed Entertainment, Immersive Experiences on UCF Today