Professional Event Manager Certificate Program
Certificate Program in Event Management
The Professional Certificate in Event Management (CEM), offered by the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences (RPTS), provides students with an understanding of and the ability to plan, implement, and evaluate festivals, fairs and special events in a variety of governmental, not-for-profit, and commercial settings.
General Requirements
Applicants must be enrolled in a degree program at Texas A&M and, if required, have permission from their departmental advisor to register in the required Event Management classes. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in each course used to meet the requirements, must complete all requirements prior to graduation, and must maintain a 3.0 GPA in the required courses. Participating departments reserve the right to limit the number of applicants to the program.
The CEM program requires a minimum of 15 credit hours in designated (core) courses. These include 9 credit hours in the following specified courses:
RPTS 311 (3-0)—Recreation and Tourism Programs
RPTS 320 (3-0)—Festivals, Fairs and Events I
RPTS 321 (3-0)—Festival, Fairs and Events II
Additionally, students must take an approved administration course that will depend upon their interests. For RPTS majors, these include:
RPTS 304 (3-0)—Administration of Recreation Resource Agencies
(For students interested in governmental or not-for-profit agencies/organizations.)
or
RPTS 423 (3-0)—Tourism and Resort Development
(For students interested in tourism, resort, and commercial operations.)
Students who are not RPTS majors but in a cooperating department may have a course offering that will meet this administration requirement. Check with your academic advisor and with the CEM coordinator to determine if a course qualifies.
Students will also take a specialized elective that relates to festivals, fairs or events. If your major department has a designated specialized elective, that course should be selected, but other courses will be permitted and a listing of suggestions will be maintained by the coordinating office for the CEM program.
A recommended elective for all CEM program participants is an internship (paid or volunteer) with a company, organization, or agency which involves event management responsibilities. Suitable courses include RPTS 484 or an internship class in the student’s major field.
Students are expected to complete the required courses in sequence (RPTS 311, RPTS 320, and RPTS 321), and enrollment preferences will be assigned to those in the proper sequence.
A requirement of the RPTS 320 and RPTS 321 classes will be that students also enroll in the Texas Event Leadership Program (TELP). It is expected that the Professional Certificate in Event Management will be equivalent to the proposed TELP level 1 certification.
Both the CEM certificate and the proposed TELP level 1 certification will require twenty-five (25) hours of service in the conduct of festivals, fairs, or events. There is also a service hour requirement in both RPTS 320 and RPTS 321. Appropriate documentation guidelines will be developed and available at a future date. These hours will be performed after the student is admitted to the CEM program.
Specific certificate requirements and documents will be available in the Undergraduate Programs Office of the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences and that of cooperating units.
For PEMC certificate enrollment Form, click here.
