New bachelor program in event management sees big demand ahead of fall launch

The bachelor of event, sport and entertainment management honours degree program is officially launching on Sept. 23 with over 80 applications and counting.

“We’re very excited with the numbers that are coming in. The demand for this program is interesting, as a first-year degree program in a college, you never know where it’s going to go, but it’s being received very well at the high schools,” said Michael Tarnowski, academic chair in the School of Business and Hospitality.

Originally, the number of seats available for the program was 20, but because there has been an extraordinary amount of interest, the college extended the number of seats to 40. The college is willing to go up to 50 seats if needed.

“The fact that it’s a bachelor’s degree, typically, a lot of high school students look to universities,” said Tarnowski.

“Normally, it takes a few years for a new degree to get mainstream and get known at the high schools, so for it to get picked up this quickly, I was very surprised,” added Tarnowski.

As the only event, sport & entertainment management program in Ottawa, industries are very happy to see the program implemented as there is a need for workers.

Brian Henry, a former radio and TV broadcasting student at Algonquin College and president of Quality Entertainment, chimed in on the subject.

“This industry has really needed this degree program for a long time, we need more people in our industry than ever before, so excitement would be the word I would use,” said Henry, who has also been awarded an honorary diploma from the college.

“There has been a lot of change in the last three years due to the pandemic. There were a lot of layoffs, lots of changes and lots of growth. So, what has happened is that has created an instant need for qualified people.”

“So, this program becoming available is going to be really good for students who want to get into an exciting industry with a lot of jobs,” added Henry.

Henry encourages people to enter the program because of how the industry has adapted. There are now hybrid models and many different opportunities with flexible schedules and good-paying jobs.