Student Affairs to Host Administrative Conference June 15-17

The University of Pittsburgh’s Division of Student Affairs will host the 2008 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Region II Conference at the Westin Convention Center, 1000 Penn Ave., Downtown, June 15-17. The title of this year’s conference is “Building Bridges to Transformation: Theory to Practice.”

“We are excited to bring our peers in student affairs from the region to our great city. We are confident that the [conference’s] theme will resonate with them, because it speaks to the unique and exciting profession in which we work,” said Kathy W. Humphrey, vice provost and dean of students at Pitt and chair of the conference committee. According to Humphrey, the primary goal of the conference is to empower student affairs professionals to measure the impact they are having on students.

Highlighting the conference will be keynote addresses by Michael J. Cuyjet, an associate professor in the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development, and Molly Schaller, an associate professor and coordinator of the College Student Personnel Program and a fellow in the Learning Teaching Center at the University of Dayton. A panel discussion will feature seven students giving their unique perspective on student affairs-related issues.

New to this year’s conference will be two special sessions sponsored by Pitt’s Office of International Services. The first, titled “Bridging National Borders and Cultures: A Counseling Perspective,” examines the challenges of meeting the needs of international students, explores best practices, and offers practical tips. The second session, titled “Building Bridges in the World of Work for Our International Students,” explores career services for the international student and offers job-search strategies and resources for successfully navigating the employment process.

In addition, the conference will provide networking activities such as the Pittsburgh Campus Crawl, a progressive dinner that includes tours of Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, and Point Park University. An Exhibitor Showcase, featuring vendor displays, will take place in the Westin’s rotunda area.

With more than 11,000 members at 1,400 campuses representing 29 countries, NASPA is the largest professional association for student affairs administrators, faculty, and graduate students. NASPA serves its members through a variety of professional development opportunities for student affairs individuals at all levels of the profession as well as through its quarterly publications. NASPA Region II represents Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. It also serves Germany, Egypt, Greece, Japan, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the Virgin Islands.

For more information and a full schedule of events, contact Shawn Ahearn, director of communications in Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs, at 412-648-1005, or visit www.naspa.org.