Contact: Maridith Geuder
More than 300 higher education professionals from Texas to Washington, D.C., are expected to attend a Gulf Coast conference next month.
The Southern Association for College Student Affairs, a regional professional association with executive offices in Savannah, Ga., meets Nov. 1-5 at Biloxi's Grand Casino Hotel.
Ann Bailey, Mississippi State University director of housing and residence life and the organization's 2002 vice president for partnerships, is the event's local coordinator.
"We're very excited to bring SACSA back to Mississippi for the first time since the mid-1970s to showcase the tourism potential and professional contributions of the Magnolia State," Bailey said.
She said the organization, which began in 1950 as the Southern College Personnel Association Convention, changed its name in 1981 as its members' responsibilities expanded to meet the needs of a growing and more diverse student population. Today, SACSA includes more than 700 collegiate professionals and others who gather annually to discuss topical issues and research in student affairs and counseling.
The Mississippi conference will include sessions on technology, legal issues, student media, campus diversity, extracurricular activities, risky behavior, and a host of other topics.
Among featured speakers will be:
--Frances Lucas-Taucher, an MSU graduate and former Division of Student Affairs administrator who now is president of Millsaps College in Jackson;
--Morris Dees, a founding partner of the Southern Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., and --Ralph Johnson, associate dean of students at Johns Hopkins University.
Bailey said MSU Student Association president Parker Wiseman of Starkville will participate in a town forum discussion of symbols and their impact on campuses. He will join student affairs professionals from the universities of Nebraska and Southern Mississippi, as well as Clemson and Jackson State universities.
"This is an outstanding conference that will cover some of the most compelling issues on college campuses today," Bailey said.
For more information, telephone Ann Bailey at (662) 325-3557.