Students and administrators from more than 50 colleges in New England and the United Kingdom will converge on Hanover this weekend for a conference examining ways to improve student life by bettering student unions.
The conference was put together by the Association of College Unions International. About two-thirds of the 150 delegates will be college students, according to Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia.
Representatives will investigate "what knowledge and skills we as staff and as students need to know to provide for the future," Sateia said. Sateia was instrumental in the recent renovations to the College's own student union -- the Collis Center.
Workshop topics include: Bringing Art to College Unions, College Unions in Cyberspace, Contract Negotiations, Empowering Students, Hot Topics in Women's Health and Supervising Student Employees.
Ruth Morgan '96, who attended last year's conference in Connecticut, said "it was helpful. It was a positive thing. I got to meet people from other college unions and talk to them about what works and what doesn't."
Morgan, who is the co-chair of the Programming Board, said she has maintained contact with people she met at last year's conference, which dealt with ways to revitalize college unions.
"A couple of the people were from Britain, and we still talk to them," she said. "We have gotten a lot of information from them."
Thirteen representatives from organizations such as the Programming Board and Collis Miniversity will represent Dartmouth at the conference.
The participating colleges come from the first region of the Association of College Unions International, which includes Amherst University, Middlebury University, Tufts University, Plymouth State University, schools from the University of Massachusetts system and schools from England and Wales.
Collis became the first College building dedicated solely to student services when it reopened in 1994 after undergoing $5.5 million renovations.
"We have been very excited since the renovation to have the space to host the conference," Sateia said.
Dave Grelotti '96, the other Programming Board co-chair, and Morgan, who both participated in last year's conference, will lead a session titled "Advertising: Beyond the Poster."
Representatives will stay at the Hanover Inn.
