Centers of attention: roles of collegiate conference centers come into focus - includes list of members of Assn. of Conference and Events Directors International for Collegiate Conference and Events Professionals - Cover Story

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 20, 1997 by Carolyn Bennett

Twenty years ago, a college might have rented out dormitory space to church groups in the summer to keep the buildings in use and to make a little money on the side. Today, renting out space to host conferences and meetings has become a big business for colleges and universities.

The scope of the business is being determined by a study sponsored by the Association of Conference and Events Directors International for Collegiate Conference and Events Professionals (ACED). Jill Lancaster, the association's executive director, expects the dollar amount to be surprisingly large.

"There are still church groups that want dorm rooms in the summer, but the services they are offered are more extensive," says Lancaster. Such services include sophisticated classroom space with advanced technology, auditoriums, theaters and athletic facilities.

"What better place to conduct a conference than a college campus," says Michele Nichols, publisher of The Guide which lists hundreds of campus and university meeting facilities. `They are inspirational, refreshing. It's a great match.'

The need for campuses to have conference centers has been recognized for some time. For more than forty years, Kellogg has given development grants to promote continuing education on college campuses. Michigan State University was the first, in the early 1950s; Tuskegee University the last, in 1994.

Few colleges have stand-alone conference centers on campus, but almost all have some facilities that are available to groups to rent.

"I can't think of a college or university that doesn't make its facilities available in the summer in order to make money," says Connie Gilmore-Boaitey, the incoming president of ACED.

The very existence of ACED serves as a testimony to the growing nature of the business. Twenty years ago, eleven people whose jobs were to facilitate conferences on campuses formed the organization. Today membership tops 450, which doesn't even count those people whose primary jobs are housing or student affairs but who manage conferences on the side.

For most colleges and universities, the point of hosting conferences is not primarily to make money but rather to provide a service to the university community -- faculty members who want to sponsor a symposium in their field, for example, or alumni groups looking to reconnect with their university.

Georgetown University associate vice president of auxiliary services Margie Bryant lists "a chance to make money" as priority number three on her school's list of reasons for opening its conference center. Service and education are more important, she said.

Nevertheless, Georgetown's center makes "in the millions" for the the university -- housing everything from academic conferences and conventions to alumni and family weekends, weddings, and parents of sick children at the university hospital.

Acknowledging that institutions have begun to realize that their facilities can be profit centers, Gilmore-Boaitey said, "Most colleges use the money to go back into facilities. It buys beds and paint and carpets and helps keep down the cost of tuition. "

Her college, Westmont, is a small Christian liberal arts college. When she began, perhaps 2,000 people would stay at the college in the course of the summer. This year, she will play host to 8,000 visitors. The college plan is that revenues from hosting these visitors will pay to build a stand-alone conference center that will serve the needs of the university faculty as well as host church school groups and others.

Gilmore-Boaitey, who believes that more and more groups will want to use campus sites for their meetings, said, "We have access to technology that you wouldn't have access to at a hotel."

One of the most advanced facilities on any campus is the Penn State's Scanticon Conference Center Hotel built and managed by Scanticon International. In fact, Penn State University has two conference centers -- its older, renovated Nittany Lion Inn and the $3 million, "five star" conference complex. The Scanticon center has 150 guest rooms, 38 meeting rooms, and another 25,000 square feet of banquet and exhibit space.

Scanticon International had an arrangement with the university wherein Scanticon made money based on the number of paying customers the center hotel brought in, said the university's financial services coordinator Joe Doncsecz.

But after two years of operation, the university has announced that it will take over the running of the conference center in order to take advantage of "cost efficiency opportunities." The team that has managed the Nittany Lion Inn will run both as of May 5.

Colleges and universities are still searching for the best way to manage these facilities. Some are turning over management to private companies (see related story). Others, like Penn State and Tuskegee (see related story), are taking back management from private companies. Some of the issues involved have to do with whether campuses think of the conference centers primarily as service centers or profit centers.