Guess Who's Coming to AIMHO - By Ray Gasser, University of Arizona

We hope that you will join us November 6-9, 2005 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming where our colleagues from the University of Wyoming, Sheridan College, Western Wyoming Community College and Idaho State University will be hosting the 51^st AIMHO Conference.

For the last 9 months the Program Committee has been actively preparing for what we hope will be one of the best AIMHO programs ever.  We are very proud to be bringing as keynotes this year Mr. Harry Le Grande and Dr. Robert Nash. 

Harry Le Grande currently serves as Associate Vice Chancellor in Undergraduate Affairs for Residential and Student Service Programs at the University of California, Berkeley.  He oversees an operation with an annual operating budget of more than $60 million with a workforce of nearly 2,000 people at multiple locations.  He serves as a member for the Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Affairs Executive Team and represents the campus on several University of California Systemwide Task Forces and Steering Committees.  Professionally, he has served as President of ACUHO-I and as a member of its Research and Education Foundation. 

Robert J. Nash has been a professor in the College of Education and Social Services, University of Vermont, Burlington, for 36 years. He specializes in philosophy of education, ethics, higher education, and religion, spirituality, and education. He holds graduate degrees in English, Theology/Religious Studies, Applied Ethics and Liberal Studies, and Educational Philosophy. He holds faculty appointments in teacher education, higher education administration, and interdisciplinary studies in education. He administers the Interdisciplinary Master’s Program, and he teaches ethics and philosophy of education courses, as well as scholarly personal narrative writing seminars, across three programs in the college, including the doctoral program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.  He has published more than 100 articles, book chapters, monographs, and essay book reviews in many of the leading journals in education at all levels.

In addition to our keynotes, we are proud to have the largest collection of programs and roundtables ever offered at an AIMHO Conference with over 50 sessions ranging from topics related to facilities, diversity, staff, student development, learning communities, administrative leadership, assessment, and technology.  You can see a full listing of the programs offered this year along with descriptions of the programs at the conference website at www.uwyo.edu/aimho2005.

We are also excited to continue to offer the Mentoring Matters program for a second year where we pair new professionals with seasoned professionals for a year-long mentoring relationship.  You can find more information on the registration website.

We would further encourage new professionals to participate in the Newcomer Case Study Competition during the conference.  This is a great opportunity to showcase your ability to relate theory to the real world of housing.  Winning teams will receive gift certificates to Barnes and Nobel to expand your library.

And don’t miss the Newcomer Orientation and Welcome on Sunday, November 6^th.  We have a few new surprises at this year’s conference that we wouldn’t want you to miss.  That begins at 5:15pm.

We are very excited about this year’s conference and we hope that you will be joining us up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for what we hope will be a professionally stimulating and memorable experience.