News releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7/2/09

CONTACT: Sharon Seagren, sharon.seagren@housing.wisc.edu, 608-262-2545

UNIVERSITY HOUSING CONFERENCE SERVICES KEEPS MADISON THRIVING IN THE SUMMER

MADISON - The mass exodus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison residence halls each May may lead some to believe that these busy buildings enter a summer slumber until they welcome back their students in the fall.

However, this is not the case. Thanks to the University Housing Conference Services Program, there are plenty of university occupants to keep the beds warm during the summer months.

Housing Conference Services recruits academic and recreational summer programs to keep the dorms up and running in the students' off months.

This year, a projected 18,000 guests will come to campus for summer conferences in 92 groups, 88 of which are residential.

Last year, in addition to age groups ranging from elementary school to senior citizens that participated in conferences during the summer, guests arrived from more than 40 countries. A similar diversity is expected for this summer.

This range of demographics renders the jobs of Conference Services employees dynamic.

"We have to change what we do in many ways because of that diversity in our customer," says Sharon Seagren, director of Housing Conference Services.

Everything from meals, security and equipment needs vary from group to group, depending on the nature of the program and the demographics of the participants.

Instead of presenting an all-encompassing standard summer plan, Housing is as flexible as possible, designing a tailored program for each conference.

Seagren says the residence hall-locking schedules in the dorms change only a couple of times during the academic year - during winter and spring breaks. In summer, it changes every day to cater to the different age groups.

University Housing has a menu planner and dietitian on staff year round for special dietary needs or requests.

To keep the food new and exciting, they consistently taste-test new menus and recipes and tailor menus for international groups or language and culture groups. They'll also throw in theme nights for precollege programs just for fun.

And for excursions, they'll be sure to have lunches packed and ready to go.

Housing Conference Services will also arrange for conferences to have the necessary IT equipment and computer software, and reserved classrooms and computer labs within their buildings.

Even though Conference Services currently has control of 12 residence halls, five dining rooms and eight computer labs, they can't do everything alone. They maintain close relations not only with the conference groups themselves, but with more than 40 university departments to ensure that no need goes unmet.

"I can't think of one department that doesn't go out of their way to assist one of the conference participants," says Wisconsin Union administrative program specialist Nancy Kujak-Ford. "People have always been very welcoming, and I think that's what our niche is in the Midwest and specifically in Wisconsin."

With cleanliness, hospitality, convenience and affordability as some of Conference Services' top priorities, it is no wonder the vast majority of the groups are returning after several summers on campus.

UW-Extension 4-H Youth Development is returning for its 89th year this summer.

"The accommodating UW-Madison summer Housing staff makes young people and adult volunteers feel most welcome on campus, which enables staff to concentrate on programming instead of logistical details," says 4-H youth development outreach specialist Kay Hobler. "Great facilities; capable, friendly Housing staff; a beautiful setting; and close proximity to university and government services makes the UW-Madison campus a terrific site for this youth conference."

But precollege students who are away from home for the first time are a much easier sell than adults who have become accustomed to their own comforts.

Conference Services recognizes its adult guests have different needs, and dedicate time to making the grown-up experience as comfortable as possible.

"Smith and Ogg halls were really designed strategically to meet the changing needs of our students as well as our adult conference groups," Seagren says. "We do a lot of special things in Ogg and Smith that we don't do in our other halls. We run them like a hotel."

This includes guest-room housekeeping, televisions in the rooms, radios, coffee and tea services and higher-quality bed and bath linens.

"Most people think dorms are very cramped quarters with shared bathrooms down the hall," says Kujak-Ford, adding that adult participants staying in Ogg and Smith "say they're the best dormitories they've stayed in for conferences."

Seagren estimates that 20-30 percent of summer conference guests are adults.

"Adults come here and stay in a residence hall, and they're not really excited about that," Seagren says. "But between having really good customer service - we have a lot of high ratings on cleanliness, friendliness - being very hospitable and having good maintenance in our buildings, all of those things are really important to us so their experience here is a good one."

She believes that adults and children alike will have a more complete campus experience if they stay in the residence halls.

"It's really a learning community of their own," she says. "I think in the economy and environment we have, if our groups are willing to invest in campus and stay on campus, I think that's very important."

But the University Housing Conference Services is not profit-driven. In fact, they don't accept conferences that aren't sponsored by a dean or director of a department on campus.

"The purpose of having a summer program is two-fold," Seagren says, "that we're using our buildings in service to the state, so they're not sitting here empty in the summer, and so that we can employ our people 12 months of the year."

Otherwise, she says, employees could be laid off every summer.

Once direct expenses are paid, any remaining funds benefit academic-year residents by keeping the rates low.

"What students pay during the academic year is directly impacted by how much revenue we can make in the summer," Seagren says. "The more we make, the less the students pay."

Summer conferences, Seagren adds, also support the campus mission.

"That can be people's one and only impression of campus," she says. "When you talk about the Wisconsin Idea, and reaching out and extending beyond the walls of just what we do during the academic year, it helps support Madison and it helps support Wisconsin."
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Here's a look at a few of the conferences coming to campus this summer.

- International Congress on Symbiosis

Every three years, the International Symbiosis Society chooses a different location around the world to hold its conference.

This year, UW-Madison will open its doors to local, national and international scientists for the 2009 International Congress on Symbiosis.

The conference will attract a "group of people who are all interested in the beneficial interactions that plants and animals have with various types of microbes," says Heidi Goodrich-Blair, bacteriology professor and chair of the Symbiosis Cluster. Most participants are affiliated with colleges or universities around the world.

When the UW-Madison Symbiosis Cluster offered the Madison campus as the host for the 2009 conference, it was primarily because of the university's strength in symbiosis research. But they also emphasized attributes such as the lake and the Union that make the campus a hospitable and attractive place to spend time during the summer.

So symbiosis professionals who made the trek to Vienna, Austria, for the 2006 conference will have the opportunity to explore Madison this summer.

Participants had the choice of staying in Elizabeth Waters Hall or a local hotel.

Kujak-Ford says that when adult guests have these options, generally a third of them choose to stay in the residence halls, a third will purchase a hotel room and a third are local or find their own lodging.

But when asked for recommendations from Symbiosis participants, Alicia Cramer, School of Medicine and Public Health associate administrative program specialist always recommended Liz Waters.

"I think Liz Waters does offer a really beautiful experience for the campus," she says. "I think that's the best location as far as being in the middle of it all."

In addition to affordability, Liz Waters was chosen for its proximity to Microbial Sciences, where the majority of the conference will be held.

The Symbiosis Cluster worked closely with the Wisconsin Union Conference Services to make for the most comfortable accommodations possible.

Wisconsin Union Conference Services coordinated accommodations for all the speakers, designed and updated the conference's Web site, arranged transportation and dealt with registration and money-transfer issues.

They also made sure all international guests had everything taken care of with their visas, will cater most of their meals, and scheduled tours and other recreational activities for their free day.

"When we first decided to take on this conference, we didn't know that Conference Services even existed," says Cramer. "They really made it doable. It wouldn't have been doable without them, or it would have been really, really hard."

- College Access Program

No matter the college or department, every part of UW-Madison shares the common goal of securing a bright future for the university.

That's why precollege recruitment programs, such as the College Access Program (CAP), garner campuswide interests and collaborations to make the experience unforgettable for future students.

CAP is a three-week precollege program for low-income high school students going into 10th, 11th or 12th grade.

"The whole purpose of the program is to try to give students an idea of what college is like," says CAP coordinator Gerardo Mancilla. "What it is to be in a classroom, what it is to have professors, have relationships with professors, as well as trying to explore various areas of the university."

Every year, up to 85 students are selected from a competitive pool and spend three weeks living in the Lakeshore residence halls, taking academic classes in the mornings and participating in educational and recreational programs in the evening. These include break-dancing, computer programming and team-building.

This year, CAP's 60 students will stay in Cole Hall. Conference Services were sure to secure an entire dorm to use exclusively for CAP so students could have evening programming in their own residence hall.

But by no means is their campus experience limited to their dorm rooms.

"We try to build a community with the students and try to use the whole university as a classroom for them," Mancilla says. "It's a lot of working together with the whole university."

Although CAP is housed in the School of Education, they work with other academic departments to bring in speakers and give students a taste of some of the options they will have should they enroll at UW-Madison.

CAP also reaches out to student organizations to participate in programs and give a well-rounded perspective of college life.

Director Dang Chonwerawong says this program can be a deciding factor as to whether some students, who have never been away from home before, enroll in higher education at all.

"Without this opportunity they might just stay home and work and only imagine what the dorms might be like," she says.

Part of the experience is just learning that a big university can feel like home.

"Once they're on campus, they also have ownership for the university," Mancilla says. "Instilling that once they're on campus as well and just having them feel like they're part of the university let's them know they can make it."

More than 2,000 students have participated in the CAP program, and many attended colleges and universities around the U.S. The program is working toward getting more CAP participants to enroll at UW-Madison.

- Arabic and Persian Immersion Program

The Arabic and Persian Immersion Program (APIP) has made its way home this summer.

A joint effort of UW-Madison's Global Studies, Middle East Studies Program, African Studies, African Languages and Literature, and Languages and Cultures of Asia, APIP was formerly held in La Crosse, but they have returned to the Madison campus and intend to stay.

"Madison has more to offer in terms of culture, events and everything ranging from varied food opportunities and native speakers of both Persian and Arabic," says Steven K. Smith, associate director of Global Studies.

Even though there are other summer language programs on campus, APIP is the only immersion program.

"Twenty-four-seven, the students are using and involved with their language," Smith says. "They sign a contract at the beginning saying they will only work in their target language."

The eight-week program is open to anyone interested, though it is primarily comprised of graduate and undergraduate students from around the country.

Five of the six instructors this summer are international, and five of the six are also UW-Madison faculty or teaching assistants.

Housing Conference Services reserved two houses in Adams Hall, one for the Persian students and one for the Arabic students. Although most of the instructors live in Madison, they are staying in the residence hall with the students for the duration of the program.

"It's to help facilitate that immersion atmosphere, immersion environment," Smith says. "The idea is to create something like a language village."

APIP coordinator Quinn Fullenkamp began collaborating with Housing Conference Services in September to talk about accommodations to assure limited disruption in the immersion aspect of the program.

Housing Conference Services reserved secluded rooms in the Upper Carson Gulley so students aren't surrounded by English speakers while they eat their meals. They also offered to develop or try out Middle-Eastern recipes for a more authentic dining experience.

Housing installed satellites in the residence halls so students can watch Arabic and Persian television in the lounges, and they prepped the janitorial staff to know not to start conversations in English with APIP students.

"They have helped immensely," Smith says. "We could not have done this move without them."
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- Kiera Wiatrak, wiatrak@wisc.edu, 608-890-2166