June 4, 1998

Camps, conferences bring money and tourists to ASU

Although summer is upon us, campus will be busier than ever as Appalachian hosts nearly 120 conferences and camps in the coming months.

Visitors ranging from young children to seniors will participate in athletic, music academic and many other available programs ranging in length from three to seven weeks.

Providing facilities and resources as a host for the conferences allows Appalachian to make good use of campus facilities while students are away for the summer.  The camps also  provide continued employment in areas such as food service and residence life, said the Director of Conferences and Institutes Tony Gray.

Although an estimated $1.2 million dollars is brought into the university in a 10 week period as revenue from the conferences, most of the profits go toward housing and food costs, as well as the paychecks of the employees.

Gray said nearly 575 faculty, staff, students and external employees are on the summer payroll, therefore eliminating about one-fourth of the revenue.

“Offering these programs is not intended as a money maker, “ Gray said.  “This is an opportunity to provide programs while keeping costs down and promoting the university.”

In the long run, the conferences and camps allow the costs to stay low during the regular academic year, Gray said.  Money from the camps provides funds for building maintenance, upkeep and usual expenditures therefore eliminating additional costs that might otherwise be added to tuition.

"The residence halls do better being used, and it also allows for 12 month employment,” said Assistant Director of Residence Life Scott Ranger.

Although many of the conferences and camps are brought in by outside sponsors, the university itself offers numerous programs such as the upcoming quilting and dulcimer workshops.  Other programs coming soon include the Junior Olympic Wrestling tournament which will bring an estimated 2000 people to Boone and Appalachian.

The Office of Conferences, Institutes and Camps works in coalition with Residence Life to coordinate the housing for the programs.  Employees of Residence Life eliminate residence halls for use during summer school and those needing maintenance in order to determine where conference participants will stay.  About 12 residence halls will be used this summer for camps and conferences.  After determining which dorms are available, Residence Life hands the information over to Gray and his staff.

“It takes a lot to coordinate these efforts,” Ranger said.  “The nature of the conferences is always changing.”

The Office of Conferences, Institutes and Camps reports to the Office of Academic Affairs and is responsible for the registration and preplanning of the programs. Their mission is to “utilize the university’s facilities, equipment and technical assistance of faculty and staff to develop, promote and implement residential credit and noncredit educational and recreational programs for the university’s service region.”

Although the bulk of their efforts is spent on planning for the summer activities, the office also oversees conferences at the Broyhill Conference Center throughout the year.  In addition to offering a variety of  programs, the office is responsible for Camp Broadstone, a year round youth conference center, providing outdoor activities and education.  This camp also sponsors a seven week summer enrichment program for gifted and talented elementary school age students.
“We are looking forward to a busy and rewarding summer,” Gray said.
 
 
 

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