NASPA Annual Conference - Penny Saver Information

Hello NASPA IV-W Family!

For those attending the NASPA Annual Conference in Indianapolis, I have some great news! Through an initiative started at our very first meeting at Baltimore in 2014, we have a final product and I cannot wait to tell you more about it!

The Socioeconomic and Class Issues in Higher Education Knowledge Community has created a tool to assist those with financial concerns for the annual conference. We know conferences are important to all of us and many of us still experience issues related to SES, both on the student-level and the professional-level. As a result, we have compiled information in the Indiana Convention Center area for low cost options and alternatives.

Some attendees have institutions that can cover all costs incurred through this conference, but many cannot. We learned at the last annual conference that some people had to bring certain foods or items with them because their departments either did not have per diem to cover food or lodging costs, or that they were paying out of pocket many times. This was not only restricted to our students and new professionals, but many attending the conference from all levels of experience and employment. Socioeconomic Status affects us all.

On the site we are calling the SICHE Penny Saver http://secihe-pennysaver-2016.weebly.com/ you can find more information about the goal we have in mind and also locate a calendar of events related to the KC, low cost ride sharing and transportation options, lodging options (including roommate locator and room rates under $70!), and food and dining options. There is also a forum option to discuss ideas for saving money on the site.

We hope that you will find this new addition helpful and that you may even come home with some extra change for the piggy bank. We are still working on other great options to help at other events as well. We welcome your ideas and suggestions.

For more information or to share low-cost options we forgot to include, feel free to contact me, your Regional KC Chair, or our Co-Conference Coordinator, Francis Pastorelle, at [email protected].

S. Nicole Ferguson is the Chair for the Socioeconomic and Class Issues in Higher Education Knowledge Community for NASPA IV-W and a proud Arkansas Razorback. For more information about this KC, visit https://www.naspa.org/constituent-groups/kcs/socioeconomic-and-class-issues-in-higher-education.