Buffalo State College will host the Eighth Annual Student Personnel Administration Professional Development Conference on November 15.

The annual conference provides regional practitioners, graduate students, and prospective graduate students the opportunity to network and expand their skill base. Last year’s conference drew more than 125 participants from 19 institutions in three states. The 2003 conference theme is “Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Professionals: Contemporary Issues in Higher Education.”

Founded in 1970, Buffalo State’s student personnel administration program is one of the largest student personnel administration graduate programs in the country. The program provides students with the theoretical background and practical experience for professional work in many areas such as admissions, residence halls, financial aid, registration, orientation, academic and personal advisement, counseling, international student activities, minority student services, career development, student union activities and student affairs administration.

Courses and internships focus on four concentration areas: administration, counseling and student development, community education and research and evaluation, with an additional focus on community agencies and special programs through an adult education sequence. It is relevant not only to college personnel work, but also to client-centered careers in community agencies, health delivery, law enforcement, human resource administration, marketing, teaching and consulting.

The conference will be held in conjunction with the College Personnel Administration Association of New York, the University at Buffalo and Canisius College.