Pam Russell
director of communications
CASE
+1-202-478-5680
russell@case.org

For Immediate Release
Feb. 6, 2012

CASE Announces First National Conference for Community College Advancement Professionals

Issues Call for Conference Proposals

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Council for Advancement and Support of Education has announced plans for its inaugural Conference for Community College Advancement, the first comprehensive national conference for professionals working in all aspects of advancement at community colleges. The conference will take place Oct. 3-5, 2012, in San Diego, Calif.

The Conference for Community College Advancement will provide dozens of sessions on best practices and issues relating to advancement services, alumni programs, communications, fundraising, government relations and marketing at community colleges.

The conference is an initiative of the new CASE Center for Community College Advancement, which was launched in July 2011 to meet the needs of community college advancement professionals.

"Since launching the center, we have had several requests to provide the same high-caliber conference experience for which CASE is known developed specifically for community colleges," said Paul Heaton, director of the Center for Community College Advancement. "Community colleges face enormous pressure to raise more money, engage their alumni and communicate with their potential students and many other constituencies in more effective ways. This conference will help those at community colleges make the most of their very limited resources."

Susan Kubik, regarded as one of the most successful community college fundraisers in the country, will serve as chair of the conference planning committee. Kubik is vice president for institutional advancement and executive director of the Northampton Community College Foundation in Bethlehem, Pa. The foundation she directs has been recognized with four CASE Circle of Excellence Awards, and Kubik has received the CASE/Commonfund Award for Institutionally Related Foundation Executives, among many other honors.

"This conference will benefit advancement professionals at all levels of experience and at all types of community colleges," Kubik said. "We will aim for a conference that is practical and tactical as well as strategic and motivational."

CASE has issued a request for conference proposals. Details are on the CASE website.

Registration and hotel information will be available later this spring.

"We know that professional development funds are limited at community colleges, so we have identified a quality conference site that is affordable, and we'll work to keep the conference fees reasonable as well," Heaton said.

Staff at CASE member schools and foundations will receive a considerable discount and early-bird registration opportunity.

The Network of California Community College Foundations, which represents foundations supporting the largest higher education system in the United States, is hosting the conference. The Foundation for California Community Colleges is a major conference sponsor.

About CASE

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in London, Singapore and Mexico City, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the professional organization for advancement professionals who work in alumni relations, communications, fundraising, marketing and other areas.

CASE is one of the largest nonprofit education associations in terms of institutional membership. Its membership includes more than 3,400 colleges, universities, independent elementary and secondary schools, and educational associates in 74 countries around the world. It serves nearly 65,000 advancement professionals on the staffs of its member institutions.

CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with their alumni and donors, raise funds for campus projects, produce recruitment materials, market their institutions to prospective students, diversify the profession and foster public support of education. CASE also offers a variety of advancement products and services, provides standards and an ethical framework for the profession, and works with other organizations to respond to public issues of concern while promoting the importance of education worldwide.

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