NOTE:  The program listed below is correct, subject only to necessary last-minute changes, except that the names of student presenters have been retained from the 2005 program and will be changed later.

Chairman of the convention committee and host for the convention:  Barry D. Friedman, international first vice president and secretary-treasurer of the Pi Gamma Mu chapter at North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega.

Location:
Hilton Atlanta Airport
          1031 Virginia Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia   30354
          (404) 767-9000
          Convention room rate:  $109 (plus tax) per night, up to quadruple occupancy.
          (Breakfast is not included in room rate.)
          Deadline for reservations:  Monday, September 29, 2008.  Call hotel directly.

Registration fee:

$40; includes Friday-evening dinner.  There is an additional fee of $20 for the Saturday-afternoon tour for passage in the bus.  (Participants will need to bring cash in order to pay their own admission fee into the CNN Center--$10--and to pay for their own meals at Mary Mac's Tea Room--approximately $20.)   Registration payment must be received at the international office by Friday, October 10.
          

Download a registration form (Adobe file):  Click here
Download the detailed convention announcement (Microsoft Word document):  Click here
     (The detailed convention announcement includes information about shuttle transportation from the airport.)

Proposals for papers:

Pi Gamma Mu student members may propose to present papers at the convention.  Proposals for this convention must be submitted in the form of a completed research paper or, at a minimum, a complete draft of a paper.  One should submit her proposal by E-mail to JeKarle1@wsc.edu (and send a "CC" to convention committee chairman Barry D. Friedman at bfriedman@NGCSU.edu ); attach the research paper as a Microsoft Word document.  Other formats are unacceptable.  Proposals must be received by the chairmen of the Committee of Readers and of the convention committee no later than September 19, 2008.  The chairman is:  Dr. Jean Karlen, immediate past president of Pi Gamma Mu, Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.), (402) 375-7042, JeKarle1@wsc.edu .  (Other members of the Committee of Readers:  Dr. Kelly L. Cate, North Georgia College & State University, and Dr. Douglas L. Reed, Ouachita Baptist University.)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

9 a.m.  Meeting of the Board's Executive Committee

9:30 p.m.  Board of Trustees Meeting

11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.  Luncheon for Old and New Trustees

1-3 p.m.  Board of Trustees Committee Meetings

3-5 p.m.  Board of Trustees Meeting (guests welcome)

5-7 p.m.  Registration

5-7 p.m.  Dinner on Your Own

7-8 p.m.  Plenary Session
                    Welcome (First Vice President Barry D. Friedman)
                    Roll Call of Chapters (Executive Director Sue Watters)
                    Introduction of Trustees, Governors, and Pi Gamma Mu Staff
                              (First Vice President Barry D. Friedman)
                    Triennial Report (President Gordon E. Mercer)

8-8:20 p.m.  Ice Breaker:  "Name That Tune!"
                         (Executive Director Sue Watters)

8:20-8:45 p.m.  Pi Gamma Mu National Nominating Convention:  We will ask delegates to bring a stuffed animal, perhaps with some kind of state-specific identification such as a state flag or a ribbon with the name of the state on it; we'll pretend to have a presidential nominating convention; and then we'll donate the stuffed animals to the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, which operates two battered-women shelters in metro Atlanta.  Susan Landrum, development associate for the PADV, will accept the stuffed animals on behalf of the children in the shelters.

     This is a very well-regarded and popular service project!  Veterans of previous conventions undoubtedly remember the 2002 "Teddy Bear Pageant" and the 2005 "March of the Musical Toys."  We received this communication from our friends at PADV:

     "We remember your fabulous organization very well.  Someone from PADV would be happy to attend.  We would be honored to be a part of this exceptional program.  Please stay in touch throughout this next year and let us know how we can support Pi Gamma Mu.  Thank you so much for all that you have given to PADV.  Best regards.

                         "Susan Berryman Rodriguez, Director of Community Relations
                         Susan Landrum, Development Associate
                         Partnership Against Domestic Violence (PADV)"

8:45-10 p.m.  Student Mixer / Caucus #1
                              8:45-9 p.m.:  Conversation with President Gordon E. Mercer about future
                                                          directions of Pi Gamma Mu
                              9-10 p.m.:  Nomination process for student trustees

8:45-9:45 p.m.  Social Time for Trustees, Sponsors, and Other Faculty Attendees

8-9 a.m.  Registration

8-9 a.m.  Breakfast Orientation for Trustees and Governors
                    (President Gordon E. Mercer, First Vice President Barry D. Friedman)

9-10:30 a.m.  Student Panel Session (presentation of students’ papers)
      9-9:16  Erika Dandal and Gialynn Yebron, University of the Philippines, Diliman
                         "The Calling"
     9:16-9:32  Jennifer Holt, University of South Florida
                         "Comparison of the Attributional Ambiguity and Rejection-Identification Models"
     9:32-9:48  Jennifer Forlenza, Catholic University
                         "The Secular-Islamic Cleavage in Turkey and the Country's Bid for EU Membership"
     9:48-10:04  Lisa Nelson, Wayne State College
                         "Chimpanzee Linguistics"    
     10:04-10:20  Kevin Pruitt, Bluefield State College
                         "Faded Glory:  Engagements of the Civil War in West Virginia"

10:30 a.m.-12 noon  Concurrent Workshops
               n Pi Gamma Mu’s Web Site:  A Travelogue
                         (Chancellor Randy Bertolas)
               n Strategies for Chapter Sponsors--and Chapter Success!
                         (President Gordon E. Mercer and First Vice President Barry D. Friedman)

12 noon-2 p.m.  Lunch on Your Own

2-3:30 p.m.  Student Panel Session (presentation of students’ papers)
     2-2:16  Serena Ross, University of Saint Thomas
                         "How to Win the Race:  A Case Study on African-Americans and the Pursuit of Higher Education"
     2:16-2:32  Kimberly M. Prentice, University of Nebraska at Omaha
                         "The Republican Revolution"
     2:32-2:48  Matthew Pernicek, Wayne State College
                         "The Burgundian Code"
     2:48-3:04  Jessica Taylor, North Georgia College & State University
                         "Women in India"
     3:04-3:20  Cara Watchorn, Wayne State College
                         "Geocaching"

3:30-4:45 p.m.  Election of Pi Gamma Mu's Shadow President
                         Student Trustees Kimberly Prentice and Taryn Hall Daniels and Governor John H. Roper will conduct the election.

4:45-5:45 p.m.  Student Caucus #2

5:45-6:15 p.m.  Student Balloting for New Student Trustees

6-6:45 p.m.  Registration

6:45-9 p.m.  Convention Banquet
                         Dinner - Bistro-style chicken with mixed-field-greens salad; molten chocolate cake
                         Recognition of Faculty Advisors
                         Pi Gamma Mu Special Awards (President Gordon E. Mercer)
                         Keynote Speaker (tentative) – Honorable Michael L. Thurmond
                                                        Commissioner of Labor
                                                        State of Georgia

Saturday, October 25, 2008

8:30-10 a.m.  Workshops
               n "Making a Difference":  Opportunities for Service Projects in Pi Gamma Mu - Let's Put Our Heads Together (Discussion)
                         (Student Trustees Kimberly Prentice and Taryn Hall Daniels)
               n Managing Risks of Service and Other Projects
                         (Pi Gamma Mu Legal Counsel Michele Price)

10-11 a.m.  Performance by North Georgia College & State University's Patriot Choir

11 a.m.-12 noon  Plenary Business Session
                              Installation of Officers and Board Members
                              Discussion of 2011 Convention Site

12 noon-1:30 p.m.  Board of Trustees Meeting (new board)

12 noon-1:30 p.m.  Lunch (on your own)

2 p.m.  Tour begins
               Tour includes lunch at Mary Mac's Tea Room and visits to the CNN Center and the Martin Luther King Jr. historical site.
               Advance registration is necessary.

LINKS to other Pi Gamma Mu Web sites:

     » International home page

     » Atlantic Region home page

     » Georgia Kappa Chapter (at North Georgia College & State University) home page (host chapter for the convention)

     » Southeast Region Conference program Web site