Study Halls

Not your typical schoolhouse:
The luxurious Villanova
Conference Center in Radnor, Pa.

Maybe it’s nostalgia or just tight budgets, but many groups happily forego the amenities of full-service hotels and conference centers to sleep in dorms and meet in university classrooms. “As it becomes harder to negotiate some amenities and room rates that were easier to get a couple of years ago, other options become more attractive,” notes Deborah Blom, executive director of the Fort Collins, Colo.-based Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International.

Meeting on campus, however, isn’t just for penny-pinchers, nor does it necessitate compromising on service or quality. The university conference centers at the head of their class, so to speak, are indistinguishable from the best corporate conference centers anywhere else in the country, with overnight accommodations to match, according to Tom Bolman, executive vice president of the St. Louis-based International Association of Conference Centers.

“I don’t know a real discernible difference between university conference centers and other types of centers,” Bolman admits, regarding the top echelon of campus facilities. In fact, university facilities comprise between one-quarter and one-third of IACC’s membership, he estimates.

Of course, the quality and scope of university conference centers can vary dramatically, and the best can be as expensive to book as any corporate conference center. They can be run as for-profit or nonprofit ventures, managed by university personnel or by a third-party hospitality management company.

Planners have the ability to mix and match accommodations, perhaps booking classrooms as daytime meeting rooms and nearby hotel rooms for overnight stays, to avoid shared bathrooms or dorm rooms at some schools.

“Universities tend to have everything a meeting could possibly need,” Bolman says, referring to facilities such as gyms, computer or science labs, or performance spaces that groups can use, not to mention professors who might agree to appear as guest speakers. Schools are generally willing to allow the client to customize packages, he adds.

Following are six university conference centers that reputedly are among the best the country has to offer, with dedicated meeting facilities and on-site (non-dorm) overnight guest rooms.

Brainy boardroom:
MIT’s Endicott House
in Dedham, Mass.

MIT Endicott House at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dedham, Mass.
(781) 326-5151
www.mitendicotthouse.org

Southwest of MIT’s Cambridge campus, the MIT Endicott House, built in the style of a French manor, was gifted to the university more than 50 years ago. Set on a secluded 25-acre estate designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the mansion with its executive conference center exists within the atmosphere of a rural retreat yet still is convenient to Boston’s urban attractions.

The mansion includes 13 individually decorated guest rooms to allow guests to live for a night “as if one of the Endicotts,” says general manager Mike Fitzgerald. An additional 24 guest rooms, in a distinctly modern style, are available in an adjacent building.

The IACC-certified facility, which features an extensive collection of antiques, paintings and artifacts, primarily caters to boards of directors and executive groups -- clients who expect the kind of services available
at four-star hotels, Fitzgerald says.

The mansion has eight meeting rooms that total 7,800 square feet, which can be outfitted with the latest A/V equipment. The technology isn’t built in, because it “contradicts the nostalgic sense of the house,” Fitzgerald notes.

Fitzgerald is particularly proud of his 48-person staff, all MIT employees, several of whom have worked at the mansion for more than 20 years. The facility has never been contracted to a management company, because MIT wanted to “maintain that personal touch and have employees committed and dedicated and loyal to the MIT mission,” Fitzgerald says. That mission, he explains, is nothing short of excellence.

THE POWER OF ONE

 

The University of
Colorado at Boulder

In September, the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International launched a new certification program for university conference centers, called One-Stop Shop. Certified One-Stop Shops guarantee planners one contract and one itemized bill for all services used during the conference. Plus, planners have just one university contact for each phase of planning and executing the event.

“Often, with meetings on college campuses, everything is too disconnected,” says executive director Deborah Blom, on the inspiration for the new program.

Centers that apply for One-Stop Shop status before July 2007, if approved, will receive certification through the end of 2008. Application fees are $325 for ACCED-I members and $625 for nonmembers. The list of accepted centers will be posted online at www.acced-i.org.

At press time, 13 colleges and universities had been approved for certification, “and we’re adding them daily,” Blom notes. Among them: the University of Colorado at Boulder; the University of Minnesota Twin Cities; and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Pa. -- T.I.

University Place at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Indianapolis
(317) 274-3196
www.universityplace.
iupui.edu

The 278-room hotel portion of IUPUI’s conference center reopened in March following a $13 million renovation, which upgraded all guest rooms, the facility’s three restaurants, a smoke-free sports bar and some of the special function space at the hotel. A far cry from dorm accommodations, the hotel rooms have a clean, refined feel, finished with plush carpeting and flat-screen televisions.

“Our [AAA] Four Diamond rating can compare to any upscale downtown hotel,” says Lisa Howe, director of marketing for the center.

The hotel practically is downtown: University Place sits eight blocks from the heart of Indianapolis (and only 10 minutes from Indianapolis International Airport) and offers groups complimentary shuttle service within the city.

An outdoor courtyard connects the hotel to the conference center, which has 26 meeting rooms of various sizes, the largest of which is a 340-seat auditorium. In total, the center has 35,000 square feet of meeting space.

The IACC-certified center, owned by the university and managed by Rye Brook, N.Y.-based FLIK Conference Center Management, also is something of a museum: IUPUI houses the National Art Museum of Sport, one of the largest collections of sports-related art in the country. Memorabilia and artwork adorn the facility’s corridors.

Patio perch:
Villa Graziadio
Executive Center
in Malibu, Calif.

Villa Graziadio Executive Center at Pepperdine University
Malibu, Calif.
(310) 506-1140
www.villagraziadio.com

The Villa Graziadio Executive Center should come with a warning: Vistas might be distracting. The center’s brick patio, for example, overlooks the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. “The views are unbelievable,” notes general manager Deborah Sinocchi.

The location is one of Villa Graziadio’s greatest assets. Aside from its perch beside the Santa Monica Mountains, the facility is “the only act in town for executive centers,” says Sinocchi.

The IACC-certified conference center, which opened in 2003, sits on the Drescher graduate campus at Pepperdine University and includes 50 guest rooms built for comfort and functionality, along with nearly 45,000 square feet of meeting space. The largest area, a 3,150-square-foot tiered classroom, seats between 160 and 180 people. Each meeting room is wired for high-speed Internet access and has built-in A/V.

University-owned and managed by Gaithersburg, Md.-based Sodexho, Villa Graziadio has an in-house caterer providing three meals a day, as well as a full-service cafe. Note: No alcohol is served here. For groups looking to hold social event with drinks, the center will recommend nearby restaurants and even provide transportation.

University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center & Hotel
Athens, Ga.
(800) 488-7827
www.georgiacenter.uga.edu

The Georgia Center, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, has hosted presidents John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, among many other dignitaries -- including the UGA mascot bulldog for every home football game.

Last year, the facility was reborn as the Center for Continuing Education Conference Center & Hotel. All meeting rooms, totaling roughly 35,000 square feet, were renovated, and last December, the 200-room hotel began an extensive guest room renovation, the bulk of which is scheduled to be completed next month.

The strengths of the center, according to conference coordinator Marti Brick, lie in its design -- all under one roof -- and its services. “We offer customized training for conferences, registration services, a marketing and promotions department to help planners with brochures, and a special event designer to create theme events,” Brick says.

University-owned and -operated, the center is a half-mile from downtown Athens and across the street from UGA’s Stegeman Coliseum.

Large groups fit comfortably here. The Mahler Auditorium seats 600 and Masters Hall has a capacity of 370 people. In addition, the center has 24 breakout rooms and five executive boardrooms.

Brick says the facility hosts about 1,400 events each year.

Historic house:
The Fort Douglas
Officer’s Club is now
a meeting space at
the University of Utah.

University Guest House & Conference Center at the University of Utah
Salt Lake City
(801) 587-2980
www.guesthouse.utah.edu

“Our philosophy is, if you can’t walk away and brag about the time you had, we didn’t do our job,” says Perry Hacker, director of the University Guest House & Conference Center at the University of Utah.

There’s much for visitors to enjoy at the university-owned and -operated facility, nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. The 135-room University Guest House opened in 2000 and anchors the conference center complex, which has 25,000 square feet of meeting space spread among a half-dozen restored buildings on the site of Fort Douglas, an outpost built in 1862. A former officer’s club has been turned into meeting space; a commander’s house has been converted into a reception venue.

The center offers a complimentary historic walking tour guide for guests, and other recreational activity -- hiking, mountain biking, jogging -- is encouraged for summer conference attendees.

Most conferences held at the center, easily accessible from downtown Salt Lake City via car or light rail, range in size from 100 to 200 people, but the center routinely handles events for 500 to 1,500. Groups that can’t fit at the University Guest House can overflow into the neighboring 218-room Salt Lake City Marriott University Park and meet in the campus’ 2,000-person auditorium.

Villanova Conference Center at Villanova University
Radnor, Pa.
(610) 523-1776
www.villanovaconfctr.com

The homemade apple muffins, baked with fruit grown in the on-site orchard, might not be reason enough to book a meeting at the Villanova Conference Center, but they do communicate what the IACC-certified facility is all about.

“We’re trying for that bed-and-breakfast, family feel,” says general manager John Pitocchelli. “From what we hear from our customers, we’re successful in executing that strategy.”

The cornerstone of the center is a mansion, built in 1914, which sits on 32 acres of manicured grounds in Radnor, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia less than 20 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport.

Connected to the mansion through the facility’s dining room, the Aramark Harrison Lodging center has a total of 58 guest rooms and 13,000 square feet of meeting space.

The center has a capacity to host 480 people, but the largest single room is the dining room, which can seat 225. If groups need additional accommodations, the Villanova Conference Center has established partnerships with three nearby hotels, which combine to offer 593 extra guest rooms.

Pitocchelli sells the center both as a hotel and a daytime meeting center. About 80 percent of his business comes from non-university groups, he estimates.

The greatest compliment Pitocchelli ever received about the facility came from a guest who remarked, “I thought I was going away for training and I ended up at a resort.”