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2008 NASPAA ANNUAL CONFERENCE  October 16 – 18, 2008   Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston, SC NASPAA Meets the Future The 2008 National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) annual conference committee invites proposals for panels, research papers, roundtables, and workshops. We’re excited to be meeting this year in Charleston, South Carolina, and extend our appreciation to the College of Charleston, the University of South Carolina, and Clemson University for serving as host schools. Our host schools are organizing a few intriguing site-based panels to take place in historic Charleston locations on the morning of Saturday the 18th for conference attendees who are interested in discussing public service issues within a community-based context. Conference Theme: NASPAA Meets the Future We have chosen the future as a theme for the 2008 NASPAA conference. We will explore how shifts in our external environment should be shaping us – both schools or programs and NASPAA itself. Schools and programs face a world in which the sectors are blurring, a global perspective is of increasing significance, and issues like environmental sustainability and social entrepreneurship are getting more attention. And of course, just three weeks after we meet, the country will have a new president and whoever that is will come with some shift of agenda. Given all this, how are we doing? How should our schools and their programs look in ten years or in twenty? NASPAA itself has been considering both new accreditation standards and how to respond to the demand for quality assessment in higher education. What else does NASPAA need to be doing? We plan to invite a few provocative speakers to frame the challenge. In addition to organizing a plenary on the new set of NASPAA accreditation standards (to be presented for a vote at the 2009 NASPAA fall conference) and scheduling time for the customary business and section meetings, we are inviting proposals to address the future from the point of view of either Schools & Programs or NASPAA itself. We have decided to organize the panels across three broad dimensions or tracks:  1. Topical – What are schools or programs doing related to certain issue areas, including: social equity, race, and diversity; globalization; health; the importance of place; the environment; civic engagement; social entrepreneurship; arts administration;  leadership;  executive education;  nonprofit education; and doctoral education 2. Curricular – What are schools and programs doing in terms of reaching new audiences, using new pedagogies or instructional modalities, and teaching across sectoral boundaries?  3. Structural – What challenges or opportunities face particular types of institutions, (e.g., public or small programs, joint programs, or comprehensive schools)? In what ways do changes in the higher education “marketplace” require new development, fundraising, and recruiting strategies? 2008 NASPAA Annual Conference Committee Chair: Ellen Schall New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Kathleen Beatty University of Colorado Denver  School of Public Affairs Michelle Piskulich Oakland University Shirley Geiger Savannah State University B.J. Reed  University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Public Affairs Heather Getha-Taylor  University of South Carolina Bob Smith  Clemson University Phil Jos College of Charleston Steven Rathgeb Smith University of Washington  Evans School of Public Affairs  Jack Knott University of Southern California Sch of Pol, Planning & Development Paul Smoke  New York University Wagner Grad Sch Bruce Kuniholm Duke Univesity Sanford Institute of Public Policy Jim Steinberg University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs Liz O'Sullivan North Carolina State University  Mitch Wallerstein Syracuse University The Maxwell School Blue Wooldridge Virginia Commonwealth University Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs