During the second half of the year, dorm life on a boarding school campus takes on new dynamics that can be exciting, entertaining, and at times, challenging. This residential life seminar addresses those unpredictable changes that deans, dorm faculty and staff members face during the long winter months and the fast-paced spring days. Through a combination of discussions, lectures and advisee-group sessions, participants will gain insights from a seminar faculty comprised of experienced boarding school administrators. Ample time is allowed for discussing pertinent issues.

Anyone who lives or works in a dorm should consider attending this seminar. Since many of the topics deal with retention, admission directors and members of schools’ re-enrollment teams should also consider participating.

Topics to be Addressed:

• The Residential Life Curriculum
• Advising
• Identifying At-Risk Students
• Diversity
• Dorm Morale
• Facilitating Important Conversations

Places at the TABS Residential Life Seminar are limited and will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will be considered complete when the registration form and payment (check or credit card) are received. Credit card users may fax their registration forms to 202-965-8988.

Participants must make their own hotel arrangements. Participants paying with a check or credit card may enclose the payment and registration form together and mail it to:

TABS Residential Life Seminar
P.O. Box 75012
Baltimore, MD 21275

Please make checks payable to TABS and indicate that it is for the Residential Life Seminar. A confirmation will be sent to you along with a questionnaire, which must be returned prior to the seminar.

TABS Members: $765 • Non-members: $1050

The seminar fees include instruction, notebook materials, lunches, and coffee breaks on both days, and the reception and dinner on Thursday evening. There is a $75 discount per additional person ($690) attending from the same TABS member school.

Participants must make their own hotel arrangements (see Housing section).

Doug Dickson
Vice Rector of Students
St. Paul’s School, NH

With 25 years of teaching, coaching, advising, and administrative roles at St. Paul’s School, Doug has enjoyed a variety of professional opportunities and experiences while working in the boarding school world. He served as a math teacher, coach and dorm head for many years before moving into administration. He now serves the school as Vice Rector for Students, a role that gives him primary oversight and responsibility for the residential program of the school and all it entails. One of the elements of the program is an innovative curriculum developed over the last ten years. This curriculum addresses life issues in each of the dorms at the school and involves all students and faculty. Doug and his wife have three grown children who have all attended boarding school.

Carol Hotchkiss Eliot
Assistant Head of School
Conserve School, WI

Carol has 35 years of boarding school experience as a teacher, dorm head, learning specialist, multicultural advisor, dean, counselor, assistant head, and consultant to schools for program and residential planning. Currently Assistant Head of Conserve School in Wisconsin, she also oversees the Durango Institute for Co-Curricular Education, and is Co-Director of the Human Development Institute. Carol is the author of Quests & Quandaries, Personal Quests and Quandaries, Building a Residential Curriculum, and the upcoming survey of boarding school practices entitled Boarding School Best Practice. She has written for Independent School magazine and was a contributor to Healthy Choices, Healthy Schools.

Participants must make their own hotel reservations. A block of reduced-rate rooms has been reserved at the Embassy Suites Hotel at 661 NW 53rd Street in Boca Raton for only $179 per night. The hotel is near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Yamato Road, 20 minutes from the Saint Andrew’s School campus.

This reduced rate includes a complimentary hot breakfast, access to the hotel’s new fitness center, complimentary pass to Bally’s Fitness Club and shuttle service within a five-mile radius of hotel.

The reduced rates are effective from February 6-9, 2008. Reserve your hotel room early! The special room rate of $179 will be available until January 9 or until the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first.

Make your reservations online or for additional hotel information, visit Embassy Suites Hotel, or call the Embassy Suites Hotel toll-free number at 800-362-2779 or the local number at 561-994-8200. Be sure to ask for The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) reduced rate of $179 and provide the group code: “TAB”.

Fort Lauderdale International Airport is located approximately 30 miles south of Boca Raton. Taxi service costs $60-70 for up to four passengers. Shareride service is also available for approximately $20 per passenger. For more information about ground transportation and to make a reservation, please call 800-244-8252, or visit: www.floridalimo.com.

The Palm Beach International Airport is located approximately 30 miles north of Boca Raton. Taxi service costs $60-70 for up to four passengers. Blue Van shuttle service is available for approximately $26 per passenger. Call 561-233-0500 or visit: www.supershuttle.com.

The Miami International Airport is approximately 50 miles south of Boca Raton. Blue Van shuttle service is available for approximately $75 per passenger. Call 305-871-2000. For SuperShuttle information, please visit: www.supershuttle.com.

The Tri-Rail commuter train has a stop in Boca Raton only blocks from the Embassy Suites Hotel. It is accessible by shuttle bus from the Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Miami airports; cost is approximately $5 for a one-way fare. This train runs intermittently during the day, so you must plan ahead if you want to use this mode of transportation. For a train schedule and fares, please call 800-TRI-RAIL (800-874-7245).

Major car rental companies serve all three airports. Contact your travel agent, or visit your favorite travel website for rates and availability.

Please make your ground transportation arrangements prior to your arrival in Florida. Travel plans should be made to ensure arrival on Saint Andrew’s campus by 8 a.m. Thursday, February 7. The seminar ends at 5 p.m. Friday, February 8. Because of heightened security, participants leaving from the Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach airports on Friday should book their departure flights after 8 p.m. Participants leaving from Miami International on Friday should book their flights for departure after 8:30 p.m.

Round-trip shuttle service from the Embassy Suites Hotel to Saint Andrew’s School will be available on Thursday and Friday for hotel guests and others wishing to utilize the service.