About 250 people whose job it is to see that college students have a safe learning environment will gather in Morgantown Oct. 11-14 for the Southeastern Regional Association of Physical Plant Administrators annual conference and exhibition.

West Virginia University is the host for the associations 52nd annual conference, which will be held at Lakeview Resort and the Scanticon Conference Center.Scaling New Heightswill be the theme of the gathering.

Higher education facilities officers from more than 50 schools in the 11-state region will attend board meetings, hear presentations on issues such as preventive maintenance and modernizing facilities, and view more than 50 vendor exhibits touting services ranging from architectural planning to energy solutions.

Participants will also have some downtime to play golf, attend the WVU -Rutgers football game and enjoy a riverboat cruise.

This is a perfect opportunity to showcase WVU and the Morgantown area,said Joe Fisher, who as the Universitys associate vice president for facilities and services is the official conference host.

The WVU Jazz and Steel Drum ensembles will perform for the visitors, and one of the presentations will showcase the Universitys Personal Rapid Transit.

WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. will give the keynote speech at the annual conference banquet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14.

The Southeastern Regional Association of Physical Plant Administrators is one of seven regional organizations dedicated to the operation of buildings on higher education campuses. The Southeastern Region consists of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For more information about the conference, go http://www.wvu.edu/~facserv/plant/srappa/index.html .