Rhodene Upchurch, Assistant Director of Purchasing, attended the National Supplier Diversity Conference on June 7-8, 2007, held at the Marriott Indianapolis North. Sponsored by the National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP), this national conference offers an educational program on supplier diversity to provide valuable resources, new skill-sets, and viable business tools to support the procurement and supply management process of NAEP members.

The conference highlighted best practices and success stories involving minority and women's enterprise as strategic business partners in both public and private academic settings.  

Facilitators and Keynote Presenters during the conference included Reginald Williams, CEO of Procurement Resources, Inc., the Nation's preeminent Consultant, credited with coining the term Supplier Diversity, as well as Dr. Martin Jischke, President of Purdue University.