From the conference proposal:

A small-campus observatory can be a true asset for student recruitment, undergraduate research, public science outreach, and college science courses for all levels. Our community has learned that people are excited about stars, telescopes, seeing planets, galaxies, or the lunar surface. For science faculty and students, the observatory bears significant research and educational possibilities from the associated engineering and data science problems, telescope and dome controls, in addition to image analysis, programming tasks, observational data collection, public speaking, photographic art, and many other aspects of the observatory. Observational astronomy is an entry point into careers in science and engineering. Many smaller institutions have some form of an astronomical observatory, often built as part of a science building, or sometimes later placed on a roof or as an additional building. For example, here in Morris, the observatory dome is a significant feature of the architecture, attracting attention from the public, from local schools and groups, students, alumni, retirees etc. It houses a 16-inch LX200 Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope, common to small campus observatories. It is combined with a CMOS camera used for undergrad research projects.

For many small colleges and universities, the campus observatory is under the care of the physics or other science faculty, often as service to the institution rather than research. Some institutions do not have astronomy programs (like Morris), or physics programs (Aquinas). In addition,  many small colleges and universities are facing difficulties in declining enrollment numbers and sometimes a loss of expertise in observatory care. Small-campus observatories are often under the care of scientists who may not have experience in observational astronomy, astrophotography, or telescope operation and maintenance. It is valuable to share our experiences with each other, and to learn from more experienced faculty in the field which the SCOPES conference will help achieve. 

The University of Minnesota Morris campus, a small public liberal arts college, is suitable to host such a conference in the classrooms and laboratories of the UMN Morris Science building which also houses the Morris Astronomical Observatory. The UMN Morris campus is a Native-American Serving Non-Tribal institution (NASNTI), with Native American students comprising about 35% of the student body on campus. The observatory is under the care of the physics discipline. The proposed conference addresses challenges and opportunities encountered on campus, and supports our efforts to provide a pathway for Native American students into graduate programs in physics and astrophysics via the collaborative Kapemni program. The NSF-funded Kapemni program  unites  science faculty from Morris and the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics UMN Twin Cities in efforts to remove obstacles by instituting curricular efforts, targeted student support, outreach to our Native American campus community, and collaborative undergraduate research projects. 

Just as important as technical knowledge is to recognize the need for cultural competence, in particular for science outreach activities. The UMN Morris campus is located on land that has been cared for and called home by the Dakota people, and later the Ojibwe people and other Native peoples from time immemorial- a phrase taken from the land acknowledgement of the University of Minnesota.  This could be almost literally extended to all of the places in the upper Midwest. The knowledge of sky, constellations, and astronomical cycles and their use in calendars by indigenous peoples is part of the history of this region, however, often not known  enough to the scientists in the community for the SCOPES conference. With this conference, we have an opportunity to address this need.