Call for Proposals  

Due: Thursday, October 27, 2011 (Firm)

The 15th Annual Continuums of Service Conference is seeking session proposals for its upcoming conference, Creating the New Vision for Higher Education, to be held April 11-13, 2012 in Seattle, WA.

The conference proposal review committee is accepting proposals for sessions that are geared toward varying levels of expertise, from novice to expert. Please review the Call for Proposals information below, and email COS.Proposal.Question@wwu.edu with any questions about the proposal process.

Conference Theme
Conference Guiding Questions
Session Emphasis Areas
Session Formats
Session Audience Levels
Session Scheduling
Session Audiovisual Information
Proposal Review Process & Selection Criteria
Conference Registration
Proposal Submission Process

 

 

Conference Theme

Each session (and related proposal) should align with the 15th Annual Continuums of Service Conference theme.

Creating the New Vision for Higher Education

Higher education is changing. We are rethinking how we do everything on and off the campus.  Colleges and universities across the country are re-structuring, re-branding, cutting degree programs, developing new initiatives, collaborating with new partners, etc. As François de la Rochefoucauld said, “The only thing constant in life is change.” Yet so many people are approaching this change from a very fearful resource-poor perspective. Let’s change that!

Higher education has its roots in serving the public good. While most colleges and universities still believe this to be a core foundation of their missions, over the years, more emphasis has been placed on the individual gain of the student, primarily in the realm economic mobility. At this point in history, it is imperative for higher education to reconnect to its public purpose.  Change will happen. What is our collective vision for that change?

The civic engagement/service-learning field is well-poised to help create this new vision for higher education.  The 2012 Continuums of Service conference, “Creating the New Vision for Higher Education” will focus on this topic. We will facilitate roundtable discussions that explore diverse perspectives, create public spaces to share ideas, and have keynote speakers who will challenge our thinking. By the end of the conference, we intend to integrate collective ideas into a new vision that participants can take back to their colleges, universities, and communities. We invite all presenters and participants to come prepared to explore new ideas and help co-create a new vision we can use to guide our work, connect our colleges and universities with our communities in profound ways, and prepare our students to be civic leaders now, and in the years to come.

 

Conference Guiding Questions

Each session (and related proposal) should integrate one or more of the following guiding questions.

• How does your program/project/course contribute to the public purpose of education?
• What is your vision for your college/university?
• How can we, as the civic engagement/service-learning leaders, help our colleges/universities create a new vision for higher education?
• What changes are currently happening on your campus?
• How can we use more of an asset-based model to create a positive future for our colleges/universities and communities?

 

Session Emphasis Areas

Recognizing that quality service-learning/community engagement initiatives simultaneously incorporate many or all of the following emphasis areas, each session (and related proposal) should include in-depth focus on one primary emphasis area.

EMPHASIS AREA #1: Student leadership, voice, and mentoring initiatives

EMPHASIS AREA #2: Faculty leadership, development, and support initiatives

EMPHASIS AREA #3: Cross-departmental and institution-wide initiatives

EMPHASIS AREA #4: Reciprocal campus-community partnerships

EMPHASIS AREA #5: Service-learning/community engagement research and assessment

 

Session Formats

The conference proposal review committee is accepting proposals for two types of sessions:

• Interactive Sessions (75 minutes): Presenters are expected to engage participants in stimulating discussion and/or other active learning opportunities. Interactive sessions should therefore be comprised of at least 50% active learning, and no more than 50% presentation/lecture. These sessions take place throughout the conference.

 

• Poster Session (45 minutes): Presenters are expected to create posters (and optional handouts) to visually display projects, programs, courses, partnerships, etc. While the posters will be displayed for the entire conference, poster presenters will have the opportunity to showcase their posters to conference participants on Wednesday, April 11, 2012, during a networking reception.

 

Session Audience Levels

Please choose one or more audience level to which your proposal caters:

Introductory/Novice—These participants are often new to service-learning/community engagement, with less than three years of experience in the field. Session content within this category may include service-learning/community engagement foundations and best practices; the basics of starting, maintaining, and evaluating a program; how to build student, faculty, and community partner awareness; etc.

Intermediate—These participants have been in the service-learning/community engagement field between three and eight years. Session content within this category may include service-learning/community engagement innovations and best practices; exploration of assessing program impact, strategic planning, fund development, staffing, and administrative support; how to build student, faculty, and community partner leadership; etc.

Experienced/Advanced—These participants have over eight years of service-learning/community engagement experience. Session content within this category may include many of the areas listed above as “intermediate,” as well as exploration of next steps for the field, research, etc.

 

Session Scheduling

One goal of the conference is to build a regional network of practitioners; we therefore strongly encourage presenters to attend and participate in the entire conference. Please know that we cannot guarantee time slots for selected presenters and/or sessions.

 

Session Audiovisual Information

In these challenging economic times, we are making every effort to keep the Continuums of Service Conference as accessible and affordable as possible for both presenters and attendees. We will provide each interactive (75 minute) session presenter with a flip chart, LCD projector, and screen free of charge. We are requesting that presenters provide their own laptops. You will have an opportunity to reserve additional AV equipment as needed, as part of the conference registration process. Please contact Angela Mischaikov at Angela.Mischaikov@wwu.edu with any AV questions or concerns.
(Note: NO internet will be available for presenters as it is prohibitively expensive.)

 

Proposal Review Process and Selection Criteria

The Continuums of Service review committee will evaluate each proposal using the following criteria:

• Alignment with 15th Annual Continuums of Service Conference theme and at least one guiding question
• Alignment with one primary session emphasis area
• Articulation of initiative (e.g., course, project, program, partnership)
• Articulation of learning objectives for session participants and replicability of initiative
• Articulation of the information/data upon which your approach is based and your plans for sustainability
• Incorporation of diverse perspectives into your session
• Quality of active-learning segment (75-minute interactive sessions only)
• Quality of written proposals

 

Each proposal will be evaluated by at least two peer reviewers who have expertise and interest in the specific emphasis area.

Final selections will consider presenter, institution type, emphasis area, target audience, and geographic location diversity. We will also take the historical quality of presentations/ evaluations into account for returning COS presenters. We anticipate making final selections and notifying each lead presenter of the results by Friday, December 23, 2011.

 

Conference Registration

All presenters must register for the entire conference. The registration deadline for selected presenters is Friday, February 10, 2012. If you have any questions or concerns about registration please contact Angela Mischaikov at Angela.Mischaikov@wwu.edu.

 

Proposal Submission Process

1. Review the entire Call for Proposals information outlined above.
2. Complete the online Proposal Submission Form by Thursday, October 27, 2011. If you would like to propose more than one session, please complete a separate Proposal Submission Form for each session. Incomplete Proposal Submission Forms, as well as forms that are submitted via email, will not be reviewed.
3. Email COS.Proposal.Question@wwu.edu with questions regarding the Call for Proposals process or for help filling out the online Proposal Submission Form.