Student Success and The Quality Agenda

Network for Academic Renewal Conference
April 4-6, 2013
Miami, Florida

The proposal deadline has passed. Please contact Siah Annand at annand@aacu.org with any questions.

Call for Proposals

All session facilitators at the conference are responsible for the appropriate conference registration fees, travel, and hotel expenses. Please be sure all individuals in your proposal have this information and can be available to present at any time throughout the event. Presentation times range from Friday, April 5 at 8:00 a.m. through Saturday, April 6 at 12:00 noon.

You will receive notification about the status of your proposal by late August. Questions may be directed to Siah Annand at Annand@aacu.org.

Conference Themes
Writing a Strong Proposal
Session Formats
Become a LEAP Featured Session
How to Submit a Proposal

Conference Themes

AAC&U invites proposals that examine the new contexts for student learning and explore evidence-based, student-centered strategies that seek to align the multiple definitions of and practices in student success with the end goal of providing all students, especially those from traditionally underserved groups, with a quality education. We also invite proposals that describe frameworks that bring all campus practitioners together within a single campus and/or with other campuses to support innovation and leadership, and strengthen students’ abilities to integrate, transfer, and apply their knowledge for the sake of their own lives and the common good.

The conference will follow four themes:

Theme I: Creating New Cultures for Learning in Emerging Contexts
Theme II: Assessing Student Learning
Theme III: Developing Educational Leadership and Partnerships for Student Success
Theme IV: Promoting Quality in High-Impact Practices and Learning Outcomes

Theme I:  Creating New Cultures for Learning in Emerging Contexts

This theme invites proposals describing the many ways in which students learn and how to create learning environments that best match these different styles to help each student achieve her or his highest educational goals.

• What specific practices are campuses implementing that demonstrably improve both student achievement of learning outcomes and boost retention and graduation rates?
• How are educators effectively incorporating a student’s lived experience and current knowledge into general education and studies in the major to provide a contextual and meaningful undergraduate experience more likely to lead to student success? 
• In what ways are campus practitioners using technology to advance and support student learning?
• How is higher education breaking down the traditional silos and developing practical approaches and designs for integrative, interdisciplinary learning so students can synthesize knowledge and skills in ways that prepare them for success in the workforce and for productive citizenship?
• How can innovative partnerships/collaborations (K-12, 2-year/4-year, state systems) improve student transitions and achievement of LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes, especially for traditionally underserved students?

Theme II: Assessing Student Learning

This theme invites proposals that examine how assessments of student learning are being designed and data disaggregated to advance student success and address disparities and inequities in achievement of learning outcomes.

• How are institutions using assessment to determine how the “quality” of high-impact practices contributes to achievement of Essential Learning Outcomes?
• How are emerging assessment models transforming developmental education?
• How are campuses maintaining a commitment to quality assessments (both direct and indirect) in the face of declining resources?
• How are campuses and consortia connecting assessment of student work with accountability practices that emphasize high achievement, transfer success, and degree completion?
• How are campuses using technology such as e-portfolios, VALUE rubrics, or other learning tools to directly assess student learning in the context of high levels of student transfer, dual enrollment, and /or open-access learning opportunities?
• How might the development of the Common Core standards and use of the Degree Qualifications Profile affect assessments of college students’ success beyond the use of credit hours?

Theme III: Developing Educational Leadership and Partnerships for Student Success

This theme invites proposals examining the kinds of development, support, and rewards that are effectively advancing faculty innovation and leadership for student success.

• What kinds of learning, professional development, and/or reward structures are helping faculty improve student learning and educational quality?
• What are emerging models for engaging full-time and contingent faculty and staff in student success initiatives including interdisciplinary teaching and learning, assessment, mentoring, and high-impact practices?
• What are effective approaches for engaging faculty and student affairs educators more substantially in the first two years of studies and entry level courses to support holistic approaches to and mentoring for student learning?
• How are campuses encouraging and advancing cross-divisional collaboration for student success?

Theme IV: Promoting Quality in High-Impact Practices and Learning Outcomes

This theme invites proposals describing how institutions can support and advance the innovative use of quality high-impact practices across all sectors—for all students.

• How are campuses embedding high-impact practices in the design of general education, pre-major, and major courses? How is the design of such courses being connected with student learning outcomes?
• How are campuses providing and expanding quality high-impact practices even in the context of reduced or constrained budgets?
• How are faculty members using high-impact practices in individual classrooms to promote student engagement and achieve learning outcomes?
• How are campuses designing high-quality accelerated learning programs that help all students achieve learning outcomes (e.g., dual-enrollment programs, accelerated technology-based programs, Early College)?

Writing a Strong Proposal

We encourage proposals that reflect tested theory, applicable research findings, sophisticated models, and innovative new approaches to evidence-based, student-centered strategies that seek to align the multiple definitions of and practices in student success with the end goal of providing a quality education to all students, especially those traditionally underserved,.

Proposals are accepted through an online form and consist of a session title (100 character limit), statement of the intended audience (100 word limit), participant outcomes (100 word limit), plan for participant engagement (150 word limit), background and description of work (150 word limit), and a brief abstract to be used in the final conference program if the proposal is accepted (150 words).  You will be asked to select a session format and theme.  In addition, the form will ask for the name, title, institution, and email address of each facilitator.

Experts in the field and AAC&U staff will review all proposals and make final selections. 

Reviewers will look favorably upon proposals that:

• Include facilitators who bring diverse perspectives to interrogate and inform the topic your proposal addresses.  Sessions that include students are especially acknowledged.
• Reflect sound theory, research, strategies, and models that have proven effective and reflect established visions or models for change. Participants seek successful solutions.
• Provide a clear sense of the intended audience, how the session will unfold, lessons learned, and effective approaches for each participant to consider the information in her/his own context for advancing change and overcoming challenges upon return to campus.
• Include links to Web sites or other resources that participants can review in preparation for as well as use during and after the session.
• “Show and tell” submissions with little or no applicability to other institutions will not be considered. 

Session Formats

There are six session formats from which to choose: (1) Poster, (2) HEDs Up, (3) Research/Rubrics/Promising Practices, (4) Discussion, (5) Homepage, and (6) Workshop. 

Please select the format that will best advance participants’ understanding and use of your work.

Format 1: Poster Session (90 minutes; 1-2 facilitators; 6’x3’ skirted table; internet access, electrical outlet, poster boards, and other supports as available upon request)

Poster sessions provide an opportunity for campuses to share models of curricula, programs, courses, student services and other practices that are blurring traditional boundaries and preparing students for the multifaceted challenges of the 21st century.  Posters lend themselves well to combining visual displays of key information with written materials and small group interaction. Posters may use  3’x 4’ boards or new technologies to display charts, diagrams, pictures, and/or graphs that depict program components, research findings, samples of student work, logic models, curriculum/co-curricular/assessment maps, process and strategy charts, and so on.

Format 2: “HEDs Up” – Higher Ed Session (18 minutes; 1 facilitator; internet access and other supports as available upon request)

HEDs Up is a format in the model of “TED Talks” – the Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference that limits each speaker to 18 minutes. The presentation should focus on an innovative model, pedagogy, practice, rubric, strategy, or “the next big idea” – about learning and quality centered teaching and/or co-curricular assessment.   HEDs Up presentations should be provocative, challenging, and above all, interesting.  AAC&U will combine your talk with two others to create a moderated 60 minute session. 

Format 3: Research/Rubrics/Promising Practices  (60 minutes; 2-3 facilitators; room set in round tables; internet access and other supports as available upon request)

Research, rubric, and promising practice sessions should allow (a) 15 minutes for facilitators to discuss their research findings, rubric, or promising practice; (b) 30 minutes to work through practical applications of this work (e.g., to allow participants to examine how to use the ideas in their own work or in scaling up to involve greater numbers of students); and (c) 15 minutes for general participant conversation including questions and answers. Facilitators are encouraged to address milestones for success, solutions to common challenges, and provide links to Web sites or other resources that participants can review in preparation for and during the session. 

Format 4: Discussion Session (60 minutes; 1-2 facilitators; room set in round tables; no audio-visual)

Facilitated discussions provide time for colleagues to more deeply examine topics of similar interest through iterative sharing of expertise and experiences. The facilitators briefly set the context for the conversation related to one of the conference themes.  Facilitators assist the group in examining new ways of thinking about the topic and strategies for moving forward given the complications of each individual’s professional reality. This session should allow for questions from all participants to stimulate and focus the conversation so that the issues discussed are meaningful to all involved.   

Format 5:  Homepage Session: A Focus on Technology (60 minutes; 1-2 facilitators; room set in roundtables; internet access and other supports as available upon request)

Homepage sessions feature innovative uses of technology and the ways they are being integrated into teaching, learning, scholarship, and information management to advance new approaches to learning, teaching, and curricular/co-curricular reform.  Sessions might feature multi-modal designs for programs, courses, and pedagogical practices that support learning in creative ways (i.e., social media and new forms of technology-assisted community based learning) and foster new outcomes (i.e., collaborative discovery across time and place) that might not otherwise occur.  Sessions should describe the technology, its applications and outcomes, and allow time for participants to question and discuss implications for their own work.

Format 6:  Workshop Session (Two hours; 2-3 facilitators; room set in roundtables; internet access and other supports as available upon request)

Workshops provide an opportunity for facilitators to significantly engage participants in applying a sophisticated and effective model, practice, or strategy to their own specific campus work.  Workshops should begin with a brief framing of the topic and an overview of intended activities and goals for the session.  Facilitators should provide data/findings related to the topic, milestones for success, common challenges, practical examples, and engage participants in activities (including in small groups) that will help them to move their own efforts forward.

Become a LEAP Featured Session

Conference sessions designated as “LEAP Featured Sessions” are intended to highlight the innovative work of colleges and universities that are members of AAC&U’s LEAP Campus Action Network (CAN). Featured Sessions make explicit links between campus-based educational reform and the essential learning outcomes, principles of excellence, and high-impact practices described in AAC&U’s Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative.

For more information on applying to have your conference session designated as a LEAP Featured Session, visit www.aacu.org/leap/can/FeaturedSessions.cfm.

Submitting a Proposal

The deadline for proposal submission is midnight Wednesday, July 18, 2012. Please direct any questions to Siah Annand at annand@aacu.org.

Notification
Upon submission of your proposal, you should receive an automatic message indicating that we have received your proposal. If you do not receive this message, please e-mail Siah Annand at annand@aacu.org to confirm that we have received your proposal.

Acceptance
You will receive notification about the status of your proposal in late August 2012.

Registration Fees
All session facilitators at the conference are responsible for the appropriate conference registration fees, travel, and hotel expenses. Please be sure all individuals in your proposal have this information and can be available to present at any time throughout the event. Presentation times range from Friday, April 5 beginning at 8:00 a.m. through Saturday, April 6, at 12:00 noon.

Final Reminders
Please complete all fields in the submission form including title and contact information for all additional facilitators.

Include links to supplemental materials, if available.

Please remember that by submitting a proposal, you agree to:

• Register and pay conference fees if the proposal is accepted;
• Inform your co-facilitators about the proposal’s status and the need for all facilitators to pay the conference registration fees; and
• be available throughout the event to present your work as scheduled.

Dates to Remember

• July 18, 2012 | Proposals due to AAC&U
•  Late August, 2012 |  Proposal acceptance notification