The National Resource Center invites online proposal submissions. Concurrent sessions, facilitated dialogues, and vendor presentation proposals are invited on topics addressing the first year through graduation within and across higher education sectors.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

These 60-minute sessions allow for 40 to 45 minutes of formal presentation and 15 to 20 minutes of discussion. This session type is best for those wishing to make formal presentations with questions and interaction. There are three types of concurrent sessions: research, assessed institutional initiative, trends and issues. These session types are intended for those working in the university setting.

Research

These sessions are appropriate for presentations of quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method studies on students' transition, learning, development, performance, retention, and other relevant issues.

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of topic to the students in transition
• Potential contribution of the research findings
• Soundness of study design and analysis
• Reasonableness of interpretation and implications

Assessed Institutional Initiative

These sessions are appropriate for presentations addressing and highlighting specific programs/initiatives that have been instituted, assessed, and shown to be successful on a particular campus.

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of topic to the students in transition
• Appropriateness of initiative to institutional context
• Quality of the assessment design
• Implications for institutional improvement or advancement

Trends and Issues

These sessions are appropriate for presentations addressing emerging trends and current issues. Examples include: college completion, characteristics and needs of underrepresented student populations, special serving institutions, campus civility, global citizenship, teaching and learning, etc.

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of topic to the students in transition
• Command of literature base
• Importance of topic as a perennial/emerging trend or issue
• Implications/adaptability for practice

Assessed Programmatic Approaches

These sessions are appropriate for presentations addressing specific programmatic approaches assessed and shown to be successful on a particular campus. 

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of topic to the students in transition
• Quality of the assessment design
• Implications for programmatic improvement or advancement

FACILITATED DIALOGUES

These sessions are designed to promote open dialogue around a significant or major issue or theme. Rather than making a formal presentation, session facilitators will encourage and maintain substantive discussion among participants. Facilitated dialogues should not emphasize any one program or institutional initiative, but rather give all session attendees an opportunity to share ideas and learn from one another's experiences. This session type is best for those presenters wanting to share ideas and gain information from other conference participants in an open forum. This session type is intended for those working in the university setting. 

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of topic to students in transition
• Appropriateness and potential value of learning outcomes

VENDOR PRESENTATIONS

These sessions provide vendors the opportunity to network with conference participants in a formal setting providing information on publications, products, or services. Presentations are scheduled in a 50-minute time slot during the conference. If selected, your company must register as a vendor or sponsor in order to present. 

Selection Criteria

• Relevance of topic to student transition
• Implications/adaptability for practice

Potential issues with the proposal process are addressed in our Helpful FAQ Links Page.

Please make sure to delete any unused applications that have been started unintentionally during the submission phase.