Presenting at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference provides an opportunity to build your professional network and learn, reflect, and engage with colleagues. Presenting a content-rich session as an individual or a team is a wonderful way to share knowledge, experiences, and ideas. The conference’s community-generated program will showcase future directions, best practices, stories of successful collaborations, or solutions to community-wide issues within the following program tracks.
Program Tracks
Exploring Innovation in Teaching and Learning
How do institutional IT practices enable and empower the core academic mission of teaching, learning, research, and scholarship? These practices include instructional design, digital learning, learning space design, research computing, online and blended learning, accessibility and universal design, and mobile learning, as well as support for libraries, pedagogical research and scholarship.
Creating a Culture of Data-Informed Decision Making
Explore the application of data, information, and analysis to institutional challenges. The goal? Building a data-informed culture to facilitate decision making at all organizational levels and in all areas. From initially starting to create processes & infrastructure where data are used to big data and predictive analytics.
Evolving Infrastructure and Enterprise IT
The evolving practice of IT service delivery drives successful convergence of information systems, cloud computing infrastructure, and a support model that makes it all work across the entire fabric of a higher education institution (not just central IT). Learn about infrastructure services and enterprise architecture/systems, as well as frameworks and strategies for effective, efficient IT service management.
Leading and Partnering Across the Institution
IT leadership requires operational and strategic excellence when preparing a campus for digital disruption. IT staff at all levels need to build relationships across the institution to ensure that administrative and academic technology changes sustain the instructional and research missions of an institution while still supporting innovation, learning spaces, libraries and laboratories. Institutional effectiveness is maximized when IT has a seat at the many decision tables. This track also includes issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as institutional and vendor partnerships.
Managing and Reducing Information Technology Risk
IT organizations share accountability for managing institutional continuity of operations within an open and shifting environment. The pace of change, such as the growing use of cloud services challenge these efforts, as do changing compliance requirements and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. From proactively preventing data breaches to sending emergency alerts to protecting privacy, the real-time tactical and long-term strategic need for risk management is vital to all higher education IT leaders.
Transforming the Student Experience
Explore students' evolving digital experience in their life-cycle from recruitment through career. The most impactful educational experience employs effective use of technology to better prepare students for life after graduation, connecting them with campus through engagement in institutional activities and using academic success tools to enrich their experience. Technology informs, supports, and transforms the way campuses recruit, educate, and retain students through degree completion as well as how they connect and engage with alumni.
Delivery Choices
The program committee encourages you to consider a presentation format that will engage your colleagues in discussion and learning beyond the simple dissemination of information. Sessions may follow one of these formats, or you may suggest an alternative format:
Workshop
Offered for full or half day pre-conference options, or 90 minutes, workshops provide participants a deeper examination of various topics, facilitated by leaders with extensive experience in those areas. Workshops are highly interactive and give participants the chance to discuss in depth approaches to challenges they are facing on campus - to share solutions and learn strategies. Maximum of four presenters, including the moderator.
Moderated Discussion
(Typically 60 minutes)
Discussions are an opportunity for participants to share campus challenges and solutions through conversational exchange. By actively engaging audience participants in dialogue about hot topics or broad issues, these sessions will rely on collective community experience within the session room attendance. Maximum of four presenters, including the moderator.
Panel Presentation
These sessions feature two to four dynamic presenters offering case studies about how their institutions have approached a shared topic, or they may feature presenters taking different and sometimes controversial perspectives on a topic. Examples may include the evolving role of the CIO, security, privacy and cloud, advancing IT innovation within budgetary constraints, or other critical issues in higher education. For all panel presentations participant feedback and response will be encouraged. Maximum of four presenters, including the moderator.
Interactive Presentation
These sessions are opportunities to share topics of interest through an innovative, thought-provoking format that encourages audience participation and interaction. Participant feedback and response to issues will be encouraged throughout the session.
- Single presenter (Typically 30 minutes)
- Multi presenter (same institution- Maximum of four presenters, inclusive of a moderator – Typically 60 minutes)
- Multi presenter (different institutions – Maximum of four presenters, inclusive of a moderator – Typically 60 minutes)
Poster
(60 minutes during Wednesday or Thursday)
Posters are an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the use of an emerging technology or innovative practice, typically in the early stages of development. As attendees visit this informal setting, presenters can discuss and share their work on a one-to-one basis. Presenters will use a poster display (and laptop and print materials if they wish) to demonstrate the features and functionality of the tool or program, as well as to provide a visual overview of the project. Presenters should also prepare a few introductory remarks to engage listeners in the subject. Maximum of three presenters.
Important Reminders
Registration: All accepted presenters are responsible for registering for the conference by the early bird date, paying the conference registration fee, and securing and paying for travel and lodging. Please plan and budget accordingly before submitting your proposal. (Exceptions include accepted full and half day preconference workshop presenters who may receive modest compensation in the form of an honorarium or a complimentary conference registration. EDUCAUSE will not cover any additional costs such as travel and lodging expenses, online tools, assessments, books, or other presentation materials.)
Sharing Resources: Presenters will be asked to upload related resources (documents or links) prior to their presentation. These resources provide support for the presentation and then become a part of the conference proceedings so that your valuable information is accessible beyond your session. If selected, you will be provided with further instructions on uploading your presentation materials.
Selection Process
Proposals are selected to ensure the conference offers a comprehensive, nonpromotional, objective, and diverse program. Attention will be given to diversity of institutions, presenters, and geographic location. Note that you may be invited to present in formats other than the one you selected or those noted in the proposal submission form.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Annual Conference Program Committee and Proposal Reviewers using the following criteria:
- Relevance of topic: Is the topic of relevance, importance, value, and/or interest to higher education?
- Proposed topic coverage: Does the proposal adequately cover content related to the proposers’ learning objectives/key stated outcomes?
- Presenter knowledge: Does the presenter, or presenters, have sufficient knowledge, expertise, and authority to address this topic based on evidence provided in the proposal and/or prior experience with or knowledge of the presenter?
- Engagement strategies: Does the presenter include specific strategies relevant to event size, audience, and maturity of topic in which they will engage participants in the session content, and do those strategies align with the session’s learning objectives/outcomes?