Thank you for your interest in the ELI Annual Meeting! This event is a gathering for everyone working in postsecondary teaching, learning, and student success. This diverse community affords opportunities for rich conversations, valuable networking, and the chance to spawn new initiatives and collaborations. It's also the opportunity to present your work, discoveries, insights, and tools with your colleagues for the benefit of the entire community. We welcome your submission! Please read this page carefully before you begin work on your proposal and be sure to submit by the deadline: February 8, 2021.
Event Theme for 2021
Writing the Next Chapter: Innovative Practices, New Integrations, and Transformative Impacts
As world events continually churn, innovative practices and new integrations—along with a culture of care supporting students, faculty, and staff—offer us a pathway to restore, evolve, and transform higher education. Student support, teaching and learning practices, attention to affordability and equity, and institutional culture may all look different from how they did last year. Institutions are leveraging technology and accessing data in unprecedented ways. Faculty are teaching differently, supported by the efforts of instructional designers, technologists, and faculty development professionals. Join your colleagues to engage in discussion around the key issues and opportunities for postsecondary teaching, learning, and student success. We encourage you to help lead this discussion and set new directions by contributing the discoveries you are making on campus.
Ready to get started? Just follow these simple steps:
-
Find out how to create an excellent proposal by reading this page and the helpful tips in the EDUCAUSE Presenter Concierge pages. (You can have a sneak peek at the CFP site by viewing this PDF.)
-
Develop a proposal in one of the five program tracks/focus areas.
-
Choose a presentation format.
-
Submit your proposal between January 19 and February 8, 2021 (11:59 p.m. ET).
Diversity and New Voices
The EDUCAUSE Board and leadership have established diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as a critical priority for the association. Our program committee strives to develop a program that truly represents our diverse community. We encourage you to consider how your proposal reflects or addresses diversity, equity, and inclusion (including subject matter, individuals of all identities, and demographic characteristics).
Similarly, we are eager to expand our community of presenters by encouraging and supporting new voices in higher education information teaching and learning. We'd like first-time presenters to feel energized and inspired to submit a proposal and share their ideas and experiences.
2021 Annual Meeting Tracks
What is the next chapter in "New Student Success" or the value proposition that students expect of their postsecondary education in 2021, and how is technology helping to deliver it? The tracks in the 2021 ELI Annual Meeting will explore these themes.
What are the critical ethical questions that must be addressed as we access new forms of student data from different contexts? How can we best determine the efficacy and impact of our learning innovations and technologies? How can data and analytics be used to restore, evolve, and transform higher education? What kinds of support do faculty need to leverage learning analytics at the course level?
With remote instruction on the rise, how can fostering human connection and a culture of care reclaim a sense of togetherness when we are so often apart? How can we more fully identify and address the needs of the "whole student," inside and outside the classroom? What is the balance between designing for human connection and the role of faculty in bringing this to life?
How can we best support students' device and broadband access needs? How can Universal Design for Learning (UDL) be leveraged to enhance learning? How can the teaching and learning community meaningfully contribute to the advancement of equity and social justice? How must higher education advance digital ethics through technology tools, policies, and practice?
What kinds of assessment and learning design strategies can be employed in multiple modalities? How have campuses stepped up to prepare faculty for teaching in new ways? What kinds of emerging technologies and groundbreaking practices point us to new horizons in teaching and learning?
What does "student-centric" mean for you? What are the ways you are promoting anti-racism in your practices? How are you bringing to life a student success mission? Are you mapping the student journey or using a service design approach to improve student experience? What about collaborating across departments to support the whole student and reflect a culture of transformation?
Learning Objectives and Participant Engagement Strategies
Clear learning objectives and creative engagement strategies are essential components of every session. The ELI proposal reviewers will closely examine and rate each proposed session's learning objectives, which should clearly describe what participants will know or be able to do as a result of participating in the session. A successful proposal must also include the specific and creative ways in which the presenter(s) will engage with participants in a virtual environment.
Delivery Choices
Please note that your proposal will be carefully evaluated and may be accepted for any of the formats below, depending on the scope of content and engagement strategies proposed. If you have questions, please contact Sarah Reynolds, speaker liaison ([email protected]), or visit our Presenter Concierge page for presentation ideas and resources.
All ELI Annual Meeting sessions will be conducted online for 2021.
Live Presentation (45 minutes)
The live session will happen in real time through Zoom or a similar interface. It will be a total of 45 minutes, with 30 minutes for the presentation/engagement and 15 minutes for Q&A. These sessions are opportunities to share topics of interest, lessons learned, case studies, foresight, or evidence of impact related to the proposed conference tracks while actively engaging the audience. The session may be structured as an interactive presentation or a panel presentation. Maximum of four presenters, including a moderator.
Simulive Presentation (20 minutes)
A simulive presentation is a pre-recorded session that runs during the live program. These sessions are opportunities to share lessons learned, case studies, demonstrations/simulations of a technology or solution, and/or evidence of impact related to the proposed conference tracks. While the recording is being played, the presenters are actively engaged in the chat, answering questions and interacting with audience members throughout the 20-minute session. Since simulive sessions provide the opportunity for presenters to interact/answer questions in the chat pod, there will be no dedicated Q&A time, thus allowing the entire time for the recorded presentation. (Note: Presenters will be required to attend their session on their scheduled date/time to monitor the chat.)
On-Demand Presentation (20 minutes)
These 20-minute pre-recorded sessions will be hosted in a virtual, on-demand (recorded) session gallery. On-demand sessions allow attendees to mix and match content and watch sessions at their own convenience and their own pace. And presenters appreciate that they are able to record their content, submit it, and not have any other responsibilities during the event. On-demand sessions can be structured in different ways:
-
"Lightning Talks" are 15–20-minute talks that focus on a single idea or concept.
-
Educational presentations are pre-recorded sessions that are approximately 20 minutes in length and typically include presenters from one or two institutions who share research findings, case studies, and experiences about a specific topic.
-
Demos, simulations, or walkthroughs of a technology or solution, including XR/VR, show those tools in action.
Corporate Participation
Our corporate community is also invited to present during the ELI Annual Meeting. This opportunity is a valuable way to showcase your industry expertise and develop meaningful relationships with hundreds in our teaching and learning community.
To participate in this opportunity and get the most out of your time with us, please take note of the following:
- Your session should focus on a topic that positions your company as a thought leader.
- For the ELI Annual Meeting in particular, your topic should focus on a process, technology challenge(s), and/or solutions related to teaching and learning. It must be educational in nature and not a sales pitch. If you are a supplier of products or services, please be sure your session content is based on a relevant topic, concept, or idea—not on one of your products or services.
- You may have a maximum of four presenters during your session, and at least one presenter must be from a higher ed institution or must be a non-sales subject matter expert.
- A limited number of Industry and Campus Solutions presentations are available. If your proposal is accepted, your session will be part of a comprehensive package that will help expand your reach even further during the event, and a fee will apply.
To be considered: Submit through the Call for Proposals by the deadline date. Selections will be made by the program committee based on the quality of the submission and the relevance to current community needs (requirements). Should the proposal be accepted, it will be bundled with additional opportunities, and the appropriate package and fee will be assessed.
Please visit the Corporate Participation page for more information on pricing and package inclusions.
Selection Process
Proposals are selected to ensure the conference offers a comprehensive, non-promotional, objective, and diverse program. Proposals that clearly describe innovative and creative work will receive the highest priority in the selection process. Attention will be given to diversity of institutions/organizations, presenters, and geographic location. Note: 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 ELI and peer reviewers using the following criteria:
-
Relevance of Topic: Is the topic of relevance, importance, value, and/or interest to higher education?
-
Session Outcomes Achievability: Is there alignment between the stated session outcomes and the proposal description?
-
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?
-
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Does the proposal show how the session will reflect or address diversity, equity, and inclusion (including subject matter, individuals of all identities, and demographic characteristics)?
Requirements for Presenters
Profile Requirement: An EDUCAUSE Profile is required in order to submit a proposal, present, and register for the event. Please take some time before submitting a proposal to ensure all presenters have profiles and that all information is updated (title, profile picture, bio, etc.). You can search here; if presenters don't have a profile, please have them create one so you're able to add them within the proposal submission site.
Note: Profile information will help reviewers and attendees understand a presenter's qualifications. Make sure the privacy setting is not too restrictive. We recommend the option of "Visible to Public (without contact info)."
Registration: All accepted presenters are responsible for registering and paying for the conference by the early-bird date. Please plan and budget accordingly before submitting your proposal. There are no presenter registration discounts available. We cannot pay an honorarium or expenses for presenting; however, we hope that the intangible benefits of being a part of our educational programming make the effort worthwhile for presenters.
Session Resources: Presenters will be asked to upload presentation materials and resources 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.
Students and Scholarships
The ELI welcomes and encourages including the student voice in the annual meeting sessions. In support of that, the ELI will provide complimentary registration for up to two full-time undergraduate or graduate student presenters per session.
The EDUCAUSE Scholarships program is an extension of our commitment to those who lead, manage, and use information technology to shape strategic IT decisions at every level within higher education. Financial assistance is available to help with professional development. See if you are eligible for EDUCAUSE Scholarships.