[ATTW-L] CPTSC Conference Call for Proposals

[conference at cptsc.org]

CPTSC 2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE CALL FOR PROPOSALS

THEME: THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
CONFERENCE DATE: 27-29 OCTOBER 2022
LOCATION: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, COLORADO SPRINGS

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: 1 MAY 2022

The number of programs in technical and professional communication has  
grown rapidly in the last decade, and to meet this growth, programs  
and departments have called upon colleagues – often those without  
extensive experience in program administration such as junior faculty  
and those not in tenure-line positions -- to bear the responsibility  
of daily management. While other professions often provide structured  
mentorship and professional development opportunities for junior  
employees to evolve into leadership positions, higher education, by  
contrast, has normalized the practice of assigning leadership  
responsibilities upon those who might not yet be prepared either  
through training or with the practical experience and institutional  
authority to succeed as fully as they might. This is especially the  
case for scholars from marginalized backgrounds, who are frequently  
assigned leadership responsibilities in diversity and inclusion  
without adequate support and compensation.

This year’s CPTSC conference is dedicated to challenging this paradigm  
by welcoming presentations, panels, posters, and workshops on the  
pragmatic issues that program administrators face as they manage,  
lead, and develop their programs. In particular, we seek to create a  
dialogue among those who have deeper experience with program  
administration and new, diverse voices and perspectives that might  
suggest alternative perspectives for meeting the daily needs of  
program administration.

PRESENTATION (INDIVIDUAL, PANEL, AND POSTER) AND WORKSHOP POSSIBILITIES

The list below provides possible topics that program administrators  
regularly face as they lead programs, although the list is not  
exhaustive.

•        Assessment: Every program has some sort of requirement to  
evaluate how the program and its students are performing. What are the  
different ways that programs are assessed? What key metrics and  
instruments are used for evaluating programs? How can administrators  
argue for different types of measures and processes to better ensure  
excellent outcomes for diverse and marginalized students?

•        Budget management: Perhaps an area where academics feel least  
prepared—yet a crucially important one—is managing budgets and making  
tough decisions on what (and who) gets funded. What are the different  
types of budget models? How does budget intersect with scheduling and  
curriculum? How do you work with the college or university’s finance  
people? What arguments persuade upper administrators to provide more  
(or different) types of funding? What are the different funding  
streams available and how are they used to ensure a program’s success?

•        Building corporate / community partnerships: As a discipline  
closely tied to professional practice, TPC must engage with partners  
outside the university. What ways can we ensure our students have  
access to diverse types of experiences? How do you seek partners,  
develop them, and include them in your program? What are the  
limitations of external partnerships? What role should external  
partners have in curriculum and program development? How can faculty  
benefit from external experiences? How can programs ensure that we are  
building ethical and reciprocal partnerships?

•        Course modalities: COVID has significantly affected our  
programs, and students increasingly demand multiple types of delivery  
options. What modalities are best for what types of courses? How can  
programs concurrently manage multiple delivery modalities? What  
professional development do faculty require as they teach in new  
modalities? What audiences require different modalities?

•        Curriculum development: Curriculum is not static, and TPC  
programs often work to alter and improve their curricula through new  
courses, new emphases, or entirely new programs. What are the  
institutional processes (and barriers) to curriculum innovation? What  
types of courses should appear in a TPC program? How do you link new  
courses into existing programs? How do you build entirely new programs  
or curricula? How might curricula include micro-credentials like  
badges and certificates?

•        Faculty recruitment, hiring, and retention: Diverse faculty  
create the best programs and yet we rarely consider the “life cycle”  
of our faculty. What are the best practices for ensuring diverse  
applicant pools? How can hiring be inclusive (or go wrong)? How do  
institutional practices promote (or not) effective, ethical hiring  
processes? What practices ensure we retain, promote,  and support all  
faculty in our programs? What is the value of retaining faculty? 

•        Fundraising: Higher education budgets have decreased  
significantly in the last 20 years, and consequently program directors  
feel more pressure to raise additional money. What are the best  
practices of ethical and effective fundraising? What are the limits of  
fundraising? How does fundraising intersect with curriculum and  
external relationships? What are the personal and professional  
benefits of fundraising? What different types of fundraising exist?  
What are the university’s resources to support fundraising?

•        Managing “up”: Program administrators exist at the  
intersection of faculty and upper administration and frequently need  
to “manage” their superiors. What are situations in which managing  
one’s superiors is necessary? What best practices exist to ethically  
drive leadership support? When is it okay to defy leadership? When is  
it best to acquiesce to leadership to secure larger program  
objectives? How does managing up prepare us for future leadership  
positions?

•        Scheduling and course management: Programs offer courses, and  
those courses must connect specific faculty with specific courses with  
specific programmatic goals. What processes exist to effectively  
manage the complexities of scheduling courses? How can institutions  
support course management and scheduling? What key questions should  
administrators ask as they consider placing different faculty into  
different courses and course levels? How do undergraduate and graduate  
programs differ for scheduling?

•        Self-care: Running programs is difficult emotional work and  
requires that administrators consider their own emotional, physical,  
social, and career health. What are the key emotional challenges of  
program leadership? How can administrators protect boundaries? What  
practices ensure leaders balance their own career aspirations with  
those of the faculty they support? How do administrators ensure they  
make time for their physical and social health? What practices  
maintain relationships with colleagues who were – or will be – a  
leader’s peers?

•        Student recruitment and retention: Increasingly, program  
directors actively recruit new students, both for undergraduate and  
graduate programs. What practices ensure inclusive recruitment of  
diverse student populations? What challenges do programs face with  
retaining students once students have matriculated? How can faculty  
and administrators equally participate in recruiting and retention?  
What differences exist for different types of programs (e.g., graduate  
vs. undergraduate; department vs. program; major vs. minor or track)?

•        Strategic planning: Effective leaders have a sense of where  
to guide a program, and strategic plans provide one way to manage a  
program’s activities. What are the benefits and limitations of  
strategic planning? How can strategic planning build cohesion (or not)  
among faculty? What processes ensure inclusive processes for authoring  
strategic plans? When should plans be tossed aside (or adhered to)?

PROPOSAL FORMATS

Proposals are invited for the following kinds of presentations at the  
conference (lengths do not include citations):

•        Individual Presentations: A 300-500-word summary of the  
proposed 5–7-minute presentation given by an individual speaker.

•        Panel Presentations: A session in which 3-6 individuals spend  
20–30 minutes collectively examining a central topic or theme. The  
panel organizer will submit a 250–word overview framing the focus of  
the panel in the context of the theme. The panel organizer will also  
include 150–word summaries of what each presenter will cover during  
the panel presentation.

•        Posters:  A 300-500-word summary of a poster that will be on  
display throughout the conference. Poster creators will present and  
discuss their posters at a dedicated session during the conference.

•        Workshops: 75-minute interactive activities that focus on a  
professional development need related to technical communication  
programs and curriculum. The 500-word proposal should frame the  
workshop within the theme, identify the potential audience, and  
summarize the activities the workshops will cover.
Individuals may present in only ONE individual, panel, or poster  
presentation, although individuals might participate in both a  
workshop and one individual, panel, or poster presentation.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All proposals should provide the following information:

●        The kind of presentation (i.e., individual presentation,  
panel presentation, poster         presentation, or workshop)
●        The title of the proposed presentation/workshop
●        The name, affiliation, and contact email of presenter(s)
●        Proposal
●        References (APA style)

PEER-REVIEW CRITERIA

Proposals are reviewed based on the following criteria:

●        Demonstrates a strong connection between the proposed  
presentation and the conference theme
●        Presents an original or innovative approach, perspective,  
theory, or idea that would be of interest to CPTSC members
●        Raises interesting issues or questions to stimulate  
discussion or notes what attendees can “take away” from the  
presentation to use within the context of their own organizations or   
 programs

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCESS

All proposals should be submitted via the online submission portal  
available on the conference website: http://2022conference.cptsc.org/  
(select “Submit Proposal”).

PROPOSALS ARE DUE BY 11:59 P.M. EASTERN TIME (U.S.) MAY 1, 2022.

ABOUT THE CPTSC CONFERENCE

The CPTSC conference emphasizes discussion of programmatic issues. The  
audience includes people with programmatic interests in technical,  
professional, and scientific communication. We     welcome  
participants—administrators, faculty, and graduate students—from  
secondary, community college, or university levels, as well as  
representatives of industry.

For questions, contact Laura Vernon, Conference Committee Chair, at  
conference at cptsc.org[1].

Links:
------
[1]  
https://cptsc.org:2096/cpsess5230337229/horde/imp/dynamic.php?page=mailbox#
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