[ATTW-L] CPTSC Conference Call for Proposals
conference at cptsc.org
conference at cptsc.org
Fri Mar 11 19:12:43 UTC 2022
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:
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[1]
https://cptsc.org:2096/cpsess5230337229/horde/imp/dynamic.php?page=mailbox#
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