Uniting Through Public Purpose: Submit Your Proposal to Compact25 Now!

Campus Compact is accepting proposals for its Compact25 national conference, themed "Uniting through Public Purpose: Coalition Building for Impact," with submissions due by September 27, 2024. Proposals should focus on key areas such as addressing systemic inequities, anti-racist engagement, assessment, community partnerships, and student-driven leadership, all while promoting racial justice, equity, and inclusion. Virtual office hours are available for questions and brainstorming. Proposals will be reviewed for topic relevance, quality, and alignment with session outcomes, and presenters must register for the conference by February 15, 2025. Read more in the blog post below and learn more here. 

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Compact25 Conference Call for Proposals - due September 27, 2024!

Campus Compact is now accepting proposals for the Compact25 national conference. We seek proposals that explore our theme--Uniting through Public Purpose: Coalition Building for Impact.

submit a proposal now!

We are particularly interested in proposals that explore the following key topic areas. The intention of these key areas is not to limit but to inspire and energize potential presenters around critical issues that show up in their work and the civic and community engagement field as a whole.  All sessions should balance learning and exchange, represent a variety of perspectives, and meaningfully contribute to racial justice, equity, and inclusion goals. 

Questions about the proposal process? 
Join Professional Development Manager Emily Phaup for upcoming office hours to learn more about the process and get answers to your questions. These loosely structured virtual meetings will include plenty of time for questions, discussion, and brainstorming. Anyone is welcome to attend—whether this is your first proposal submission or you are a veteran presenter! Register for the office hours here.

Key topic areas:

• Addressing systemic inequities and wicked societal problems
  •  Sessions center civic and community engagement as pathways for addressing systemic inequities in education, climate justice, violence, economics and wealth, Indigenous communities, housing, and more. Sessions should showcase how institutions are creating sustainable change in their communities through engaged teaching, research, and outreach.
• Anti-racist community and civic engagement teaching, research, and service
  • Sessions explore anti-racist civic and community engagement work and may also focus on the integration and operationalizing of diversity, equity, and inclusion in civic and community engagement practices and structures.
• Assessment, evaluation, data, and storytelling
  • Sessions explore ways to use technology, data, storytelling, and assessment to demonstrate the impact of civic and community engagement. Discussions could explore how campuses are translating impact both internally and externally to develop new resources.
• Authentic campus-community partnerships
  • Sessions explore how individuals and campuses are building and sustaining community partnerships and centering community voice in decision-making. Topics may include partnership management and tracking, community advisory board structures and approaches, compensation and recognition policies and practices, or how campuses and practitioners are working collectively with K-12 schools, other higher education institutions, hospitals, government agencies, or cultural organizations to advance community priorities.
• Bridge building, dialogue, and discourse to support an engaged democracy
  • Sessions examine how individuals and institutions engage with others to support purposeful and respectful conversation across viewpoints with a desire to learn and understand. Highlighted session topics may cover voter education and engagement efforts, models and examples of civil discourse and dialogue programming, the student learning and skill developed through bridge-building activities, ways of centering community and student voice through the use of civil discourse, and creating safe and inclusive spaces that provide opportunities for those whose viewpoints may be traditionally marginalized or silenced.
• Centering mental health, belonging, and well-being
  • Sessions discuss how to center well-being for our students, faculty, colleagues, and community partners—and how that relates to our civic and community engagement work. Sessions may highlight programming and strategies that strengthen a sense of belonging, address discrimination, prevent burnout, or foster collective care.
• Civic learning and student success strategies
  • Sessions explore new and innovative practices within civic and community-engaged learning and teaching. Discussions may examine implementing innovative curriculum design and delivery and strategies that foster civic skill development, create pathways for learning and action, support the development of student civic identity, and champion majors, minors, and certificates in civic engagement and leadership. Sessions may also explore how these strategies contribute to improved recruitment, enrollment, and retention or showcase how civic and community engagement can enhance career-related experiences.
• Infrastructure and support for community engagement
  • Sessions explore opportunities to build robust and holistic support for campus civic and community engagement work. Presenters may discuss creating pathways and resources for community engagement professionals, developing staffing models, funding and resourcing civic and community engagement efforts, and developing institutional policies that facilitate this work, such as faculty and staff annual rewards, promotion and tenure, and community-engaged research. Sessions may also explore professional development models and skill-building for professionals such as faculty and graduate student fellowship programs.
• Student-led, Student-driven engagement and leadership
  • Sessions highlight and uplift innovative community and civic engagement programs, initiatives, and models that center student voice and the roles students play in the development and implementation of co-curricular initiatives and community-campus partnerships. Sessions may focus on student empowerment through community and civic engagement, showcase unique models of implementing institution-wide days of service, or tell the story of student-led social action. Student presentations are encouraged.

Additional details:

• Session proposals must have been submitted through our online application portal to be considered. For your convenience, you will find a preview of the session application form below.
• Session topics may not be changed after the review and selection process.
• Campus Compact may edit presentation titles or session descriptions for consistency and clarity.
• We will notify applicants about session decisions by email in fall 2024.
• All presenters for accepted sessions are required to register for the Compact25 conference. Registration must be completed by February 15, 2025 to guarantee the session.

Proposal review:
Proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Program Committee & peer reviewers using the following criteria: 

• Relevance of Topic: Does the proposal focus on contemporary questions and challenges related to the conference theme and key topics areas? Is the topic forward-looking, emphasizing novel approaches, ideas, and resources to catalyze change?
• Quality of the submission: Is the proposal comprehensive in addressing each of the questions? Are the responses clear and demonstrate a strong understanding of the proposed topic? 
• Session Outcomes: Is there alignment between the stated session outcomes and the proposal description? Are the outcomes achievable? Based on the proposed session type, will the proposed session achieve intended audience participation, the transition of knowledge to action, etc? 

Session Proposal Form Preview: https://assets.swoogo.com/uploads/4084605-666cbb6353844.pdf 

​Questions about submitting a proposal? Contact us at [email protected].

Article URL: https://events.compact.org/compact25/program#proposals​