Professional Development Conferences

High-Impact Practices Conference

AAC&U's Network for Academic Renewal invites proposals that explore the faculty’s use of high-impact practices (such as learning communities, writing-intensive courses, and capstone projects) to foster student learning of essential outcomes. The conference seeks proposals highlighting models of these high-impact practices and those that address issues of faculty rewards, promotion and tenure, cost-effectiveness, and more. This conference will highlight the new and expanding roles that faculty are playing in developing and using high-impact practices—in courses, majors, general education, and in partnership with student affairs—along with discussion of their impact on both faculty and students.

The conference is designed for faculty members seeking innovative, robust, and practical designs for learning and teaching; assessment approaches proven to deepen student engagement; and a network of engaged colleagues. It is also geared toward administrators and others on campus looking to support and partner with faculty to advance the use of high-impact practices for more students, more intentionally, across multiple points in time. Submit your proposals online by filling in each field of the submission form as directed. For more information, please call 202-387-3760 or write to network@aacu.org.

National Conference on Service

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SERVICE, San Francisco, California, June 22-24 The 2009 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, taking place June 22-24 at the Moscone Center - West in the heart of San Francisco, is the world's largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. Come to the San Francisco Bay Area to tap into the renewed enthusiasm for volunteering to meet critical community needs and participate in vital conversations about the future of service and volunteering in America. Learn about the historic Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and its implications for the nonprofit and volunteer sector. Come away inspired, refreshed and energized! This year's theme - "Civic. Energy. Generation." - reflects the tremendous excitement in our nation today as people of all ages and backgrounds unify in a powerful movement to bring about social change. For more information visit http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/

Course Development Institute for Courses Using Student-Centered Discussion

The Interactivity Foundation is accepting applications from college faculty interested in exploring its approach to student-centered discussion and civically engaged education. The Foundation is a non-partisan non-profit devoted to greater citizen discussion and participation in the exploration and development of contrasting possibilities for future public policy. We are seeking 10-12 faculty to attend our 2009 Summer Institute to be held August 1-9, 2009, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Participants will learn, practice, and help to refine the discussion process we are developing for use in college classrooms and in broader public discussions. Faculty will receive a $5,000 honorarium for their participation, and the Foundation will cover the costs of travel, meals, and lodging.

Following the Summer Institute, faculty will be invited to submit proposals for courses to be taught in the spring of 2010 at the participants' home institutions. Courses selected for funding will employ a student-centered discussion process to explore a range of perspectives on the course subject matter and its connection to civic life and public policy. When the courses begin, faculty will receive an additional $5,000 honoraria. We are seeking faculty who are experimental and interdisciplinary and who wish to explore and develop different approaches to student-centered classroom discussion. We especially welcome faculty who view higher education within the context of active citizenship and who see deliberative discussion as a way to enhance student learning and connect the classroom to public life.

Interested faculty should submit a CV and a letter of interest which describes their experience and interest in student discussion, their approach to teaching, and which addresses our interest in developing innovative and collaborative discussion partners that can make creative contributions in developing courses and methods for student-centered discussion. Please email these application materials to the Interactivity Foundation at shively@interactivityfoundation.org by 10/24/08. Notifications of selections will be made by 1/9/09. For additional information, including a list of faculty and their funded courses from our prior Summer Institute, visit our website at www.interactivityfoundation.org. Return to Contents

2009 Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service

June 6 – August 1, 2009 Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service in Washington, D.C.  IPVS is a program for undergraduate student leaders who are engaged in service programs. As part of the Institute experience, students are offered a combination of professional internship experience, academic courses at Georgetown University and leadership development activities. Visit www.dcinternships.org for more information.

Conference CFP: Race, Ethnicity, and Community Engagement in Higher Education Conference

Texas Tech, October 2009

The Race, Ethnicity, and Community Engagement in Higher Education conference at Texas Tech University welcomes submissions from academic professionals engaged in service-centered praxis, researchers in fields of applied or experiential education, regional, local, and international practitioners in service-learning and other forms of community engagement, undergraduate or graduate students with service-learning and other community engagement experience, and students, faculty, administrators, and agency personnel that support community-based research initiatives. For more information visit http://www.educ.ttu.edu/edhe/conferences/recengagement/