Call for proposals for Open Education Southern Symposium

The July conference at the Hunt Library deals with community building and equity

The Open Education Southern Symposium (OESS) is now accepting proposals for its conference on July 16-17, 2020 at the Hunt Library at NC State University. Jointly organized by the NC State University Libraries and the University of Arkansas Libraries, the conference theme this year is “Open Connections: Regional and Local Community Building for Equity and Sustainability” and features keynote speaker Anita Walz, Assistant Director of Open Education and Scholarly Communication Librarian, Virginia Tech.

Proposals should fall into three categories:

  • Presentations: 25 or 50 minutes
  • Panel Discussions: 50 minutes
  • Roundtables: 25 minutes

We welcome proposals from faculty/educators, students, librarians, instructional designers, educational technologists, and administrators as well as institutions and organizations big and small involved in open education and open pedagogy. We aim to create a program that provides development opportunities for both novices and advanced open education practitioners.

Some proposal topic ideas that might be of interest include:

  • Adoption and creation of resources
  • Publishing Platforms
  • Best Practices and Impact of Open Education
  • Creative Commons, Copyright, and Other Licensing
  • Marketing and Advocacy
  • Pedagogy & Student Success, including K-12 Highlights
  • Instructional Design Strategies for OER
  • Trends & Innovation
  • OER in Community Colleges
  • Tenure, promotion, and OER
  • OER Community Building
  • Assessment
  • Inclusion and Diversity in Open Education
  • Crowdsourcing OER Projects
  • OER Research
  • Graduate Students, Teaching Assistants, and OER on Campus
  • OER Basics: Tips for New Programs
  • Student Engagement in OER Advocacy
  • Accessibility of OER

OESS is committed to highlighting a variety of voices and experiences. First-time presenters are encouraged to submit a proposal.

Submission Details

  • The deadline for submissions is Sunday, Feb. 16 at 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time.
    The submission form is on our event website at the “Call for Proposals” page: https://openedss.uark.edu/call-for-proposals.php
  • Proposal social media summaries should not exceed 240 characters (spaces included). Social media summaries are shortened abstracts which will fit into a single tweet.
  • Proposal abstracts should not exceed 2000 characters or approximately 500 words.
  • All submissions will be evaluated based on the relevance of the topic and potential to advance the thinking or practice of open education and open pedagogy. Proposal reviewers will use the Open Education Southern Symposium’s 2020 Proposal Reviewing Procedures document to guide their evaluation of submissions.
  • The program committee will deliver decisions by March 30, 2020.
  • Presenters will be asked to accept or decline the invitation to present by April 17, 2020.
  • All presenters will be required to register for the symposium.

If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Pierce, University of Arkansas (sjpierc@uark.edu) or the Open Education Southern Symposium Planning Committee at openedsouthsymposium@gmail.com.