The ACPA26 Convention Team, Leadership Council, Entity Leadership, and International Office are committed to a Convention centering attendees’ experiences, committing to attendee wellbeing, focusing on skill and knowledge development, and advancing our collective work towards racial justice and decolonization.

The ACPA26 Convention Planning Teams strives to create a Convention experience that will engage participants to understand, unpack, and celebrate the work we have done and the lessons that we have learned; to make plans and evolve our thinking to transform the future; and that we will commit to advancing meaningful change and challenging systemic barriers.

Centering LOVE, ACPA26 will create space for transformative learning and action across multiple higher education sectors. This framework integrates multiple dimensions of engagement: historical consciousness, critical analysis, humanization, and future-oriented thinking, all converging on LOVE as the central organizing principle. These elements work together to foster responsibility rather than compliance, create spaces for authentic dialogue, and develop sustainable practices for racial justice work.

ACPA26 PROGRAM TYPES

 

EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS

Session Type	Session Time	Description
Convention Program	60 minutes	Sessions on a specific topic or theme in which the subject can be addressed in a 60-minute block and a multimodal presentation format. Session formats may include, but are not limited to, lectures, panels, slide presentations, or other creative approaches.
Roundtable Discussion	60 minutes	Sessions designed to explore a specific topic or theme in depth through small group interaction and discussion. Presenters are encouraged to provide engaging discussion topics and prompt questions to stimulate meaningful table conversations.
Creative Expression: Anchored in Art		An innovative showcase of diverse artistic expressions of professional identity by ACPA members. Exhibits include, but are not limited
Pre-Convention Workshops	4 or 8 hours	In-depth exploration of current and emerging topics that transform higher education. Four-hour sessions are scheduled on Sunday, 29 March (1:00-5:00pm) or Monday, 30 March (8:30am-12:30pm). Presenters may also combine two sessions to create a full-day, 8-hour session.

SCHOLARSHIP SESSIONS

Session Type	Session Time	Overview
Research Paper and Research-In-Process	20 minutes of a 60 minute session	Research and Research-in-Process sessions are similar in that they are both formatted as a research paper. The same components are required for the proposal, but these vary in terms of detail based on the stage the research is in. Research Papers need to be completed four weeks prior to the Convention (2 March 2026). Research-in-Process papers can be at various stages of readiness, but data needs to be collected and analyses must be started at least four weeks prior to the Convention (2 March 2026). Both Research Papers and Research-in Process sessions are 20 minutes long and will be paired with one additional presentation. Research Paper sessions will have a discussant and Research-in-Process sessions will have a scholar-mentor. See the Scholarship Sessions portion of the website for more details regarding the proposal guidelines and differences in these two program sessions.
Methods Workshop	60 minutes	These sessions allow members to present a project that uses compelling research methods and teaches others how to apply this method to their own work. Presentations in this format should be considered continuing professional development allowing members to build self-efficacy and capacity around creating scholarship and assessment tools to bring back to their campuses.
Research & Practice Poster		An opportunity for continued synchronous/ asynchronous engagement with scholarship throughout the course of the Convention. Posters are placed on display during scheduled times of ACPA26 Convention with presentation times facilitated by the authors.

Important Dates

Event	Deadline
Call for Educational Programs open	4 June 2025
Pre-Convention Workshop Proposal deadline	11 July 2025
Deadline to sign up to serve as a proposal Reviewer	29 August 2025
All Other Sessions Proposal deadline	5 September 2025
Program review begins	10 September 2025
Proposal review completed by Reviewers	26 September 2025
Proposal decision notifications	24 October 2025
Accepted sessions/presenters commit to present	7 November 2025
Registration deadline for all presenters	12 December 2025

Proposal Resources

The ACPA24 Program team is developing resources to assist as you prepare your educational session submission. These resources include a program proposal worksheet – a form one can build out a program proposal before entering it into the portal, the rubrics used to review program submissions, a how-to submit a proposal presentation, and sample proposals you can review while developing your proposal.

• Educational Session Proposal Worksheet
  The Program Team recommends utilizing this worksheet to prepare your proposal before starting the official proposal form. The online form will time out which could result in losing unsaved work.

• Scholarship Session Proposal Worksheet (Coming Soon)

• Education Session Reviewer Rubric

• Scholarship Program Reviewer Rubric

• ACPA’s Equity and Inclusion Statement

• ACPA’s Values

• ACPA’s Strategic Imperative for Racial Justice and Decolonization

• Principles of Universal Design

• ACPA/NASPA Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators

• Proposal Samples, Successful & Unsuccessful (Coming Soon)

Submission Information

The due date to submit an Educational or Scholarship proposal is 5 September 2025. The deadline to submit a Pre-Convention workshop is 11 July 2025.

If you have any questions or experience any difficulties with the submission process, please contact the International Office at conventionprograms@acpa.nche.edu.

Presenter Registration Information 

If your program is accepted, you have the ethical and professional obligation to register for Convention by 12 December 2025.