It’s time to start thinking about next year’s conference! We may or may not be virtual – but we’ll be doing something!! Here’s the message with all the details:
AFACCT would like to invite you to invest some time during the summer to develop a proposal for the upcoming 31st Annual AFACCT Conference, January 7 & 8, 2021 at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, MD. We will accept proposal submissions beginning August 15, 2020. The deadline for submitting a proposal is October 30, 2020.
AFACCT is a faculty-run and faculty-organized association of full-time and part-time faculties from the 16 Maryland community colleges. If you teach in a Maryland community college, then you are an AFACCT member. More information about AFACCT can be found on our website to www.afacct.org. If you have any questions about the conference contact your campus AFACCT Representative(s). Your campus representatives’ contact information is located at https://afacct.org/contacts/campus-representatives/.
The AFACCT 2021 Conference theme is “Rejuvenating Yourself, Your College and Your Students.” We really need this right now!!
We understand that our conference in 2021 may need to be held virtually (having the sessions available through a virtual format). We don’t yet know what that will look like, but as you think about your proposal consider options such as a prerecorded, narrated presentation or hosting a break out session electronically in real time. Sign up for our blog so you can get change notifications as soon as they happen (https://afacct.org/communitas-blog/).
Given the current state of affairs in the country at this time, we want to focus the topics at this year’s conference on any topic that can make our lives and the lives of our students less stressful and more productive. Here are some suggested topics to help kick-start your thinking. This list is by no means all-inclusive. We’re ready to think outside the box! Are you?!?
- Novel ideas for classroom projects
- Avoiding burnout
- Using rubrics or other methods to speed grading
- Getting involved in governance and committees
- Alternatives to the traditional semester and how to teach successfully in these new landscapes
- Ways to refresh and rebuild academic community
- Health and wellness
- Peer-coaching/mentoring
- How to encourage self-care in students and ourselves (and other “soft” skills)
- Managing tenure and promotion portfolios without burnout
- The flexible classroom (how to design a course with multiple modalities in mind)
In addition to our usual presentation and poster session options, this year we’d like to encourage some informal groups or social hours so we can learn about our colleagues. Would you be interested in leading an informal group discussion related to:
- Bringing new teachers together with veteran teachers?
- Discipline specific strategies?
- Community college related policies and trends grab bag?
- Or: anything else you can think of that could benefit your colleagues?
Please consider sharing your expertise as well as teaching and learning experiences with your Maryland community college colleagues. At the 2021 AFACCT conference, you are invited to present on any topic your colleagues might have in interest in, as long as it is related to community college teaching. Because AFACCT maintains the conference fee low to cover the costs for food and supplies we are unable to waive the fee for the presenters. In most cases, your college will reimburse you for your participation in the conference.
To submit a proposal, go to the AFACCT website https://afacct.org/conferences/current-conference-2021/conference-proposals/ and fill out the electronic survey proposal form by October 30, 2020 (opens Aug. 19). Select a 60-minute presentation time period (including time for questions and discussion), host an informal gathering, or propose a Poster Display. This latter option is a static display of informative materials, which may include a PowerPoint slideshow or a web page; it is not a lecture or discussion. Poster displays must be staffed on both days of the conference for one session period (60 minutes) each day, so you may hand out materials and answer questions as conference participants visit the display.
Finally, I look forward to hearing from you, and reading your proposals. Your AFACCT representative can provide you with additional information, if needed.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lucinda Stanley
AFACCT Assistant Coordinator
lstanley@worwic.edu