The minutes from the November 2007 Business Meeting (Chicago, IL) can be found here.
Please see below the Call for Proposals for the Communication Centers Section--NCA 2008. If you have questions, please contact the section program planner, Kathie Turner, (katurner@davidson.edu). Please note: All submissions MUST be made electronically through the All Academic online system on the NCA website by Wednesday, February 13, 2008.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
NCA 2008
COMMUNICATION CENTERS
The Communication Centers Section of NCA welcomes submissions
for competitive papers and panel proposals for the 2008 annual convention in
San Diego, CA.
The conference theme is unCONVENTIONal! According to Vice President Betsy W.
Bach, the theme “is designed to promote innovation, creativity, and imagination
in program planning,” and to underscore connections within NCA as well
as outside of it.
Communication Centers are on-campus facilities where students can get individualized
assistance and feedback from trained communication consultants or peer tutors
and/or where faculty can receive assistance and explore teaching options for
communication-oriented curricular planning. Within NCA, the Communication Centers
Section might join with, for example,
the Community College Section to offer a Great Ideas for the Center session;
the Undergraduate/Small College Section to explore the value of a communication
center at a small college; the Public Address Division to assess the value
of oral communication in contemporary society; the Communication Assessment
Division to evaluate assessment measures;
the Communication Apprehension and Competence Division to investigate ways
of easing apprehension and building competence; the Association for Communication
Administrators to examine the administration and evaluation of communication
centers; the International and Intercultural Communication Division to develop
ways of serving diverse student bodies; and
the Instructional Development Division to study instruction in communication
centers. Submissions should clearly indicate how the panel organizer has made
connections across units. Such jointly offered programs could generate useful
exchanges,
heighten the visibility of the section’s work, and multiply our program
slots. They might use innovative formats, such as the round-table set-up with
two concentric circles, featuring the presenters in the inner circle and participants
seated behind being able to move to join that circle to take on a more active
role if desired.
Outside of NCA, the Communication Centers Section could collaborate with the
Conference on College Composition and Communication to examine connections
and distinctions between speaking and writing centers, or with the National
Council of Teachers of English to examine how communication centers can support
basic course requirements in speaking and writing. Such collaborative sessions
would provide valuable information not only for but also about those involved
in communication centers.
The Communication Centers Section also encourages submissions appropriate
for Scholar to Scholar sessions. In particular, the Section welcomes posters,
videos, and slide shows that exhibit such aspects as the facilities, staff,
training, procedures, equipment, and assessment of individual communication
centers, as well as collaborative S2S proposals that compare communication
centers. This year, the S2S program will have designated “wandering
scholars,” who will “engage participants, stimulate discussions,
and provide the personal feedback not possible in traditional panel formats.” All
works featured at the 2008 Scholar to Scholar will be reviewed by the section
before being forwarded to NCA’s S2S organizer. Submit such proposals
to the section as competitive papers, indicating the appropriateness for
the S2S format.
The Communication Centers section has been allocated four slots for papers
or panels for NCA 2008. To further research and interest in our field, reviewers
will evaluate complete papers or panel submissions that meet the following
criteria:
1) Is the submission complete, providing clear information on which the reviewers can assess the paper or proposal?
2) Does the submission make a substantial contribution to communication centers, challenging and extending previous work to push the boundaries of theory, practice, and research?
3) Does the panel submission provide an engaging forum that encourages interactive discussions?
4) Does the submission appropriately reflect the conference theme, unCONVENTIONal!, by promoting innovation, creativity, and imagination in its substance and design?
5) Does the panel submission involve presenters from diverse institutions and/or NCA units for greater exchange of ideas and innovative applications?
Please be sure to indicate in the rationale how the proposal meets these criteria.
Please note the submission policies and practices of NCA:
1. All submissions MUST be made electronically through the All Academic online system on the NCA website by Wednesday, February 13, 2008.
2. Only one paper may be accepted per unit from any person submitting as first author to maximize participation.
3. NCA members should not appear on more than 3 convention programs, either as presenters, chairs, or respondents.
4. Multiple authors for submissions are encouraged.
5. Papers authored solely by students or first-time presenters must be labeled as “student” or “debut” papers.
Competitive papers should include:
1. A title
2. A 250 – 500 word abstract of the paper, indicating how the paper meets the criteria listed above.
3. A minimum of 2 pages plus partial bibliography, and a maximum of 25 pages of text. Complete papers are preferred.
4. No information identifying the author may appear in the paper. Submitters must upload a copy of their paper into the “All Academic” site. To ensure blind review, submitters should remove their names before uploading the document.
5. Papers must be submitted online in either Microsoft Word or PDF. Compressed or Zip files will not be accepted.
6. Submitters should indicate work appropriate for the Scholar to Scholar format.
Panels should include:
1. A title
2. A list of presenters and their affiliations
3. Titles and abstracts for each paper or presentation (for thematic panels)
4. An abstract of no more than 75 words for the convention program
5. A rationale of no more than 250 words that states how the proposed panel will meet the criteria listed above.
6. A list of participants and up to 75 words describing qualifications of each participant to lead the round-table panel (for round-table panels only)
Special note: No A/V equipment will be provided unless the request is included with the program submission.
Note that according to a new NCA policy, presenters must register for the
convention by Wednesday, August 6, 2008, in order to appear in the convention
program.
Section members should also consider submitting to GIFTS (Great Ideas for
Teaching Speech—in any area of communication instruction, at any level),
pre-conferences, seminars, and short courses.
Contact: If you have questions, please contact Kathie Turner, Vice-Chair of
the Communication Centers Section, at katurner@davidson.edu.
Recommendations for Strong Submissions
From a NACC '07panel featuring
Kyle Love, Marlene Preston, Kathie Turner, Beth VonTill, and Esther Yook
First: Read the call carefully and completely!
The proposal should:
• Be well written, with a clear thesis, well developed main points, and
an audience-centered perspective, without grammatical and spelling errors.
• Reflect a well-thought-out plan for this paper or session.
• Include clearly in the proposal all the information relevant to the criteria
(in the abstract as well as any uploaded documents).
•
Be persuasive: not “I did a study” or “this would be a
good session,” but an explanation of why the topic and approach are
of value to the audience.
• Clearly explain what audience members will gain from the session.
• State what additional support the paper or session will provide (e.g.,
handouts, activities, websites).
• Reference research used to substantiate claims. Treat the proposal as
a short paper in which you justify the submission.
• Clearly delineate subtopics covered by various speakers.
• Include several presenters in your panel, and specify how many are presenting.
• Include panelists who reflect geographic diversity, varying sizes and
types of institutions, and seasoned as well as new presenters (and note this
clearly
in the proposal).
•
When names of presenters can’t be included, consider specifying with “Speaker
#1 will discuss . . . . “
• Not contain vague generalities.
•
Demonstrate the “fit” for the section to which you are submitting.
• Incorporate the conference title as appropriate into the title and rationale
of your submission.
*Extra points for opportunities for audience interaction.
*Extra points for innovative presentation style.
Remember to allow sufficient time in your schedule to write and revise your
proposal prior to the deadline!
Thanks to Kyle Love, Columbia College, for compiling this list!