People, Place, & Partners:
Building and Sustaining Engagement in Critical Times
The proposal deadline has passed.
Presenters will be notified by November 30, 2009.
Registration opens October 26, 2009.
Request for Proposals
As the first decade of the 21st century comes to a close, pressing social and economic challenges have brought renewed attention to the importance of volunteerism and service in civic life. In these critical times, a national call for service is engaging citizens of all ages in creating innovative solutions for recovery. This dialogue brings new focus on the potential of service-learning and civic engagement to address local and global problems and to engage students, faculty, and community partners in civic renewal. Along with the growing needs in our communities, colleges and universities are also facing the challenge of building and sustaining engagement initiatives with limited resources. This conflict between crisis and opportunity raises many questions: As engagement comes of age, what role will people, place, and partners play in creating models for service-learning and civic engagement? How will we maintain quality as demand for service opportunities increases and resources tighten? How will place be understood as students and faculty engage in service-learning in both local and global contexts?
Conference Tracks
Join colleagues at the 2010 Gulf-South Summit March 3-5, 2010 at the University of Georgia as we examine these questions critically and explore how people, place, and partners are building and sustaining engagement in critical times. We invite proposals for presentation in the following three tracks:
- People: The following are some of the potential topics that may be explored: student, faculty, or community partner outcomes; innovative programming; assessment and evaluation strategies; recruiting people; motivating and sustaining participation; roles, rewards and incentives; leadership and student-led programs; integration of social networking and other technology.
- Place: The following are some of the potential topics that may be explored: reconnecting the university with community; exploring local and global connections through international service-learning; understanding contexts for learning and service; models of place-based programs and research; and asset-based community development models.
- Partners: The following are some of the potential topics that may be explored: defining partners; innovative cross-sector partnerships; corporate partners; social entrepreneurship; best practices; establishing community outcomes; evaluation/assessment strategies; sustaining partnerships; listening to partners; reciprocal partnership models; partner case studies.
Presentations will be accepted in the following formats:
Individual Presentation:
The program committee will group accepted presentations according to topic in 75-minute sessions with 3 presentations of 20 minutes each leaving time for questions. Lectures or reading of papers is discouraged as Summit audiences prefer more interactive formats for individual presentations.
Panel Discussion:
75-minute panel discussion will consist of co-panelists assembled by a primary presenter are designed to be dynamic and interactive sessions that provide participants the opportunity to discuss topics and ask questions of panelists.
Interactive Workshop:
75-minute workshops will be facilitated by one or more co-presenters and are designed to be dynamic and interactive sessions that provide participants the opportunity to work to work.
Poster:
Posters are visual display presentations summarize selected topics. Presenters are invited to a formal poster session and opening reception that will be held from 5:00-7:00 PM, Wednesday, March 3, 2010 to discuss their work with Gulf-South Summit participants. Posters will be on continuous display until noon on Friday, March 5, 2010. Poster guidelines are available for download here.
Selection Criteria
When developing a proposal for submission, please consider the following criteria that will be used for selection of successful proposals:
Potential for Engagement of Participants:
Is this a substantive proposal with a well-integrated plan for engaging participants? Is there potential for an interactive session rather than a lecture or paper delivery?
Originality and Innovation:
Does the proposal feature original or innovative research, programming, or applications related to service-learning and civic engagement?
Relevance to practice:
Is there potential for application to practice or modeling of best practices that could be beneficial for conference participants?
Relevance to Summit goals and conference theme:
Does the proposal reflect Summit goals and the conference theme, People, Place and Partners: Building and Sustaining Engagement in Critical Times?
Please address questions to the following individuals:
Michele DeRamo — RFP Chair, 2010 Gulf-South Summit
Director of Service-Learning
Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships
Outreach and International Affairs
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Phone: 540-231-6947
Email: deramo@vt.edu
Shannon Wilder — Conference Chair, 2010 Gulf-South Summit
Director
Office of Service-Learning
University of Georgia
Phone: 706-542-0535
Email: swilder@uga.edu
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