Congratulations to everyone who was accepted to present at CAUCE 2019. Please review the presenter information before preparing your presentation and coming to the conference.

• Presenter Information

Continuing Education can be challenging work requiring creative problem solving, nimble teams that respond to industry demand, and strong, diverse partnerships. We want to hear how you are forging ahead as a Continuing Education unit to improve the careers and lives of people in your community and beyond – ultimately creating a brighter future for everyone.

Continuing education leaders, administrative personnel and practitioners from across Canada will gather at McMaster University for three days of networking, idea exchange and social activities.

Keynote speakers, presenters, panelists and conference participants will engage in discussions around emerging trends in continuing education, the power of building strong and diverse partnerships, and engagement within communities to ensure individual and collective opportunity.

We welcome submissions that provide engaging opportunities for learning and knowledge exchange.  Please focus on the “how” not just “what” so that actual experiences and lessons learned can be shared.

Proposals may include individual presentations, panel discussions, and workshops. All sessions should share your responsive and innovative practices related to the conference theme and focus on at least one of the five streams (noted below). Sessions vary in length from 30 minutes to 60 minutes or you may choose a 10 minute ‘enlightening talk’.

When submitting you will be asked to indicate your presentation preference and rationale:

• Individual presentations (30 minutes or 60 minutes)
• ‘Enlightening Talk’ (10 minutes – see details below)
  • 10-minute presentation followed by a 3-minute Q&A
  • One presenter per “talk” (no groups)
  • 20 slides (cover, 19 content slides)
  • Slides will auto-advance every 30 seconds
  • PowerPoint template will be provided and MUST be used for this talk
  • Each concurrent session will consist of four unique talks
• Panel discussions (60 minutes)
• Interactive workshops (60 minutes)

To get your creative juices flowing, we have added some ideas for your consideration to each conference stream described below. Start thinking now about your presentation for this year’s conference in Hamilton, ON (May 29-31, 2019). Indeed, learning from and with each other is what continuing educators do.

 

Leadership and Program Management

Leadership and program management refers to the academic and administrative oversight of continuing education programs. This may include strategic level planning and decision making, team leadership, curriculum development and innovation, intra-university affairs and collaboration, partnerships and alignment with professional associations/industry, instructor engagement, business development, performance management and recruitment as well as the day-to-day administrative work that ensure CE programs are running smoothly.

Possible ideas for consideration:

1. Continuing education is a constantly changing field. At this point in time, what principles and trends are informing continuing education at your institution?
2. As a program manager, what new, different, and/or collaborative models are you exploring or using in your work?
3. Given the diverse backgrounds of instructors in continuing education, what is your process for on-boarding new instructors?
4. What steps has your unit taken to ensure that instructors and other internal and external partners are engaged in the life of the unit?
5. Partnerships come in all forms and formats. Share a partnership that your unit or team is pursuing with another department at your institution or in the larger community. What are its strengths and weaknesses?

 

Online Learning and Instructional Design

The online learning and instructional design stream explores topics related to online experiences, best practices and trends including emerging technologies and developments, learning management systems, software, assessments, applications, alternative delivery methodologies and related processes. Sharing both challenges and successes, this stream is relevant to individuals who occupy leadership, educational, and technical roles within CE units, including Deans, Directors, Associate Deans/Directors, Managers, Instructional Designers, Learning Systems Technologists or other support personnel who work in instructional design and online learning.

Possible ideas for consideration:

1. Is it necessary to be on the cutting edge of learning technology and instructional design? If so, what is your unit doing to achieve this goal? If not, what principles and practices do you or your unit use to inform the design and delivery of online and blended learning courses?
2. Managing the many steps and partners in new course and program development can be daunting. What processes do you recommend for managing new course and program development?
3. There is some literature that suggests that upcoming adult learners value blended learning over fully online learning. What are your opinions on this idea?
4.  What technology developments are you watching with the goal of integrating the best and most effective into your practice?
5. There is some thinking that, while change is the only constant in continuing education, invested partners comprise a constant in the success of all continuing education initiatives. Do these ideas represent truth, fallacy, or something other for you?

 

Indigenous and Decolonizing Programming

Over the past decade, there has been growing recognition among educational scholars of the importance of redefining the role and relevancy of post-secondary institutions in the 21st-century. How institutions relate and respond to a changing social, cultural landscape has not only defined Canadian university mission and vision statements but has also informed strategic priorities. Indigenous achievement has been of primary institutional focus with the aim of fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s mandate  and understanding the barriers faced by Indigenous peoples, particularly in relation to post-secondary education attainment. This has resulted in the recognition that investments towards more inclusive, responsive, and relevant academic programming are critical. The objectives of this stream are: a) to define the meaning and significance of Indigenization and decolonization as it pertains to post-secondary education; b) to identify common challenges and opportunities related to Indigenous programming; and c) to create and/or centralize educational resources.

Possible ideas for consideration:

1. Does your unit have a strategy or framework in place to ensure that barriers faced by Indigenous peoples are addressed in the design of your programs? What about the barriers experienced by students from international backgrounds and new Canadians?
2. How can we best respond to the learning needs of adult learners from discrete cultural backgrounds?
3. Co-creation is a development model of growing importance in adult and professional education. Share the highlights of a continuing education program where program planning and implementation was grounded in a co-creative model.
4. How can adult education programs be appropriately promoted to Indigenous peoples? To international students and new Canadians?
5. What are the continuing education units doing that is both novel and effective in supporting the language and writing development needs of their learners?

 

Marketing and Student Service Administration

This stream is aimed at those interested and involved in attracting and retaining students through new and emerging marketing trends and enrolment practices, as well as enhancing the learner experience through enrolment management and student services. We strive to develop leaders in marketing, communications, and student services through the exploration of theories and trends and sharing of best practices, strategies and tactics that shape enrolment and meet institutional goals. It also explores applications and software in the categories of CRM systems, enrolment systems, student information systems, finance or enterprise systems, data analytics, artificial intelligence, student response systems, and other technologies. The stream will foster leadership development for individuals seeking to enhance and grow their expertise by learning from industry experts and collaborating with colleagues globally. Professionals at all levels can develop their knowledge and skills and stay relevant in the ever-changing continuing education, marketing, and communications environments.

Possible ideas for consideration:

1. How does your unit use student data to boost enrolment? What other kinds of data informs the strategic directions of your unit?
2. Describe an exceptionally successful campaign. In your estimation, what contributed to the campaign’s success? How did you measure your results?
3. How can social media be used to reach current and prospective students?
4. In some provinces, engagement with the community and social accountability are emerging as important metrics. How does your marketing team support the engagement and/or outreach mandate of your unit? of your university
5. When can partnership be a marketing and/or enrolment strategy for a continuing education unit?

 

Research and Scholarship in Continuing Education

This stream will include, but is not limited to, recipients of CAUCE’s research grants.

Possible ideas for consideration

1. Research in the adult education and continuing education sectors tends to be qualitative in nature. Share the highlights of a qualitative study which has made an impact in your unit.
2. Partnership and diverse skills are integral to scholarship in continuing education. Explore this idea through a case study approach.
3. How has research conducted by your department had a positive impact on a specific community of stakeholders?
4. How can research findings in continuing education be meaningfully shared with other departments in your institutions? partnering organizations? community members?
5. University continuing education units are increasingly defined by ‘bottom line thinking’ with little time or place for scholarship. However, when scholarship is diminished, what distinguishes the university continuing education unit from other program providers?

 

• Relevance to a conference theme and stream;
• Relevance and appeal to the intended conference audience and CAUCE constituents;
• Clarity of the proposal (what will you be presenting and how);
• The degree to which presentation is based on responsive and innovative practices;
• Currency and uniqueness of the topic and information;
• The degree to which presentation is engaging and participatory.

All proposals must be submitted online using ProposalSpace.

Please note: We will request that your presentation is made available (PDF) to conference attendees by publishing it on the conference app following your presentation.