2012 ACUHO-I<br>Living-Learning<br>Programs Conference

Registration opens for the 2012 ACUHO-I Living-Learning Programs Conference on May 9, 2012. Register today and be a part of this valuable professional development opportunity to discover the latest information and resources related to making sure student learning extends beyond the classroom.

ACUHO-I Living-Learning Programs Conference
October 11-13, 2012
Albuquerque, New Mexico

The ACUHO-I Living-Learning Programs Conference offers new ideas, new contacts, and renewed energy used to create and foster the student affairs-academic affairs partnership, which when melded can transform our residential environments to engage the students who live and learn in our communities. Watch this video that shows why people return year after year for this professional development opportunity.

Call for Programs - NEW EXTENDED DEADLINE

The call for programs is now open through May 21, 2012. You are invited to to share your innovations and continue your collaborations by submitting a program proposal for this year's conference. ACUHO-I prides itself on the willingness of its talented members to exchange ideas and share knowledge with fellow professionals. We hope you consider contributing your time and energy by presenting your innovations, experiences, best practices, programs, successes, and/or challenges as you work with living-learning programs on your campus. Also, consider partnering with, or recommending, senior housing officers, faculty members and/or other housing, student affairs and academic affairs colleagues to present programs. With your help, we hope to ensure a meaningful conference experience for all participants.

Any questions can be directed to Kim Garrison (765-285-5042) or Cliff Haynes (352.392.2171), co-chairs of the conference program committee.

Based on feedback from our membership we are looking for the following topical areas to be addressed in our programming efforts this year:

Academic Initiatives: While living-learning programs are often a primary focus, institutions also provide academic support to residents in other residence halls as well. Potential topics include:

Academic advising in the residence halls
Tutoring and other academic support programming
Developing academic based policies and community standards (i.e., study hours, quiet hours)

Assessment, Accountability, and Marketing: In times of increasing accountability for resources, it is all the more important for institutions to be able to demonstrate the impact of living-learning programs and share those results with key stakeholders like academic partners, institutional offices, and parents. Additionally, students must be able to access information and know how to participate in the programs and find processes and environments supportive of their goals. Potential topics include:

Developing and measuring learning outcomes and/or curricula
Using qualitative and quantitative methods and tools
Benchmarking
Ways of sharing results with various stakeholders
Marketing strategies (digital and print publications, social media, etc.)
Budget management and justification processes

Exemplary Programs and Practices: Many living-learning programs have stood the test of time and have a rich history from which to draw. This topic area provides opportunity to tell the stories of established communities and programs, identifying the best practices that have sustained them as well as the growing pains and challenges encountered that may have threatened them along the way. Potential topics include:

Descriptions of partnerships, programming, connected classes, and funding for a specific program
Methods to reinvigorate existing programs
Developing programming models to meet learning outcomes and goals
Connecting classes/curricula to Living-Learning Programs

Foundations of Effective Partnerships: Living-learning programs inherently require partnerships reaching across campus. Many opportunities and challenges emerge during the process of establishing, cultivating, and maintaining relationships between campus housing, student affairs, academic affairs and other entities on- and off-campus. Potential topics include:

Outreach to units outside of housing or within housing
Characteristics of effective partnerships between academic and student affairs
How to be an effective partner or participant
Collaborations with community agencies or corporations
Maintaining collaboration when the original partner leaves

Staffing and Development: As living-learning programs have grown and developed to serve more specialized populations and purposes, so has the need to adapt and evolve staffing models and training for paraprofessional and professional staff. Potential topics include:

Unique opportunities and challenges of LLP specialist positions
Shared responsibilities in ensuring the success of LLPs
Getting “buy-in” from the live-in staff
Techniques for training LLP student staff

Special Populations: Living-learning programs are often crafted to serve populations of students identified as having particular needs and wants related to success in higher education. Potential topics include programs working with:

Academic majors (STEM, pre-health, business, etc.)
Classifications (first-time freshmen, sophomores, upperclassmen, graduate students)
First Generation College (FGC) students Honors Undecided/exploratory students
Students from underrepresented populations

Submit your program today for consideration.

Guidelines for interest sessions:

Interest Sessions are 75 minutes in length. If you have a program that can not fit into a 75 minute slot you can request back to back interest sessions for a total of 150 minutes.
Presenters must be registered for the 2012 ACUHO-I Living-Learning Programs Conference and must hold membership in ACUHO-I.
Each session is required to have three learning outcomes submitted by the presenter.

ACUHO-I strives to present the most informative conferences possible, and can do so because of the expertise of our members. But a good session does not happen by accident. Please consider the following suggestions for creating the best conference session you can.

Plan ahead and do not wait until the last minute to develop your ideas and submit your proposal. A well-developed proposal is a well-presented program.
Type out your program proposal in advance and then copy and paste it into the on-line submission form. This will allow you to collect your thoughts and work through the details of your program over time. It also allows you to try different wordings and spell-check your work before formally submitting your proposal. Make sure that your learning objectives and abstract do not exceed the specified word limit or they will be cut-off in the program book.
Pick a good title for your program. Try to think of something brief, that is creative but true to your content, and descriptive that will draw a conference attendee’s interest.
Your abstract should truly highlight your program and be an accurate representation of the material you want to present. The abstract is the description of your program that will be printed in the conference program book for attendees.
Consider including variations and adaptations of your program topic that you can include for someone working in a combination of, or all of, these areas. Consider presenting with a partner from another focus area or even another institution. A partnership with these colleagues can make a good program into an outstanding program.
Accurately assess the topical area description for your program. We have included a copy of the topical area descriptions on this page.
Prepare a good outline and description for your program. Consider whether you have enough content to fill a 75-minute interest session. What is your format? Will you utilize lecture, audience participation, audio-visual aids?
Carefully select the audio-visual materials you need. Please do not request materials you do not intend to use.

The conference's program committee continues to work hard to make your presentation experience successful. On behalf of the entire committee, thank you for submitting a program proposal and for your contribution to your professional association.