Presenter Proposal Form

OPID | 2026 Spring Conference for Wisconsin Educators

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The Universities of Wisconsin’s Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID) welcomes your proposals for the 2026 Spring Conference : The Joys of Teaching & Learning – Reclaiming Hope. We invite you to join us in reflecting on your scholarly practice of teaching and learning.

 

Please submit a proposal that shares emergent, evolving, or sustained teaching & learning practices in areas such as, but not limited to:

 

  • Cultivating pedagogies of hope, care, and kindness
  • Strengthening strategies of relationships, resilience, and reflection
  • Bringing student voices to the table
  • Building community in courses – face-to-face/online/hybrid
  • Practicing Universal Design for Learning to meet all students where they are
  • Questioning assumptions about learners
  • Considering students in advising and mentoring
  • Supporting students’ academic success
  • Expanding assessment approaches
  • Sharing teaching resources, including Open Educational Resources (OER)
  • Implementing trauma-informed pedagogy
  • Innovating with digital pedagogies
  • Exploring the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
  • Detailing high-impact experiential teaching and learning practices (HIPs) such as: First-year seminars and experiences, common intellectual experiences, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate research, diversity/global learning, ePortfolios, service- and community-based learning, internships, capstone courses, and more.
  • Addressing mental health and wellness for students and instructors
  • Discussion Project implementation
  • Building awareness of mindfulness and burnout
  • Integrating sustainability into our teaching & learning
  • Leveraging technology use for equitable instruction
  • Providing professional development for educators

Proposals are welcome in the following formats.

Available formats:

  • Workshop – 10-minute presentation followed by hands-on work – 60-90 minutes
  • Panel presentations – 60 minutes
  • Round-table discussions – 10-minute framing followed by discussion – 60 minutes
  • Individual presentations– 15-20-minutes – You will be scheduled with presenters with similar topics in a 60-minute session
  • Poster presentations

We welcome:

  • Multi-speaker presentations representing 2-3 universities and/or community partners
  • Multi-media and performative presentations
  • Inclusion of student voices

Proposal review and acceptance:

Proposals will be anonymously reviewed by UW faculty, instructors, and teaching & learning center directors on OPID’s Advisory Council, with invited reviewers from UW’s Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC) and the Office of Online & Professional Learning Resources (OPLR). Criteria for review: alignment with conference theme and aims, opportunities to spur participant engagement and learning, feasibility to accomplish goals given session format, grounding in relevant scholarship.

Notification of proposal acceptance will be provided in early February, 2026.

Accepted presenters are expected to register for the conference.

Criteria for review:

  • alignment with conference theme and aims,
  • opportunities to spur participant engagement and learning,
  • feasibility to accomplish goals given session format,
  • grounding in relevant scholarship as evidenced by appropriate citations.

 

You may be asked to modify your proposal depending on anonymous peer review recommendations, number of proposals received or to ensure a vibrant and robust conference.

Proposals Due Online

Submissions will be accepted for review through Monday, Jan. 5, 11:30 p.m.

Save Your Information

In order to prevent loss of your work:

Prepare your proposal in a Word document to copy & paste into this form.

Abstract length: 150 words; PRINT READY for the conference app and program. 
*Please note the form will truncate entry over the word limit.

Description length: 500 words; for Review Committee only.

If you are interrupted, hit Save & Continue Later! The system will auto log-out after 1 hour of inactivity.

Remember to click Submit to finalize your proposal and receive a confirmation email containing your complete entry. 

Questions?

Contact us regarding your proposal or to brainstorm ideas:

Center for Teaching & Learning Directors

Fay Akindes, Director of Systemwide Professional and Instructional Development, fay.akindes@wisconsin.edu, (608) 263-2684.

For technical support, contact:

Erin McGroarty, Program Associate, Academic Affairs, OPID@lists.wisconsin.edu, (608) 262-8778.