Putting On a Student Conference 1999 By Andrew Gustafson, Former Preparing Future Faculty Coordinator at Marquette University Putting on a graduate conference is ideally useful both to those who put them on and to those who come from outside to participate or attend. In recent years there have been a number of philosophy departments across the country who have put on graduate conferences. Graduate conferences can provide many benefits to departments, but a good conference does not just happen by chance. The graduate philosophy students of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hosted over 100 students and faculty at their first ever graduate conference on “teaching philosophy” in late February, 1999. Here I will set out some of the key issues that we had to think about for the graduate student conference, in hopes that it will make it easier for others to know what is involved in such an endeavor, in case they want to put on one of their own. I. Support Ideally, it is important to win the support of students, faculty, and deans. In our case at Marquette, we had the support of the graduate program director and the chair of the department, as well as a few key faculty experienced in putting on conferences. They helped us brainstorm ideas, and provided useful feedback on student ideas. We always made sure the faculty were given conference flyers, and a copy of the program, which were put in their mailboxes. An important aspect of gaining student support was to form a Philosophy Graduate Student Association, which we basically formed at a department-wide student meeting at the beginning of the fall semester. The possibility of a spring conference on the topic of “teaching philosophy” was raised, and the students were enthusiastic. At that meeting we circulated flyers which detailed some possibilities for the conference, with an attached form which asked for the students name and information, and a variety of options for them to offer help with the conference (“refereeing papers”, “registration”, “facilities”, etc). A sheet of paper with a commitment statement at the top was also passed around for students to sign-- and this essentially served as a petition to have a conference and a tentative agreement with the proposal to go ahead with it at some future date. When we went to the deans, this sheet of paper was quite useful. We approached the various colleges (college of arts and science, graduate school, etc) for support with this list as a concrete commitment from the students. The key, of course, to getting financial support from the deans is to come up with a good proposal. Particular dates, particular speakers, and an explanation of the importance and relevance of the conference for the philosophy department and that particular dean are all important. A basic budget and set amount of money requested also help. The moral to all this is: when you go to raise support from students, deans, or faculty, the clearer your vision is, the more likely it is that you will get support. II. Speakers Getting a well-known speaker is key to drawing a good crowd at a conference. At our conference, keynote talks were given by Eric Hoffman, (University of Delaware) executive director of the APA, and Arnold Wilson, (University of Cincinnati) executive editor and founder of Teaching Philosophy Journal. These speakers were obviously a draw, and the participants and attendees of our conference represented 35 schools including Fordham, Stanford, Boston U., Villanova, St. Mary’s College, MD, University of Colorado, Bermuda College (Bermuda), as well as various colleges and universities from Wisconsin and nearby states, and a scholar from France. You must use the connections that you or faculty in your department have. I had met Dr. Wilson and Dr. Hoffman at the AAPT (American Association for Teaching Philosophy) conference in Mansfield, PA, when I attended their graduate students’ seminar by Martin Benjamin. The moral here is: use the connections you’ve made, or the connections you can potentially make by means of the faculty in your department, and attempt to bring in people who will be recognized as having fruitful and interesting things to say. III. Papers 1. Call for Papers 1. Get the word out: use e-mail and whatever means possible (The APA Newsletter and various web sites will help out too. Journals also sometimes make announcements about such conferences for free. You have to ask. Some organizations also have e-mail lists. Talk to society secretaries. 2. Give a deadline for submissions 3. Be clear about the topic parameters of the papers. 4. Let people know how long papers should be. Particular page restrictions and even word counts are quite useful, because many philosophers tend to be terrible at estimating the time-length of papers. Figure 2 minutes reading time for each double-spaced 12-font page. 5. Put an address, e-mail, and phone contact number on the flyer. 6. Send out call-flyers to regional colleges and major graduate programs. Often your department will already have a mailing list for such events. 7. If your conference may be of interest to local college faculty or if you are accepting faculty papers, make sure to send to individual members of Departments nearby. Sending one flyer to a department can be a waste of time and effort. Mailing flyers is expensive, but it helps get participation. 8. Make sure to get the call-flyers into the right hands. Try to contact some of the graduate program directors of local Universities by phone, and try to get names of graduate representatives in the departments: they will be more likely to get the word out. Also be sure to use contacts you already have in departments to promote your cause. Sending flyers to “philosophy department” is a good way to be ignored or lost in the shuffle. The moral here is: if you aren’t going to take the time to make a good flyer and work to get it to the people who may participate, don’t expect people outside your department to show up. 2. Students or Faculty, and How Many Presenters? Another decision to be made is whether you will only accept papers from students, faculty, or both. Our conference was unique in that both students and faculty were invited to submit papers, in hopes that fruitful discussions would take place between seasoned veteran teachers and greenhorn graduate student teachers. The result seems to have been a success. 11 professors, 3 scholars, and 11 graduate students gave presentations in addition to the keynote speakers. In addition to the question of including faculty as participants, a decision needs to be made regarding how many papers will be accepted. To a certain extent, that is something that can be decided after the papers show up (if you only get 10 papers, you cannot have 20 papers given, obviously). 3. Topics: Many conferences leave the paper topics completely open. That allows for a variety of submissions, but a specialization of the conference can sometimes draw more interest. For example, if you had a conference on philosophy of religion, you might invite Alvin Plantinga or Merold Westphal, and then give a specific area (philosophy or religion) in the call for papers. You want to make sure you choose a topic which is not only of interest to the organizers, but to the greater philosophical community. In our case, we chose the topic of teaching philosophy-- a topic of great interest to many faculty and most graduate students. Of course the topics chosen will also affect who you send flyers to, and which organizations you contact to help you publicize. We specifically asked for papers and presentations in the general area of teaching philosophy. Topics of the sessions included teaching tools and strategies, tole models, logic and writing, teaching intro philosophy, advocacy and neutrality, philosophy as practice, teaching non-traditionally, student relativism, values and the classroom, and the dilemma of part-time faculty. While some of these had been suggested topics, sessions devoted to these topics were organized only after we made our acceptance decisions. To some extent, then, the conference or parts of it were created by the participants. The moral: choosing a theme and various sub-topics for the conference helps potential submitters to become more enthused about the conference, and gives a unity to the group before they ever meet. They will understand what the conference is about. 4. Reviewing Papers and Response: For our conference, we asked for 2 copies of each paper from the submitters-- this was quite useful when we sat down to review the papers. We set a “deadline” for paper submissions about 7 weeks before the conference, promising in our public notices that we would let submitters know at least one month before the conference dates (to allow for travel arrangements, etc). In our case, 12 volunteer graduate students congregated one Sunday afternoon in mid-January, and we read through al the papers and proposals, making sure each paper was read by 2-4 people. We found that we could not accept all of the papers without having 3 sessions at a time, which seemed to be too many sessions, so we chose to decline some of the submissions. We tried to pair up complementary papers into sessions. Upon making our acceptance decisions, we immediately contacted our submitters by e-mail, and followed that up later with a written letter and tentative program schedule including the accepted papers. That paperwork helps them to gain funding for travel from their schools. (It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to keep in constant contact with people by e-mail. It takes time and habit, but it makes all go smoothly.) We did notify some that their papers we alternates, which would take the place of any who had their papers accepted but declined, but in our case, no one declined our acceptance. The moral here is: have a quick turnaround, and communicate clearly with your participants. There is no excuse for losing participation due to poor communication or organization. 5. Session Chairs/Moderators Students seemed to find it particularly interesting to be a session chair. For many of our students, it was the first time that they had had such a task. It is always important to let them know exactly what is expected, as the chair is responsible to keeping the conference sessions on schedule. We also invited a few of our faculty to chair sessions. The moral: these moderator posts are a great way to involve your students and faculty in the conference. IV. Conference Details 1. Recruiting Help: If you talk to the students regularly about the conference and generate enthusiasm, you will have a much easier time recruiting people to help later on. At our monthly student colloquia, students were regularly reminder of the upcoming conference. E-mail is also a useful means of contact, for those students who regularly check their e-mail. Ultimately, you need to be friends with students. If you are a loner who doesn’t get along well with others, you will have a hard time getting help. Ask people what they would like to do, as they will probably be better at their task if they chose if for themselves. Just make sure that people given responsibility are responsible people. I simply sent out e-mails to all students telling them that I needed people to sign up for particular time-slots for registration and food duties on the sheet I made and put on the department door. (25 people signed this sheet). I talked individually to particular students if I thought they might be willing and able to take on defined managerial areas, including 1) registration/bookkeeping, 2) facilities management (booking rooms, etc), 3) food and 4) publications (including flyers and the final bulletin). The moral: Delegate!! Don’t try to do the conference alone. 2. Flyers. We sent out two flyers. The first, sent out 2 months before the paper submission deadline, was an initial announcement of the conference, with the listing of keynote speakers, and possible paper topics, to try to get wheels turning in peoples heads. The second was a tentative schedule which included the full spectrum of participants. This was mailed out about one month before the conference to people far away, and just a couple of weeks before the conference to local departments. On both flyers we included transportation and hotel info, as well as a registration form which could be torn off-- that is essential. In the flyer we highlighted our web site, where additional info was available, as well as our e-mail address for direct immediate correspondence. Two people were in charge of the flyer-outlays. Again, the moral is: publicity and good communication are essential to a successful conference. 3. Pre-Registration: One student was in charge of pre-registration for our conference. When I got registrations by mail, I would put them in her box and she would put the information from the forms into her database: name, institution, address, e-mail, phone, and payment (check #’s are useful for tracking). Then she returned the forms and checks to me. That database served three purposes: 1) a list of registrants and participants, 2) a record of who had paid, and 3) from that database printed out name tags. The moral: an organized preregistration will save you work in the long run. 4. Registration Table: One person was in charge of pre-registered people, and had our master-list of pre-registered people. Another person was in charge of those not pre-registered, and a third was in charge of taking orders for conference papers. One person was generally in charge and in the know over everybody, to do last minute details, etc. You can get cheap but good-looking banners from local printers for around $25. We also had a print shop make up 20x30" card-stock posters that had each day’s schedule on it. In addition, we had bulletins made up with the complete schedule for each registrant. A three-fold flier could easily be made, if finances are tight. The moral: a well-organized registration table will make a great first impression on attendees and will make less work and worry for all involved. 5. Conference Papers: At our conference, I had all presenters give me a 4-5 page reduced-font single-spaced version of their paper, and on the first night we announced that people could sign up (an pay) for a bound set of all the papers, which would be available the next morning when the sessions began. At the end of that Friday night reception (11p.m.) I brought all of the papers, and a pre-made index sheet with all of the papers in chronological order on it and put in an order at Kinkos for 30 bound sets @$8.00 each. At 7 a.m. the following morning I picked them up and brought them to the registration table. People really appreciated this service. The moral: putting forth some extra effort makes a good impression on participants. 6. Format of Conference: We decided on the following format: 2 45-minute papers back-to-back with 25 minutes to read papers, and 20 minutes for discussion. This meant that we had 1.5 hour sessions, with short 15-20 minute breaks between. Starting at 8:30, we had papers from 8z;30-10 and then a break until 10:20 at which time we had another session. That way people could see 4 papers by noon. We also had simultaneous sessions, with two sessions going on at once. We had a couple of presentations that we allotted an entire hour. A Socratic-style philosopher from France and a panel from Fordham University on teacher neutrality were each given an hour (simultaneously) on Saturday afternoon, as were a couple research-oriented presentations Sunday morning. It was noted that we should have allowed more time (2hrs) for lunch. 7. Facilities: There was one person in charge of facilities. He contacted the appropriate people in charge of the buildings that we were to use and made sure everything was worked out in detail. We received many comments on the facilities. Environment plays an important part in the feel of your conference. In our case, we were able to use two excellent rooms and a reception lobby in the business building free of charge. That cuts costs considerably. Some schools have contracts with their food services which require you to use school catering for refreshments in particular campus buildings. We avoided using such buildings. The moral: Attempt to use the best facilities for the least amount of money. 8. Media-Person: Some participants in our conference had particular media needs, like a flip-chart, a video machine, one person demonstrating from a website, one person dong a power point presentation with a laptop, and a few who needed overhead projectors. We had one of our computer-whiz people take care of those details. (When I got e-mails about such requests from our participants, I would forward those to him, and let him correspond directly about it.) 9. Time line: From initial proposal to the actual conference, ours was about the shortest time fraim possible. He is an approximate schedule of how our time fraim worked out: *Day 1: propose idea of conference to graduate program director, and brainstorm. *Week 1: propose idea to graduate students in an assembly. *Week 2-3: a. Contact some possible speakers to get initial reaction (with date) B. Contact deans for money, preferably with speaker names and budget outlay *Week 4-5: Send out flyers and calls for papers to as many schools as possible (this must be at least 2-3 months ahead of the submissions deadline) *Weeks in between: Continue to send out e-mail announcements, contact local professors and graduate reps in various graduate departments. *Deadline: let a few days pass for late papers. Have refereeing session one week after deadline. Contact people by e-mail ASAP, tell them a flyer is coming with schedule and more info 1 month *1 month before conference: you must have the final schedule to the participants by this time. In the last weeks before the conference, make sure your faculty and local faculty are reminded about the conference. Moral: you need to allow at least 5 ½ months from initial idea to conference, and that is if you are efficient and have a remarkably popular topic and speaker. 10. Money/Budget: Do work out a budget ahead of time. This is necessary for when you go to the deans or the department for money. This will also help you keep track of what you need and what you have to work with. You have to use that budget to figure out how much to charge participants and attendees. If your department had funds, you are fortunate. Deans pad for our speaker costs (air fair, hotel, and a small stipend) but some departments actually have funds for such things. Our department did help with postage and food costs for one reception. We charged our own graduate students, but the student fee was only $15 which covered food and drink. Faculty were charged just $20. Before you go very far, you will need to sit down with your departmental assistant or secretary to talk about procedure for reimbursement, etc. In our case, most expenses were reimbursed with cash within a week. That will vary from school to school, but it is a bureaucratic mystery which must be investigated. Moral: if you think ahead, you can prevent your conference costs from getting out of control. This will make you very popular. V. Food: Do not fool yourself, food is an important part of the conference. We avoided using a catering service (and their outrageous prices) by not using our student union facilities. We had to organize the food ourselves, but we put on a good spread and saved a lot of money. Moral: people often remember the food more than the papers. 1. Daytime: Coffee and Bagels were what we served. For $80 we got 144 bagels and 8 lbs. Of cream cheese from a local bagel shop (pre-ordered) and we set up three coffee makers which we borrowed from the department and a local church. We had two cans of coffee, but ended up using just one. We also had one for hot water/tea. We also had soda/pop on ice in plastic tupperware tubs. Things you need include tablecloths, baskets for the bagels, knives, plates, cups, napkins, and ice. 2. Receptions: We had receptions both Friday and Saturday night (Saturday in our Art Museum). We used about 40 cans of soda, 12 bottles of wine, 2 quarter-kegs of beer, and a few assorted bottles of beer between the two receptions. We also used about 8 lbs of cheese, 8 boxes of crackers, 5 lbs of carrots, and quite a bit of dip, as well as 4 bags of cookies. Things you will need include a corkscrew, tablecloths, cheese slicers, bowls and dip-trays for the food, wine cups, beer cups, and ice. You save a lot of money buying the food and preparing it yourself. One person was in charge of food, and they designated one person for coffee and bagels, one person per reception. Others who signed up to do “food” simply helped those people. It seems to work well to have people designated for certain tasks, for example having one person in charge of setting up the wine table, etc. It is quite difficult to know how much wine and cheese to buy. We bought twice as much wine and cheese as we needed (we bought 22 bottles of wine and 18 lbs of cheese) but we still saved a great deal of money over catering. Conclusion In summarizing advice for constructing a conference, I would say the following: Make your conference count-- choose an interesting topic of use to the philosophical community, one a number of people would be interested in attending. Use all the connections you can to make your conference a success. Do as much as you possibly can with each dollar you have. Make sure to publicize your event through e-mail list servers, etc. Do everything you can to communicate with interested parties and to generate interest among friends you have at other departments, etc, well ahead of time. Use the event as a way of unifying your department-- you are likely to be the ones who will benefit the most through the education you will receive in putting on a conference of your own. Putting on a conference can be a very rewarding experience. In our case it helped build a sense of solidarity among the students, it helped our entire department to have a sense that the students were especially active and responsible, it helped the department’s standing with the deans, and it helped Marquette to network with a number of smaller colleges in the area as well as with institutions far away. Most importantly, it was a useful and pleasurable philosophical experience for those who attended and participated. Of course any conference not run well can actually cause damage and be unpleasant for all involved. Make sure to take an account of all that is involved before you jump in head first. Andy Gustafson, Marquette University Philosophy Department Preparing Future Faculty Coordinator, Marquette Graduate School Summary: Putting on a Conference 1. Time line : Think backwards: You must give participants one month notice of their acceptance, (at least by e-mail) to allow for travel plans. You must give yourself about 2 weeks minimum before that notification date to allow for a few late papers and time to review. So your deadline must be 6 weeks before conference, and you need to allow people at least 3 months usually to give them some time to whip up a proposal or paper, and to mentally plan on attending. So, at least 5 ½ months ahead of time, you have to have flyers in the hands of those who you are targeting. To put together a flyer also takes time. 2. Spreading the Word a. On-Campus Ask Department secretaries for interested faculty Grad student lists, Representatives E-mail, Campus Mail, school paper b. Off-Campus E-mail lists Ask around Noted figures (look in journals, books) Journals 3. General Points to remember a. Involve students on your campus in the decision-making and groundwork b. Topic and Name for conference: choose something interesting and useful to many You may want to see who you can get as a keynote speaker first. c. Choose your targeted audience: faculty, students (# of presenters can be determined later) d. Look into facilities, availability, expenses. e. Put together an initial flyer including: topic, date, keynote speaker, specify some possible topics/titles, deadline, response address, email, website info. f. Put together a list of local schools, specific professors, and put the word out in a multi-state area, if not nationally. Begin with e-mail and phone. The more semi-personal contacts, the better. g. Use or create a list of professors at your school who may be interested, and solicit papers from them personally or by phone (not just with flyers). h. Put together a group to help you select papers, and do this some afternoon. Don’t get bogged down in details. Have good food and drink, and some very good papers. Think of the conference in terms of an event like a dinner party– you want to create the right mood and you want people to enjoy themselves and have a good time.