Dear USETDA Community,
The USETDA Board and Conference Organizing Committee have been meeting regularly to discuss plans for the annual conference in light of the worsening coronavirus crisis. Any major changes to the event will be complex and potentially costly, thus we need to proceed carefully and thoughtfully as we determine how best to resolve the situation in a way that will be the most beneficial to our membership.
In an effort to provide a safe meeting environment as well as to preserve the work and funding already put into this year’s conference, we sought new opportunities for outreach and engagement. As a result, this year we are pleased to announce:
- The USETDA 2020 Conference has been changed to a free online Virtual Town Hall Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, 2020.
- The Call for Proposals deadline has been extended through May 9th.
- The USETDA conference (face-to-face meeting) has been postponed until September 2021, to be held in Cleveland, Ohio.
- We have launched the USETDA Forum, a dedicated listserv for the ETD community to facilitate networking and dialogue regarding North American-based ETD program discussion topics.
Details for the USETDA online Town Hall Meeting are still being determined. For the virtual program, we plan to include a keynote presentation as well as panel discussions in which participants can join in the live discussion. We anticipate that the major hot topic this year will be about making the transition to a home office, including user experiences on best approaches to host virtual consultations and to provide online resources for ETD programs, adaptation stories on how campuses have adjusted their processes for business models from physical to remote access, as well as how to provide new capacities to re-envision the future. Additionally, although we cannot include breakout presentations in the virtual program, we encourage the community to submit proposals on traditional ETD topics and best practices, from which, the presentations (slides, papers, posters, videos) will be included in the online meeting proceedings. The Call for Proposals deadline has been extended through May 9th.
Because registration for the Virtual Town Hall Meeting will be free this year, we would like to encourage membership with the USETDA. Additionally, we are also in the process of adapting our sponsorship options for the virtual venue. All contributions will help sustain the USETDA organization well into the future. Details are available online at www.usetda.org/.
Thank you for your understanding during these challenging times. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to the board at info@usetda.org.
Sincerely,
USETDA Board and Conference Organizing Committee