Session Submission Guidelines

Deadline November 15

Thank you for your interest in submitting a Session Proposal. The Program Committee prefers complete proposals, so please be prepared to submit complete paper or topic titles, affiliations, and email addresses for your session participants including co-authors of research papers, and more complete contact information for yourself.

Your progress as you complete this form cannot be saved. As you organize your session proposal, we encourage you to
A) collect this information elsewhere, and then
B) copy and paste that information into this submission form when you are ready to submit all required information.

* * * For help with collecting this information prior to inputting it, you can see session proposal form example here. * * *

LERA seeks to provide a professional environment that is diverse and inclusive of all perspectives. To that end, we are asking that you include race and gender for your session participants, and comment more broadly on if/how your session will increase diversity on the program. LERA will use this information to gauge our progress in creating a more inclusive program.

If you are new to the process of organizing a session proposal and have questions, please send an email to LERAoffice@illinois.edu and we will connect you with someone on the program committee who can assist you.

Also for newcomers, please note that LERA has a policy of "everyone who speaks on the program pays for their own meeting registration." This applies to Chairs/Moderators, Presenters (of research papers), Panelists (who discuss topics about which they are expert), Discussants (who provide background and critique), etc., and this long-standing tradition keeps as many perspectives represented as possible to fulfill our mission as the 'big tent' where all perspectives (labor, management, neutral, government/policy, and academic) meet and interact. Some session organizers will find a sponsor to cover registration for all their session participants if they find that prudent.

1. Various session formats are welcomed by the program committee.
   • All sessions should allow at least 15 minutes for audience discussion and Q&A.
   • If you feel the form doesn't fit your format, please describe how you wish the session to run in the "remarks for the program committee" field.
   • See session format examples here.


2. Include a succinct session description of the purpose, content, and expected audience outcomes of the session you are proposing (100 words maximum).
   • If accepted, this session description will appear in the program ... so write this for the attendees, not the program committee.
   • Clear and engaging descriptions are important for attendees to understand what to expect, and rich takeaways are important for marketing the annual meeting to new audiences.
   • See session description examples here.


3. Provide session participant information (names, affiliations, and email addresses). For session participants, the program committee suggests:
   • For a research-centered session, up to 5 participants:
     • 1 chair, 3 - 4 presenters, and 0 - 2 discussants
     • For paper presenters, include respective research paper titles and abstracts. If a paper has co-authors, list in 'author order', and tag which one will present the paper.
   • For a policy- or practice-centered session, up to 5 participants:
     • 1 moderator, 3 - 4 panelists, and 0 - 2 discussants
     • For panelists, include topic titles and respective abstracts.
   • See session participant role examples here.


4. If you have other information to submit that will not fit neatly into this form, please include it in the "Remarks for the Program Committee" field.


5. A copy of your proposal will be emailed to you after you submit this form. You may wish to print or electronically keep this email as your record of submission. Please ensure you hit submit at the end of the form. If you don't receive an email confirmation, please check your junk/spam filters, and then contact us at LERAoffice@illinois.edu.

STOP! Do you have complete information (paper/topic titles, paper abstracts or topic descriptions, contact information for all participants and research paper co-authors, etc.) before you begin? You will not be able to save this form and come back to it.

Click HERE to clear this form

Organizer/Primary Contact Information

Session Details

Session Title

Session Overview and Contributions

In the "Session Description" box, enter a succinct description of the purpose, content, and expected audience outcomes of the session you are proposing. What will be discussed, and what will the audience take away from the session? Write this for the annual meeting attendees, not the program committee. If accepted, this description will appear on the annual meeting agenda. Clear and engaging descriptions are important for attendees to understand what to expect, and rich takeaways are important for marketing the annual meeting to new audiences. Please review these session description examples prior to finalizing your session description.

If there is additional information you would like to share with the program committee, please enter it here (optional). If this proposal is from a particular community council, local chapter, or other organization, please indicate that here.

Session Format

Please let us know what format best describes the session you are proposing to the Program Committee. All formats include audience Q&A in the last 15 minutes. For more details, see session format examples here.

Session Content Areas

Please indicate the primary focus of your session:*

Session Participants

Please name the people who will participate in your session, including the chair/moderator, topic panelists, research paper presenters and any related co-authors to list, and/or discussant(s). Please list research paper co-authors in appropriate author order. Please include affiliation and email address for each participant and co-author named. Chairs/moderators, research paper presenters, topic panelists, and discussants may only participate in one role per program session. For more details, see session participant role examples here.

Chair/Moderator Details

Please name the chair/moderator of the session here.

Co-Chair/Co-Moderator Details - if any (most sessions will not have a co-chair/co-moderator)

If you have a co-chair/co-moderator to name (unusual - most sessions will have one chair/moderator), click the button below.

Research Papers/Presenters and/or Topics/Panelists

Please fill in information about each research paper and/or speaking topic below.

• A paper may have multiple co-authors to list in addition to the presenter of the paper.
• A topic will have one panelist associated.
• Research Paper with multiple authors? If yes, please list all authors, in author order, so that we may reproduce this accurately in the program.
• A radio button is provided to indicate to the committee which author is presenting the research paper in the session. Only one will be considered as participating/speaking in the session.
• Naming all participants and indicating who will present research papers helps us reduce appearance conflicts when scheduling the program.

Almost done!

Thanks for your efforts so far! You will have completed the submission process once you click the 'submit' button below.

When you submit this form, a copy will be emailed to you (the organizer of the session), the chair/moderator, and LERA.