Home Tipsheet 11 Program Planning

Tip Sheet #11

Planning an ACRL Annual Conference Program

Overview

The mission of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is to provide leadership for development, promotion, and improvement of academic and research library resources and services to facilitate learning, research, and the scholarly communication process. This mission is accomplished through professional development activities, publications, advisory services, collaborations, and national conferences.

As a primary means of addressing issues of concern and to increase the knowledge of academic librarians, ACRL encourages units of the division to develop high quality programs to present at the ALA Annual Conferences. To assist units in planning quality programs, ACRL has developed procedures and timelines that must be followed, and established criteria for program proposals.

Conference Program Planning Committee

ACRL has a standing committee on conference programming chaired by the Professional Development Coordinating Committee and composed of the vice-chairs of each section (or their representative) and a representative from each committee that is planning a program for an ALA Annual Conference. The committee meets during the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference.

The ACRL Conference Program Planning Committee has responsibility for reviewing conference program proposals to ensure support of the division's strategic directions and priorities, adherence to established procedures and budgets, broad coverage, and limited duplication.

Only programs approved by the ACRL Professional Development Coordinating Committee may be scheduled.

ACRL Sections and committees are not automatically given program space at Annual Conferences, but must justify the need in a program proposal submitted to the ACRL office 11 months prior to the Annual Conference at which the program is to be presented. [For example, the program planners for the 2008 (Anaheim) conference held their first meeting during the 2007 (Seattle) Midwinter Meeting to develop their program proposals.]  These conference program planners are required to submit their program proposals to the ACRL office by May 1 where they will be compiled and prepared for the ACRL Professional Development Coordinating Committee's review and subsequent approval. This includes programs that are not requesting funding, as well as, those that are asking for funds.

At the ALA Annual Conference meeting one year prior to the presentation of the program, the ACRL Professional Development Coordinating Committee reviews the proposals and selects the programs which will be offered. Following the Annual Conference meeting, program planners will be notified of the committee's action.

During the time between the Annual Conference and the Midwinter Meeting, program planners should complete the planning process by contacting speakers to:

• Confirm speakers and other presenters participation
• Clarify audiovisual needs
• Clarify speakers' topics and length of presentations
• Determine program format
• Determine speaker needs for handouts, special handling, etc.
• Complete the ACRL Speaker Information Form

See Tipsheet #12 for more details.

NOTE: ACRL staff completes the ALA online meeting request form for all programs in September. Program chairs/Section chairs do not schedule the program.

Criteria For Program Proposals

In developing a proposal for an annual conference program, the following criteria should be addressed:

Scope: Does the program support ACRL's strategic plan?

Purpose & Format: What is the objective of offering this program (to transmit ideas; to provide training; to stimulate thought and discussion; to lead to action)? If a program is justified, what is the best format? (Speaker? Panel? Discussion Group?)

Importance & Timeliness: Is this topic of interest and does it meet current needs? Does it have appeal to a large number of academic librarians who will be attending the conference?

Location: Does the geographic location suggest the selection of the topic to take advantage of local resources and facilities; for example, the availability of cultural institutions and resources in Chicago?

Logistical Arrangements: What is the expected size of the audience? Are there special room arrangements required other than theater seating? What audiovisual equipment or technology (i.e. video, PowerPoint) is needed?

Responsibility: State what unit is responsible for the program and identify the contact person.

Costs: Clearly identify the costs for the program and potential sources of funding (consult with ACRL Program Coordinator).

Equipment: Identify equipment needs for such items as overhead projector, computer, etc. Special needs should be clearly specified.

Length of Program: The usual length of a program is 1.5 hours. Consider how long the program should run and if special conditions are required, please specify. Please indicate the preferred meeting time on the proposal form.

Budget: Estimates should be made for the following items in the program budget: handouts, speakers' expenses, honoraria, and any special equipment a speaker might require. Costs to be considered for handouts may include such things as: photocopying, mailing to the conference site, etc.

Speaker costs: ALA does not pay expenses or honoraria to librarians living in North America or ALA members who participate in Annual Conference programs. International speakers, as well as non-member, non-librarian speakers, are eligible for complimentary conference registrations.

Honoraria and Expenses
Speakers who are not eligible to receive honoraria and reimbursement for expenses except for the duplication of handouts to be distributed to the program attendees include:

• Librarians who are not ALA/ACRL members and work in an academic library
• Librarians who are ALA/ACRL members and do not work in an academic library
• Librarians who are ALA/ACRL members and do work in an academic library
• Librarian speakers who are not members of ALA/ACRL but are members of other library associations

A librarian is anyone who holds an MLS or equivalent degree, or is working in a professional librarian capacity.

Speakers who are eligible to receive reimbursement for expenses and for duplication costs of handouts to be distributed to attendees and one-day waiver of the registration fee for the day he/she is speaking include:

• Higher education officers (i.e. college and university presidents, vice-presidents, deans, and federal employees)

Speakers who are eligible to receive honoraria, waiver of the conference registration fee, and reimbursement for expenses and duplication costs of handouts to be distributed to attendees include:

• Non-Librarian speakers who are authors, private consultants, independent contractors, teaching faculty, technologists, or specialists in specific disciplines

Speakers honoraria for presentations at an ACRL unit's Annual Conference program are established at a maximum of $1,000 and must be agreed upon in advance by an appropriate ACRL staff member before discussing it with speakers.

Speaker expenses include the following:

• Hotel, single room in a conference hotel for a maximum two nights; no incidentals
• Per diem, maximum $50
• Airfare, coach or lowest discounted rate
• Travel by car: mileage reimbursement at prevailing ALA rate. Total mileage costs not to exceed the lowest airfare from the same destination
• Vicinity travel: travel to and from airports, including parking fees.

Conference program planners should inform speakers who require housing at an ALA conference that:

• Speakers receiving lodging reimbursement are reimbursed by ACRL after Annual Conference. A reimbursement request form and ORIGINAL receipts must be submitted by August 15.
• ALA pays for the room and tax only. The speaker must pay incidentals (movies, telephone, etc.).
• Room service or mini bar service will be deducted from the per diem.

Estimating costs: While actual costs for various services and resources for a conference program will vary from city to city depending on the type of program and type of speakers chosen, there are some industry standards that can be used to recommend a fairly accurate program budget. In planning your program budget, use the following estimated costs:

• Transportation - round trip airfare $450. ALA reimburses at coach fare only. The 2008 standard mileage rate for the use of a car is 58.5¢ a mile, but can not exceed the cost of coach airfare. If special fares are used, reimbursement is the actual cost incurred. Transportation to and from airports, and fees for parking at the airport during the time in attendance at the conference may be reimbursed. An original receipt is required.
• Hotels - $200 per day at an ALA conference hotel.
• Per diem (meals) - $50 per day.
• Photocopying for handouts - $0.08 per page (black and white copies).

ACRL Member Services

ACRL Member Services can assist you in the program planning process as follows:

• All program information should be funneled through the ACRL Program Coordinator. All unit program proposals are submitted to ALA Conference Services by the ACRL Program Coordinator.
• Make meeting time changes
• Hotel arrangements
• Order badges (available on Friday at Annual Conference), provide speaker ribbons, process honorarium and expense checks
• Photocopy handouts (originals must be submitted by May 1)

Audiovisual Equipment

The ALA Conference Services budget covers costs for basic audiovisual equipment such as microphones, laptops, LCD projectors, screens, etc. for requests submitted by March 1. If your program requires more sophisticated equipment, contact the ACRL Program Coordinator who will coordinate your equipment needs with Conference Services.

Cosponsorships

ACRL encourages its units to cosponsor programs with other ACRL or ALA units and outside organizations. ACRL recognizes two types of cosponsorships:

1. cosponsorship in name only (a written request should be sent to the ACRL Program Coordinator as early as possible, but a least 9 months prior to the Annual Conference at which the program is being presented).
2. cosponsorship with shared planning and financial responsibilities (should be treated as a regular conference program with written proposal responding to criteria and guidelines and submitted one year prior to the Annual Conference).

Funding

The ACRL Board of Directors allocates $20,000 from its budget to support Annual Conference programs (excluding cost of audiovisual equipment). The Professional Development Coordinating Committee determines how these funds are allocated among the program proposals. How well your program proposal meets the criteria outlined above will be one of the determining factors in whether it is funded or not.

Outside Funding

Sometimes there may be a need to seek funding beyond that which is allocated through ACRL to support programs. The ACRL Colleagues program, created by the Board in 1992, generates non-dues revenue to allow ACRL to expand programs and services to members and potential donors, and to do more in the area of promoting the profession. The Board believes that it is important to coordinate all requests to potential donors and other outside funders through a centralized program. ACRL members may not make any formal requests for contributions on behalf of the division to potential donors without first clearing the request with the ACRL Executive Director. (For detailed procedures on soliciting funds to support your program, read ACRL Tip Sheet #10).

Program Evaluation

Each section is required to conduct an evaluation of their program and submit a summary report to the ACRL Program Coordinator by July 31. Evaluation reports will be shared with Board and section leadership.

Publicity For Conference Programs

See Tip Sheet #13, Publicizing An Annual Conference Program