2026 Annual Conference Call for Proposals
The 2026 GCC Conference Committee invites members to submit proposals for the in-person annual conference in Sacramento, CA on Monday - Thursday June 22-25, 2026. The theme for this year’s conference is Stay Rooted. You can learn more about our 2026 Annual Conference in Sacramento here.
Our Theme for 2026: "Stay Rooted: Growth, Strength, & Resilience"
Sacramento long featured the saying, “the City of Trees” on its iconic water tower. It has a long legacy of orienteering, navigation, and arborist history. Trees were planted historically to help provide shade, until they grew so numerous that it became the city with the highest number of trees per capita. This included Cottonwood trees for shade, Eucalyptus to dry swamps, and eventually willows, palms, and fruit trees to line the streets. The Arbor Day Foundation designated it as such in 1978, and our conference hotel will be hosting our members across the street from the Capitol, where members and guests can wander the spacious tree-lined walkways and be surrounded by surprises of the many varieties of trees on display, growing strong.
We invite you to join us for an experience centered on the power of staying rooted while reaching for new heights. This dynamic conference celebrates the positive impact of our work with graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and campus stakeholders, highlighting our shared commitment to evolving within academia’s changing landscape.
In the heart of Sacramento, we invite you to honor your foundations while embracing the momentum of change. Just as the majestic oaks provide the foundation for our city’s skyline, this gathering provides a platform to showcase the innovative programs, resources, and collaborations that address the needs of our community.
To acknowledge members’ great work grounded in evidence, we are proud to introduce a new education research designation. This special designation offers presenters the opportunity to opt-in and showcase how their work demonstrates theory-informed work based on rigorous methods and analysis (including discipline-based education research, scholarship of teaching and learning, program evaluation), fostering a deeper dialogue on how research-backed strategies shape our service and impact.
Come for an enriching experience designed to expand your capabilities, elevate your research, and inspire your next steps with a firm sense of purpose.
We invite you to join us for an experience centered on the power of staying rooted while reaching for new heights. This dynamic conference celebrates the positive impact of our work with graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and campus stakeholders, highlighting our shared commitment to evolving within academia’s changing landscape.
In the heart of Sacramento, we invite you to honor your foundations while embracing the momentum of change. Just as the majestic oaks provide the foundation for our city’s skyline, this gathering provides a platform to showcase the innovative programs, resources, and collaborations that address the needs of our community.
To acknowledge members’ great work grounded in evidence, we are proud to introduce a new education research designation. This special designation offers presenters the opportunity to opt-in and showcase how their work demonstrates theory-informed work based on rigorous methods and analysis (including discipline-based education research, scholarship of teaching and learning, program evaluation), fostering a deeper dialogue on how research-backed strategies shape our service and impact.
Come for an enriching experience designed to expand your capabilities, elevate your research, and inspire your next steps with a firm sense of purpose.
We are excited to see proposals that span the diverse spectrum of work performed by GCC members, including proposals that focus on us as practitioners. In particular, we invite proposals that:
- Showcase innovative programming designed to meet the evolving needs of students, trainees, employers, career & professional development professionals (ourselves) and other constituents
- Focus on the creative and expanding use of technologies in our work
Address how reflective and iterative practices help navigate challenges and build resilience
Adapt proactive and forward-thinking strategies to changing practices in both graduate education and the world of work
Demonstrate the use of data and research to design, evaluate, and improve our programs, practices, and policies
Highlight other relevant topics that advance our collective mission and impact
- Demonstrate reliance on educational research design and/or program evaluation best practices in curriculum, program, or service design and delivery (education research designation)
You can propose sessions for the in-person conference in one of four different formats: 50-minute deep dive presentations, 50-minute interactive/how-to sessions, 8-minute lightning talks, or a showcase presentation in the form of a poster, demonstration, or other creative means of displaying your work and ideas.
Themes (select one or more of the following - select as many as apply):
- Seeing the Forest and the Trees (Efficiency)
- Doing more with less
- Looking at the big picture
- Not doing everything we usually do
- Pruning for healthy growth
- Fruits of our Labor (Outcomes)
- Supporting each other
- Encouraging wellness
- Resources and/or best practices for teams of one
- Foundation-building
- Sharing data and results
- Disseminating promising practices
- Branching Out (Growth)
- Building partnerships
- Pursuing our own professional development
- Leaving academia
- Trying new things (including AI)
- Using our networks
- Planting Seeds (Innovation)
- Inspiring content
- Pilot programs
- Brainstorming sessions
- Works-in-progress
The deadline for proposals is March 11, 2025, at 5:00 pm EST.
Session Types and Formats
For this in-person conference, we are excited to receive proposals for 1) deep dives, 2) interactive sessions, 3) lightning talks, and 4) posters/table-top demonstrations for the Presentation Showcase session. We encourage you to consider each of the session types below as you think about which will best facilitate the delivery of your content.
1. Deep dives
Deep dives are 50-min sessions that offer a comprehensive perspective into an initiative(s), program, or resource. They can be delivered individually or by a team of presenters from the same or different institutions. These information-rich sessions give audience members a substantive understanding of the topic. These sessions should be 40 min in length with 10 min for questions. Handouts, virtual handouts, or links to additional sources of relevant information can be shared with participants during these sessions to support the delivered content.
2. Interactive and how-to sessions
Interactive and how-to sessions are 50-min sessions that are an opportunity to share practical initiatives, programs, or tools, or to pose a question/challenge, followed by an interactive or experiential component. They can be delivered individually or by a team of presenters from the same or different institutions. In general terms, these sessions consist of a 15- to 20-min talk and 30- to 35-min experiential discussion and/or activity. These sessions make use of active learning approaches and technology to promote the continuous learning of powerful teaching or professional practices, resources, and tools. Presenters are encouraged to think about which active learning approaches will best support the topics being delivered beyond just pair-share discussions.
3. Lightning talks
Lightning talks are 8-10-minute presentations that are grouped together within a 50-minute session. They offer presenters a wonderful opportunity to share early-stage ideas, updates on programs and initiatives, and research briefs as part of a dynamic, fast-paced, information rich session. Lightning talks also offer new members who do not want to lead a full 50-minute session the opportunity to build confidence in their presentation styles. Presenters selected for Lightning talks will also be given the option to expand on their topic in the Presentation Showcase session if they want to do so.
4. Presentation showcase
The Presentation Showcase provides a dynamic mix of posters, interactives, discussions, and demonstrations. For this session, GCC members can submit ideas for traditional posters, digital displays (e.g., videos, animations, online tools), tabletop displays, or demonstrations that explore specific tools or technologies. Presentation types/displays will need to fit on a poster board or tabletop, but provide a wonderful opportunity for presenters to showcase exciting and innovative ideas, programs, tools, achievements, and successes in their work.
4. *Education research designation (NEW)*
This year a submission any format may select to also be considered for an education-research designation - and all those meeting the criteria will be invited to present a poster in addition to their presentation workshop or talk in other formats (Note: Indicating education research designation poster availability/interest will not impact selection in other categories, but will be offered irrespective.)Proposal Evaluation
We will evaluate proposals and select those strong in:
- Alignment to the theme and one of the target topics.
- The scalability and relevance of the topic to differently sized and resourced institutions
- Clarity of session outcomes
- Evidence of impact and innovation
- Equitable, inclusive, and accessible design and practices. Consider referencing the GCC Resource Guide for Inclusive, Equitable, and Accessible Programming:
- Level of interaction and engagement (applicable to Interactive and How-to Sessions only)
- Integration of educational research and/or program evaluation components* (Opt-In)
*Note: Education research designation (see above)
Evaluation Rubric: Sample GCC 2025 Rubric. (2026 rubric coming soon)
Other Considerations
First-Time Presenters
We welcome first-time presenters, and especially encourage you to consider presenting a lightning talk or as part of the Presentation Showcase as a great way to gain experience presenting in a conference setting. The Member-Generated Sessions Sub-Committee can share a list of presenters from last year with you if you want to network with them to help you learn more about the submission process, creating a session, and what to expect during the session.
We welcome first-time presenters, and especially encourage you to consider presenting a lightning talk or as part of the Presentation Showcase as a great way to gain experience presenting in a conference setting. The Member-Generated Sessions Sub-Committee can share a list of presenters from last year with you if you want to network with them to help you learn more about the submission process, creating a session, and what to expect during the session.
Multiple Proposal Submissions
As the GCC community continues to grow, we often receive more proposals than we can accommodate. As you brainstorm your proposal and/or connect with colleagues to discuss collaborative proposals, please be mindful that spots are limited and consider submitting only one proposal as the primary presenter across session formats #1-3 listed above. You are welcome to submit an additional proposal for the presentation showcase. Our goal with the member-generated sessions is to showcase a breadth of institutions, members, and topics.
Non-GCC Members
Priority will be given to proposals where all presenters are current GCC members. However, if your proposal includes a co-presenter who is not a GCC member, the co-presenter must register as a guest speaker and pay to attend the conference.
If you have questions or concerns about the proposal submission process, please email conference1@gradcareerconsortium.org, conference2@gradcareerconsortium.org.
Submit your conference proposal here