The University of Toledo

Abstract Submissions

Abstract submission deadline has been extended through January 27, 2012

Call for Proposals

The Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC) fosters communication between higher education IT professionals across the state. Our annual conference is an opportunity for colleges and universities to share IT strategies that work so ideas can be transferred to other campuses to improve education for students across Ohio and beyond.

The 2012 OHECC conference is organized by the University of Toledo and will take place on UT’s main campus on May 9, 10, and 11.

Submission of Proposals

We invite you to submit a proposal for a topic that you would like to present at our May conference. Proposals will be accepted through January 20, 2012  January 27, 2012.

Deadlines

January 20, 2012  January 27, 2012 Contributed paper, panel session, pre-conference, and workshop proposals due

February 10, 2012  February 29, 2012  Evaluation of proposals and notifications

March 9, 2012  March 20, 2012  Attendance confirmation and paid conference registration due for presenters of all accepted proposals

2012 Conference Theme

The theme of this year's conference is “A Journey Beyond the Cloud.” We at the University of Toledo are looking forward to putting together a forward-thinking agenda to highlight what’s next in the world of higher education technology. Cloud computing has been the hype for the past year or so, but what lies beyond the cloud is what’s really important. The cloud represents the offering of computing services without the need to know the infrastructure required to provide the service, regardless of their internal or external location. This year’s conference is intended to discuss initiatives that support the delivery, management, and use of the cloud (internal or external). The anywhere end-user device connected to the anywhere service – that is what’s beyond the cloud.

We ask that you submit topics geared towards this focus - what new technologies have you incorporated that are successful or what old technologies have you adapted to the cloud concept? How are you adapting to the changing requirements of your students, staff and faculty members? Mobility, virtualization, content-based, unified, collaborative, “I have an app for that,” managing what you cannot find, etc. Obviously topics beyond cloud-computing can also be pertinent to the group and will definitely be considered for presentation.

Please consider the following six tracks:

• Security — In higher education, IT professionals are faced with an increasing number of security challenges: mobile devices, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and cyber threats just to name a few. Incorporating risk management processes as well as responding to security threats and evaluating legal imperatives are at the forefront for those charged with providing technology and infrastructure to meet the needs of the institution.
   
• Leadership/Management — Key challenges for any higher education IT organization are managing effectively in an environment of increasing demands and decreasing resources, leadership and “soft” skills are pivotal to meeting these challenges. This track explores management skills and techniques. It is designed to challenge your thinking, generate or create new concepts for service excellence, and engage you in stimulating dialogue with your peers.
   
• Client Services — As technology becomes increasingly interwoven with all aspects of higher education, support and training resources are being pushed to their limits. The cloud introduces many new types of computing devices, often not even owned by the institutions. Many times the focus is on pushing out the technology without consideration for the impact of these changes. This track will focus on support and training strategies, tools, and new approaches.
   
• Applications Development and System Support — Those responsible for academic and administration systems support are often faced with providing the means as well as the tools and support needed to meet rising expectations. The academic environment is increasingly seeing IT systems as enablers to strategic initiatives. This track will focus on innovative approaches to using technology for system support as well as in teaching and learning.
   
• Academic Technologies — Learn how your peers are using the latest tools and technologies, or how they are adapting old technologies for new uses. In this track you will learn how to leverage technology in new and exciting ways and make that technology fun and useful.
   
• Infrastructure — Are your servers and your network ready to meet the challenges and increased demand of the future? Are you adopting strategies to participate in the cloud? Don’t reinvent the wheel. Find out what your peers are doing.

Session Formats

Standard Presentation Session (1-2 people): 45 minutes
A focused, interactive session is encouraged with clear objectives and learning outcomes for the audience

Standard Presentation Session with Vendor (1-3 people): 75 minutes
Similar to the standard presentation but will include speakers from a college/university and vendor discussing work on which they have collaborated. Note that the college/university must actually submit the proposal and submissions with the vendor listed as the lead presenter will not be accepted.

Panel Session (3 people): 45 minutes
Rather than a series of short, individual presentations, panel sessions should be genuinely interactive among the panelists, and between the panelists and the audience. The panelists can develop different perspectives or discuss various aspects of the topic.

Roundtable Sessions: 90 minutes
Roundtable discussions will be moderated on predetermined topics.

Evaluation of Proposals

Each proposal will be reviewed by a minimum of two OHECC steering committee members who will recommend one of the following options: 1) acceptance 2) revision 3) rejection. The reviewers will provide feedback to rejected proposals.

The reviewers will examine and evaluate proposals in these areas:

• Clear connection between the title of the session and its content (titles should be less than 10 words compelling to attract an interdisciplinary audience, and align with session content)
   
• Significance and relevance of the topic for this conference
   
• Clarity and value of the objectives for the session
   
• Expressed learning outcomes for attendees

Proposal Review Board

The OHECC steering committee reviews all proposal submissions and makes decisions on final selections.
The committee consists of:

The University of Akron
Herbert S Matheny, Director, Enterprise Data Center 

Cleveland State University
William Shepard, Director of Application Development

The University of Cincinnati
Mark Young, Director, Operations, Student and Administrative Systems

Miami University
Ricki Davidge, Manager of Campus Partnerships

Shawnee State University
Dan White, User Support Manager

Wright State University
Mary Clem, Assistant Director, CaTS Client Services

Acceptance of Proposals

The presenters of all accepted proposals are to give confirmation of their attendance and pay for conference registration no later than March 20, 2012. Note that presenters are responsible for their own conference registration fee, travel, and lodging.

We will use the copy in your proposal to create the abstracts that will be used in the conference program booklet. Therefore, it is very important that careful consideration is given to the original submission. We reserve the right to edit copy if space limitations apply.

• Presentation topic and names/schools of presenters
   
• Brief description: less than 100 words
   
• Abstract text: less than 400 words
   
• Content: summarize content of the presentation, including its objectives and learning outcomes for the audience. Provide any relevant resources such as book or article titles and web sites

Presenters are asked to fully participate in the entire conference and attend sessions and events.

Presenters whose registration fee is not received by March 20, 2012 may be deleted from the conference schedule of sessions and program booklet.