UC Conference on Student Success: call for proposals

Ashley Nash

January 30, 2022

schedule 2 min read
University College will be hosting the second annual Conference on Student Success, themed “From Student Access to Success." Call for proposals is now open. Graphic by Kate Hickman, courtesy of University College.

Utah Valley University’s University College will be hosting the second annual Conference on Student Success. The theme for this year’s conference is, “From Student Access to Success.” Students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to submit proposals for this event. 

This year, the UC Conference on Student Success will be held Thursday, Feb. 24 in the Fulton Library and the Clarke Building. Following the theme, the conference will focus on how access to resources and a quality education can be made available to students from all backgrounds. 

Presenters at the conference will take a look at how the “‘sorting system’ of higher education, a system that privileges some identities and histories over others, may foster the same societal inequality it is designed to mitigate by creating barriers to access,” according to the conference website. The keynote speaker for the conference will be Dr. Amanda Kraus, assistant vice president for Campus Life and executive director for Disability Resources at the University of Arizona. 

Kraus and other panelists will “question problematic narratives about students who have historically encountered risk in higher education and offer concrete suggestions for increasing both access and success for all students,” as stated on the website. 

The UC has announced a call for proposals: UVU students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to submit for a chance to present their work at the conference. “We welcome proposals of papers, (personal, research-based, or theoretical), presentations (oral, digital, visual, or creative), and panels on barriers to student success and increasing access to higher education,” said the call description. 

Organizers of the conference are looking for proposals based on the following themes:

  • Low income students 
  • First-generation students 
  • BIPOC students
  • First-year students
  • Students with disabilities 
  • STEM students 
  • Working students 
  • Students with dependents/single parents
  • Students with housing and/or food security
  • Adult learners 

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 7 at midnight. Proposals can be submitted here. 

The conference is free for the public to attend, registration can be completed here.