NASPA Strategies Conferences

Successful proposals should include:

• Lengthy description about session content that you will present.
• Relationship of the program to the conference themes outlined on the website.
• Identification of the program format (e.g., lecture, panel, debate) including methods for participant involvement (e.g., discussion, effective practice sharing, case study analysis).
• Evidence of the conceptual foundation for proposal content including ways the program content is grounded in research, relevant experience, a cogent model, or appropriate theory.
• Integration of equity, inclusion, and social justice for identified subpopulations (students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, international students, students with ability differences, undocumented students, etc.) or at a systems level (e.g. colonization, racial oppression and trauma, restrictive statewide policy for trans students' rights, etc.).

There are several different session types at the NASPA Strategies Conferences. Consider submitting a proposal to one or more of the following:

• General interest sessions (60 minutes)
• Roundtable discussion sessions (60 minutes)
• Extended general interest sessions (90 minutes)
• Poster sessions (discussion during the opening reception)
• Pre-conference sessions (3 hours)
• Pre-conference institutes (8 hours)

Looking for tips on writing an effective general NASPA proposal? See sample submissions and formatting tips in our Program Submission Guidelines.

Each proposal will select one theme that most aligns with program content.

Campus or Community Coalitions and Partnerships

• Sessions that address the ways in which diverse stakeholders from within and across the campus and the larger community can work collaboratively to address substance abuse or violence prevention and best serve the needs of campus community members
• Sessions that share models of collaboration, case studies from integrated systems, successful partnerships, and efforts to engage all stakeholders in prevention efforts, including individual and environmental level strategies
• Sessions that identify and evaluate health promotion efforts

Current Trends and Emerging Issues

• Sessions that include or ongoing data and research surrounding substance abuse or campus violence prevention efforts, especially those addressing use patterns and implications for 18-25 year olds
• Sessions that assess the scope of alcohol and other drug misuse on campus
• Sessions that evaluate current alcohol and other drug misuse prevention efforts
• Sessions that explore considerations for health equity on prevention efforts

Evidence-Based and Evidence Informed Practices

• Sessions that demonstrate strategic use of assessment and data to inform and influence policies, programs, systems, infrastructure and other higher order change that helps build a culture in which instances of substance abuse or campus violence are reduced
• Sessions that examine how evidence-based prevention strategies can be modified to fit varying institutions, communities, populations, and resource levels
• Sessions that identify sources and repositories for identifying evidence-based programs and strategies
• Sessions that explore replicable and adaptable evidence-based policies, programs, and practices
• Sessions that identify best practices for campus policies surrounding alcohol and other drugs

Innovative Solutions and Changing Practices

• Sessions that address implemented strategies, programs, and policies which have been successful - or which are innovative, based on a foundational theory, model, or adaptation.
• Sessions that discuss innovative supports for students who choose not to consume substances, including recovery communities

The Strategic Prevention Framework

• Sessions that should address data driven or population level substance abuse prevention efforts in the context of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Strategic Prevention Framework
• Sessions that apply sustainability into all efforts in the spectrum of prevention and health promotion
• Sessions that show an understanding of cultural competency and its importance in evidence-based prevention efforts
• Sessions that evaluate the capacity to implement prevention strategies on campus

Each proposal will select one theme that most aligns with program content.

Access to Services

• Sessions that explore new modalities addressing growing waiting lists and stagnant or reduced provider capacity
• Sessions that discuss administrative successes and barriers to expand student access

• Sessions that discover and compare solutions to promote increased access and awareness of mental health services for students

Cross- Campus Collaboration and Coordination

• Sessions which share models of collaboration, case studies from integrated systems, successful partnerships, and work with student affairs leadership
• Sessions may also address collaboration with local, state, and national organizations to promote mental health on campus
• Sessions that understand the keys to successful cross-campus collaboration in mental health services
• Sessions that explore ways in which mental health intersects with both violence prevention and response and substance misuse on campus to develop and enhance prevention, intervention and response

Cultural and Identity Considerations

• Sessions that identify barriers to mental well-being for campus sub-populations, the strategies to address social justice and identity-related stress, providing inclusive services, and the recruitment, hiring, and retention of diverse staff who provide mental health services
• Sessions that address both the strategic and the practical aspects of these considerations on mental health services and the creation of a mentally healthy campus environment
• Sessions that discuss mental health needs of students within a context of power and privilege

Current Trends and Emerging Issues

• Sessions addressing new or ongoing data and research surrounding college mental health, and what inferences that has for practitioners and administrators in providing services and planning for a mentally healthier campus
• Sessions that discuss issues at a clinical/individual level and a campus/environmental level
• Sessions that examine current trends and issues to better evaluate the scope of student mental health on campus

Successful and Innovative Solutions

• Sessions specifically addressing transitional student populations’ mental health (e.g. first-year students, veteran students, etc.).
• Sessions that engage in conversations about innovative and effective programming to support student mental health
• Sessions discussing implemented strategies, programs, and policies which have been successful - or which are innovative, based on a foundational theory, model, or adaptation

Each proposal will select one theme that most aligns with program content. 

Evidence-based Policy and Practice

• Sessions that identify evidence-based approaches to sexual violence prevention and response
• Sessions that demonstrate strategic use of assessment and data to inform and influence policies, programs, systems, infrastructure, and other higher order change that helps build a culture in which sexual violence is eliminated
• Sessions that review best practices in: implementing sustainable, evidence-based prevention programs; improving campus response to violence and victims; and evaluating the impact of these efforts
• Sessions that describe strategies for developing or revising comprehensive campus sexual misconduct policies, including how they are impacted by the latest federal and state legislative policy changes

Innovative or Promising Approaches to Prevention and Response

• Sessions that highlight strategies, programs, and policies which are innovative and whose grounding in foundational theories, models, or frameworks make them promising in their efficacy
• Sessions that share project implementation and program evaluation associated with these initiatives
• Sessions that discuss innovative/promising approaches to the prevention of and response to sexual violence in higher education, including discussions of lessons learned, assessment and evaluation, and replicability

Disruption of Dominant Sexual Violence Narratives

• Sessions that critically examine and interrupt the problematic dominant narratives of sexual violence (e.g. racism, sexism, heteronormativity, gender identity, ableism), including narratives around those who experience sexual violence; those who perpetrate sexual violence; as well the ways in which those who work to prevent and respond to sexual violence participate in these dominant narratives
• Sessions that reimagine and propose new perspectives, approaches, and strategies to honor all identities in sexual violence work
• Sessions that examine societal and institutional systems and structures that contribute to, are complicit in, or perpetuate violence, and identify practices that foster inclusive efforts to address sexual violence

Expanding Campus and Community Partnerships

• Sessions that address the ways in which diverse stakeholders from within and across the campus and the larger community can work collaboratively to address sexual violence and best serve the needs of campus community members
• Sessions that share models of collaboration, case studies from integrated systems, successful partnerships, and efforts to engage all stakeholders in sexual violence prevention and response
• Sessions that address collaboration with local, state, and national organizations to prevent and respond to campus sexual violence
• Sessions that identify strategies to expand and strengthen relationships between campuses and community service providers, in an effort to augment support for reporting and responding parties and increase communication around and collaboration in prevention and response

Each proposal will select one theme that most aligns with program content.

Navigating Systems and Infrastructure

• Sessions that explore effective strategies for building relationships, collaborations, coalitions, and working within and across disciplines, departments, organizations and communities
• Sessions that discuss ways to expand and synergize environmental factors using a settings approach
• Sessions that build capacity for leadership to inspire and create systemic change

Foundations and Essential References

• Sessions that introduce foundational public health principles, concepts, rubrics, strategies, standards, guidelines, theories, processes and/or skills for effective health promotion practice in higher education
• Sessions that share the evolution of health promotion practice in higher education leading to a clear understanding of current industry standards
• Sessions that discuss core knowledge and examine relevant case studies of quality health promotion practice for the field

Current Research, Innovations, and Emerging Trends

• Sessions that integrate new guidance in the field and implications for practice (e.g., Health Promoting Universities from the Okanagan Charter, Cross-functional CAS standards of practice, Gallup-Healthways Well-being Data)
• Sessions exploring the role of Senior Leadership (AVPs/VPs) in integrating health promotion to build an infrastructure that supports well-being
• Sessions that explore the use of language to explain and delineate the work of health promotion – differentiating between ‘buzz’ words and the language of the field

Using Data to Inform Change

• Sessions that identify roadmaps for successful processes and collaborative practices for data collection and dissemination between and among stakeholders (e.g., housing and residential life, campus planners, enrollment management, equity and inclusion).
• Sessions that explore ways to use various sources of data to inform, inspire and shape a more complete narrative of health and well-being
• Sessions that demonstrate strategic use of assessment and data to influence policies, systems, infrastructure, and other higher order change to reorient higher education to health and well-being