Call for Reviewers
We Need You!
Volunteer reviewers help to weave the very fabric of the conference. The 2024 NASPA Annual Conference will include content-rich sessions presented by talented colleagues in our field - but in order to make this happen, we need YOU! Each program proposal will be reviewed multiple times by professionals in the field prior to the Conference Leadership Committee's review in October. This rigorous process is part of our promise to provide exceptional professional development that is reflective of the needs and knowledge of the field. Reviewers make all of this possible!
How to become a reviewer
Follow these steps to become a reviewer:
- Log in with your NASPA account credentials
- Complete or update your NASPA Reviewer Profile
- Select the types of programs you want to review for #NASPA24
Complete these steps by September 7 in order to review programs for the 2024 NASPA Annual Conference.
NASPA Reviewer Profile
Your reviewer profile should reflect your overall areas of expertise. Complete your profile by selecting the content areas, professional competency areas, target groups, institutional types, guiding principles, and certification domains that best match your experience and expertise.
You may update your selections at any time by going to My Account - My Submissions - Complete - Reviewer Signup and Profile Management - Edit.
2024 NASPA Annual Conference Reviewer Sign-Up Form
After you complete your profile, you will be directed to a page where you can sign up to review programs for the 2024 NASPA Annual Conference. You will be asked to select the program type(s) and Conference Focus Areas that you would like to be assigned to review.
This form may only be completed once and may not be edited after submission.
To request assistance or report an issue with the reviewer sign-up process, please contact NASPA at [email protected].
Program Review Timeline
Assignments will be ready for review the week of September 11. You will receive an email with instructions for accessing the reviewer portal, where you will find the programs that have been assigned to you. Reviews will be due on September 25.
The Conference Leadership Committee will meet in early October to select programs, so please note that there will be no opportunities to extend the review period beyond the September 25 deadline.
Each reviewer will be assigned 5-10 proposals to review. We recommend blocking time on your calendar between September 11-25 to focus on your program reviews, and allow enough time to read each proposal in full and provide thoughtful feedback to the submitter. Reviewer comments will be shared anonymously with submitters for their consideration.
Tips for Program Reviewers
Reviewers for the 2023 NASPA Annual Conference will receive their assignments no later than September 8. As you prepare, Faculty Assembly Members provide six tips to think about when reviewing conference proposals.
#1: Start with the positive! Emphasize the proposal’s contributions.
- Try: This is a timely topic and the author made a compelling case for why this study is needed.
- Avoid: Here’s what’s wrong with this proposal: Everything.
#2: Evaluate what they did, not what you would do.
- Try: I’m not as familiar with this methodology, but the author(s) explained it well and it seems appropriate for their purpose.
- Avoid: This study examines the experiences of women studying abroad, but I think it would have been more interesting to talk to the study abroad advisors.
#3: Avoid harsh language—if you wouldn’t say it to a colleague face-to-face, don’t write it either.
- Try: I like where this is going and would suggest that the author(s) add more explanation about their methods and consider including more specific implications for practice since the results are so compelling.
- Avoid: This has absolutely no value or contribution whatsoever. The end.
#4: Be constructive — if there’s an area for improvement within the proposal, try to suggest how the author can address it.
- Try: I wasn’t sure how the “satisfaction” section of the literature review was connected to the study, so you might consider removing that part or include a few more sentences to provide that connection.
- Avoid: I didn’t really enjoy the literature review. It was not my favorite.
#5: Even though NASPA Annual Conferences usually have focus areas, do not disqualify a proposal simply based on whether it reflects the theme.
- Try: Although you did not draw a parallel to one of the stated focus areas, I appreciated how you showed the relevance of this topic to the field.
- Avoid: This presentation does not connect to any of the themes stated.
#6: Do not disqualify a proposal based on its methodology, especially based on your conventional understanding of its purpose.
- Try: Based on the aims of your research method, this information seems valid. Have you considered ways to broaden or support these findings further with additional resources or other research?
- Avoid: How are the results of a study with five folks representative or generalizable?