25thEMHigherEdSymposium: Emergency Management Higher Education Symposium EMI Emmitsburg, MD, United States, June 5-7, 2023

Conference website	https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/educonference23.aspx
Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=25themhigheredsympos

The 25th Annual Emergency Management Higher Education Symposium will be hosted on June 5-7, 2023. FEMA’s Higher Education Program, within the National Training and Education Division will host this educational gathering.

Aligned with this year’s theme of "Connecting our Past with our Future: Celebrating Community Impact Through 25 Years of the FEMA Higher Education Symposium” the Symposium’s emphasis on professional learning will:

• Host dialogues and events to explore the research and teaching of emergency management and related disciplines.
• Share relevant and useful knowledge throughout the community to mentor faculty, students, and the wider profession.
• Showcase successful programs and highlight new and effective resources that promote continuous quality improvement.

To submit your presentation abstract, include details pertaining to the presenters, track, and a brief summary of the activity or topic.

• Abstract should be between 500 and 2000 words, i.e. approximately one page.
• Keywords: include up to 5 keywords for your topic.
• Proceedings document: if you would like your research to be included in the proceedings document following the Symposium, you can include a paper (5000-8000 words) with your submission. A full paper is NOT a requirement to submit a proposal.
• Double check for typos before you submit.

NOTE: Presenters may not endorse brand names or specific products in their presentations. Under no circumstances may this platform be used as a place for direct or indirect promotion of a presenter’s product or service. Any presenter who violates this policy jeopardizes their opportunity to present at future Symposiums.

Submissions must fall into one of the following five categories:

TRACK 1: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in Emergency Management

This track is an inquiry of student learning at the post-secondary level which can, in turn, advance the practice of teaching.Submissions for this track should address:

• • Trends, gaps, opportunities and/or challenges in teaching emergency management.
  • Applicable pedagogical/andrological theories and tools.
  • Program and course assessment.
  • Online learning.
  • Creating and maintaining community partnerships in SoTL specific to emergency management and homeland security.

TRACK 2: Bringing Research into Practice

This track refers to integrating research into the practice and teaching of emergency management and homeland security.Submissions for this track should address:

• • Current research integration into emergency management curricula.
  • Applicable research methods to promote the exploration and understanding of relevant emergency management topics.
  • Techniques for teaching research methodology in emergency management and homeland security programs.
  • Models for dissemination and implementation of research into emergency management practice.

TRACK 3: Policy and Administration of Emergency Management Academic Programs

This track refers to successful approaches, practices, and challenges related to policy development and program administration of emergency management and homeland security academic programs.Submissions for this track should address:

• • Administration and policy development and challenges that may come with administering blended programs that integrate emergency management programs with other disciplines such as public health, homeland security, criminology, and public administration.
  • Securing jobs and internships, program sustainability, and student and faculty recruitment.
  • The analysis of emergency management and homeland security program administration and policies that reduce or increase risk to historically disadvantaged populations.

TRACK 4: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA)

This track refers to research and practical efforts that address structural and historical inequities that exacerbate risk.Submissions for this track should address:

• • Successful IDEA-driven initiatives in the research and practice of emergency management.
  • Case studies with lessons learned.
  • Examining the pipeline between academia and the emergency management workforce.
  • Reducing barriers and increasing opportunities for historically disadvantaged communities following a disaster.
  • Examining the intersection of environmental justice and structural inequities.

Track 5: Panels

This track refers to multi-person panel discussions on topics related to any of the above tracks. Panels should not exceed 4 presenters.

Each submission will undergo 2 blind reviews. Please keep your submissions anonymous for the integrity of the blind peer review process. If your paper is not properly anonymized, it will not be accepted.

How to properly blind your submission: 

• Do not put your name anywhere on your submission UNLESS you are submitting a panel. 
• If you are citing yourself, please cite it as, "BLINDED"
• Submit a PDF

Failure to do these 3 things will result in a desk rejection.

In addition to completeness, each submission will be assessed on a 5-point scale by an independent review committee using the following criteria:

• Overall: The final summation and justified score/reasoning by the reviewers.
• Relevance: The proposal must demonstrate alignment with at least one of the Symposium tracks.
• Objectives: The proposal clearly defines the objectives and expected learning outcomes.
• Exchange and Dialogue: The proposal supports information exchange and dialogue related to hazards, disasters, emergency management or related discipline that is useful to higher education faculty, programs, and/or research.
• Evidence-Based or Practice-Based: The proposal must clearly demonstrate an evidence- or practice-based approach. If the presentation involves new research, the proposal must outline how the study informs the existing body of knowledge.
• Clarity and Quality: The proposal must clearly outline the featured topic and main concepts and ideas that will be featured in the presentation. (Please quality control your proposal for spelling, grammar, and organization).
• Innovation/Novelty: The topic should introduce new ideas, methods, and/or approaches that promote new knowledge and have the potential to contribute to the field.
• Focus: The topic should contribute to knowledge on broader issues of evaluation methods, theories, policies, and practices that have value to a wide community in contrast to presenting findings of a specific evaluation.

Submitting persons/teams will be notified of their acceptance, conditional acceptance, or rejection no-later-than the beginning of March 2023.

No compensation or travel expenses are provided for presenters. Participants are responsible for paying their own transportation costs to and from the Symposium. Complimentary on-campus housing is provided with completed online registration.

Deadline for Submissions: January 20, 2023

Notification of Acceptance and feedback: March 1, 2023

Symposium Registration Deadline (international participants): February 20, 2023

Submission of presentation due to the HiEd Team: April 14, 2023

Symposium Registration Deadline: April 24, 2023

Symposium breakout sessions: June 5-7, 2023