NDLTD Conference Standing Committee Mission and Charge Statement

Mission Statement: The Conference Standing Committee provides strategic guidance for conference planning in order to assure continuity at the ETD Annual Conferences and to best serve the needs of the international NDLTD membership.

Charge Statement: The Conference Standing Committee addresses those issues related to the ETD annual conferences including:

• Developing strategic plans and presenting these recommendations to the Board for discussion to assure that conferences are designed to serve the needs of the membership including, but not limited to, location of host sites and range of programs. The Conference Standing Committee is presumed to be acting in an advisory capacity.
• Facilitating international collaboration to improve the knowledge transfer between past, present and future ETD conference teams and attendees and both experienced and emerging members of the NDLTD.
• Identifying prospective conference sites and making recommendations about these sites to the Board.
• Identifying prospective conference dates and making recommendations about these dates to the Board.
• Providing information and guidance to local conference organizing committees about funding. It should be noted that the NDLTD does not provide funding for annual conferences over and above the funding provided for the Awards program and for the Travel Grant program (for scholarships).
• Any profit resulting from an annual ETD symposium will be shared equally between the NDLTD and the Local Organizing Committee/Host Institution. The Local Organizing Committee/Host Institution may also choose to donate it entirely to the NDLTD. Since the NDLTD relies on membership dues for most of its income any profit coming to it as the result of an annual conference is a significant benefit that enables it to fund more activities to promote ETDs.
• Working with the Membership Committee to coordinate recommendations regarding membership benefits (as related to conference attendance) and models for conference funding from membership dues. If the conference runs into a deficit, the NDLTD will reimburse to the Local Organizing Committee the sum of all discounts given to NDLTD members or the amount of the deficit, whichever amount is less.
• Collecting information and materials for organizing conferences and making them available on the NDLTD wiki so that the information can be revised and added to by various conference organizers on an ongoing basis. This includes, but is not limited to, guidelines, questionnaires, lessons learned, addresses for marketing, program plans and budgets.
• Working with conference hosts to assist with program planning to help assure that membership needs are addressed.
• Providing conference hosts with a source of information for potential attendees and past conference information.
• Ensuring the transfer of conference proceedings to the NDLTD website.
• Encouraging and providing support for regional conferences.

NDLTD Travel Support Guidelines

Travel grants for delegates to attend the ETD annual symposium are an investment in ETDs worldwide. The NDLTD believes it is important that delegates from all nations have an opportunity to attend the annual conference and generally provides funding (amount varies) for scholarships. Final decisions about Travel Scholarship awards are the responsibility of the ETD XXXX Local Conference Organizing Committee. These are some recommended guidelines:

• Scholarships may be provided for: travel, lodging, and/or conference fees.
• To receive travel funding a candidate must be from a developing country and must provide a letter of support from his/her superior noting that the conference is of particular interest to the institution. The applicant must also provide a short (two to three page) report on follow up plans to implement an ETD program at his/her institution.
• The Local Conference Organizing Committee should ensure that travel grants are distributed appropriately to ensure wide representation from a range of developing countries. Information about previous recipients is available from the Chair of the NDLTD Conference Standing Committee.
• Since funding for travel grants is scarce and in order to ensure that as many institutions in developing countries as possible are able to benefit from attending the ETD annual symposium, the Local Conference Organizing Committee should ensure that, except in very special circumstances, the same institution does not receive a travel grant to more than one symposium. Requests for second time funding should be referred to the NDLTD Conference Standing Committee for review and consideration. The same guideline applies to individuals applying for second time funding whether they are at their original institutions or have moved to a new one.
• Information about travel grant recipients (name, institution, country and sponsor) must be sent by the Chair of the Local Conference Organizing Committee to the Chair of the NDLTD Conference Standing Committee after the conference.
• The candidate’s institution must be willing to provide some portion of the travel budget at least equivalent to the domestic portion of the trip.
• Candidates for lodging support need not be from developing countries, but must demonstrate need of financial support. Where lodging support is provided, this will be at whatever level is deemed appropriate by the Local Conference Organizing Committee.
• Conference fee scholarships should be available to any candidates deemed appropriate. These scholarships may be full scholarships or partial scholarships (reduced fees). For planning purposes, the Local Conference Organizing Committee may want to designate how many conference fee scholarships are feasible given a certain level of registration. These scholarships may be helpful in promoting the conference with local institutions which would like to send more than one person but which cannot afford full price for all of them.
• The Local Conference Organizing Committee should establish a process for evaluating and awarding the scholarships which allows for fair review but also provides sufficient time for the recipient to make travel plans. It is recommended that a cut-off date for applications be established so that review and notification can occur on a timely basis.
• At the time recipients of travel grants submit their final expense claims to the Local Conference Organizing Committee they are also required to submit a short (one page) report on how attendance benefited them and what action(s) they will be able to implement at their home institutions. Outstanding expense claims must not be settled until the reports are received. Note that the requirement to submit a report applies to all recipients of travel grants even if their expenses were paid before the conference. Reports must be submitted no later than three months after the conference has taken place and the Local Conference Organizing Committee should indicate a specific deadline on the application. The reports will be made available to sponsoring organizations if requested.

Bid to Host ETD XXXX, the XX International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The NDLTD Conference Standing Committee is now accepting bids to host the XX International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations, ETD XXXX.

Please submit your bid by e-mail to [Name of Current Chair] (address below), NDLTD Conference Standing Committee Chair, by Date XXX. Bids will be reviewed by the NDLTD Conference Standing Committee and a recommendation will be presented to the Board at its next meeting. You will be notified shortly after the meeting as to whether or not your bid was successful.

The following information should be included in your institution’s bid:

Rationale for hosting the conference. Your institution's involvement in ETDs, past, present and future. The inclusion of a suggested conference theme and related sub-themes is not essential but will strengthen your bid.

Dates. Please include proposed conference dates and explain your choice. Please also indicate if dates are flexible.

Venue

• Geographic location
• Detailed information on conference facilities, i.e.,. number and size of conference rooms
• Availability of Internet access in conference rooms

Conference organization:

• Level of logistical and financial support from host institution
• Detailed information on conference support personnel
• Detailed information on technical support personnel
• Distribution of responsibility for conference organization

Committed sponsors, if any, and level of expected funding if known

Travel

• How to get there

Accommodations

• Type
• Cost
• Access to conference venue

Proposed Social Activities

Tourist Information

• Restaurants
• Local Attractions

Committees