The AIS Conference
What
to do to Initiate a Proposal to Host an AIS Conference
AT LEAST THREE YEARS PRIOR TO THE CONFERENCE:
Familiarize interdisciplinarians and others at your institution with AIS, its publications, and annual conference. If you find sufficient campus interest to mount a conference, contact Pauline Gagnon, AIS President, or the Conference Liaison, Roslyn Abt Schindler, about your interest. Submit a proposal to the President that provides some background on your institution and programs, makes a case for hosting the conference on your campus, and indicates the level of institutional support in terms of both fiscal contribution and campus resources.
If your proposal is accepted, your chief academic officer or the relevant campus officer will receive a formal letter of invitation from the AIS President. Once the invitation has been formally accepted by your institution, from that point forward you will be working with a designated liaison from the Board on matters of program, logistics, and budget. The collaborative working relationship between AIS and your institution will help to promote continuity and to advance and expand the themes of interdisciplinary studies fostered at previous conferences.
To facilitate conference planning, the AIS Office Manager will handle arrangements for the placement of ads and the Call for Papers in selected publications and will contact publishers' representatives and sources for other AIS-related texts in preparation for a book display. The Office Manager will make available an archive of planning forms, sample letters, and materials used by previous conference hosts.