Apologies for cross posting

Two-day conference: Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 March 2012, University of York

Call for contributions: Papers, workshops and posters

Background
We are pleased to be hosting a two day conference on student retention and success at the University of York on 28 - 29 March 2012.

The conference will take a research-informed approach to answering the question ‘what works’ to improve student retention and success in higher education.  It will present the outcomes from the three-year What Works? programme, including the key findings, the conceptual model and specific details and tools from the seven projects. In addition, it will showcase the best evidence-informed approaches to what works from across the UK HE sector and beyond through peer-reviewed papers, workshops and posters.

The conference is jointly organised by the Higher Education Academy and Action on Access as part of the ‘What Works? Student Retention and Success Programme’ initiated and funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). 

Call for contributions
The conference is open to individuals with a strategic or operational interest in retention and student success.  We welcome a broad range of perspectives and methodologies to critically look at the question of what works to promote student retention and success. While topics not listed below are very welcome, possible themes include: 

•	Effective interventions to engage, retain and enhance the success of particular student or discipline groups.
•	Pre-entry support to engage students and improve their preparation for and transition into HE. 
•	Improving the design and delivery of the curriculum to promote the success of all students.
•	Initiatives and approaches in the academic sphere that promote social engagement with peers and staff.
•	Proven approaches to identifying, monitoring and engaging students at risk of withdrawal.
•	The management and/or co-ordination of the student learning experience to promote student engagement, retention and success across the Programme, Department, Faculty or institution (or equivalent).

We invite the submission of abstracts for consideration by the peer review panel for one or more of the following types of sessions in the conference: paper, workshop or poster. All contributions should present research findings and/or evaluation evidence about effective approaches to improving student engagement, retention and success in higher education.

Papers should report research findings, or discuss evidence-based practice, or critically assess policy or practice. Papers will be clustered and presented in shared session. (15 minutes, plus discussion time per paper). 
Workshops should be action-oriented. They should include a short input (up to 15 minutes) and activities for delegates to participate in. They should be of interest and relevance to a wide audience (45-60 minutes in total). 
Posters should be A0 in size (portrait layout) and present summary information about your work in a visual or text format in a way that is of interest to the conference participants. Posters will be displayed throughout the conference, but you will be asked to talk about your poster during a networking session. 
  
Abstracts should include a (provisional) title; speaker names, and the name of a key contact. They should be no more than 200 words. Please also indicate if you intend to write up your contribution for inclusion in the Compendium of Effective Practice (see below). Abstracts should be emailed to retention&[log in to unmask] by Wednesday 30th November 2011.  

Peer review process
All abstracts will be reviewed anonymously by two peer reviewers and the final selection of the successful contributions will be made by the conference organising committee. You will be informed of the outcome by Tuesday 20 December 2011.

Please note: we cannot guarantee which day your session will be allocated to if accepted.

Compendium of Effective Practice
In the run up to the conference we will be compiling a Compendium of Effective Practice. If you would like your work to be featured in this publication please indicate this when you submit your abstract. We will issue further details about the Compendium of Effective Practice in October.

Further details
Further information about the conference is available from:
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/events/detail/2012/28_29_March_2012_retention_conference, or email retention&[log in to unmask]