Call for Sessions Deadline: June 26, 2025

CALL FOR SESSIONS OPEN NOW

The form uses conditional logic, please answer each question to see additional questions. The form concludes with Terms & Conditions.

Shared knowledge between members is the hallmark of the Annual Conference and is a foundation of NODA’s mission to provide education, leadership and professional development in the field of orientation, transition, and retention. Members in our field are creating endless possibilities through the cornerstones of representation, innovation, community, and progression and this is your opportunity to share your expertise with our members.

This year the Planning Committee is excited to introduce the Resource & Research Fair at the 2025 NODA Annual Conference. During this extended educational session block, attendees will have the opportunity to browse a resource fair and poster session. Attendees can network with multiple presenters to hear elevator pitches and collect curated materials based on selected topics and research. Participants will have the opportunity to network with multiple attendees to engage in quick conversations about their resources and research.

NODAC Cornerstone Tracks

Tracks at the NODA Annual Conference are educational sessions that fall into one of the four conference cornerstones. Attendees interested in these cornerstones can view all of the educational sessions that are applicable to one of these categories. These tracks are intended to make it easier for attendees to navigate and find sessions relevant to their interests. View more about each of these cornerstones below:

Objective: Ensure that orientation, transition, and retention programs are accessible and engage all campus and community stakeholders.

Focus Areas:

  • Programming and policies
  • Intentional recruitment and onboarding practices
  • Global awareness and advocacy

Objective: Foster a culture of creativity and forward-thinking approaches in orientation, transition, and retention practices.

Focus Areas:

  • Emerging technologies
  • Creative problem solving
  • Entrepreneurial mindset

Objective: Strengthen the sense of community among orientation, transition, and retention professionals and campus stakeholders, emphasizing collaboration and shared values.

Focused Areas:

  • Building connections and networking
  • Civic engagement and service
  • Stakeholder involvement

Objective: Promote continuous improvement and development in orientation, transition, and retention practices.

Focus Areas:

  • Data-driven decision making
  • Research and best practices
  • Scalability and sustainability

FIND A CO

Interested in presenting at NODAC, but searching for a co-presenter? Participate in “Find a Co” to identify possible co-presenters. Members will enter their information and topics they are interested in presenting on. Once closed, all participants will be sent contact information for possible co-presenters. Participants will contact potential co-presenters on their own. The application is open now and closes on April 7th at 11:59 PM CST.

participate in find a co

The NODAC 2025 Planning Committee is excited to offer various educational sessions, roundtable discussions, skills briefs and the new resource & research fair at this year’s conference.

EDUCATIONAL SESSION
(50 minutes)
Current research, best practices, and/or authentic approaches that advance the field of OTR or our professional careers.

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
(50 minutes)
Organized conversations with moderators who provide a contextual overview to the topic and then facilitate dialog between participants.

*NEW*
Resource & Research Fair
(90 minutes)
Exhibit hall style showcase of current research, resources, and tools within OTR and Higher Education overall.

SKILLS BRIEF
(50 minutes)
Goal is to identify and highlight the skills and tools that may be applicable in position both in and outside of OTR.

Call for Peer Reviewers

All NODAC25 Session proposals will be reviewed and selected with considerations of learning outcomes, NODA Core Competencies distribution, NODAC Cornerstone Tracks, and intended audience. Sessions will be reviewed in an identity-hidden peer review process by NODA peers.

Peer Reviewers are volunteers who support the Annual Conference Planning Committee by helping review submissions for Awards and Educational Programming. Peer Reviewers bring new, diverse expertise, and help to ensure that all submissions receive an equitable review.

Peer Reviewers who volunteer have the opportunity to choose from two (2) roles: Awards and Educational Programming. Timeline to apply to be a Peer Reviewer: May 8th through 29, 2025.

Responsibilities of Educational programming Peer Reviewers
  • Reviewing 10-12 submissions between July 11 – August 1, 2025
  • Provide detailed feedback for each submission review that will be shared with all educational programming applicants
  • Required training: Selected Peer Reviewers will be required to meet and train with the Co-Chairs for Educational Programming to ensure an understanding of educational goals for NODAC 2025.
    • Training Date: TBD (will be recorded and shared)
Responsibilities of Annual Award Peer Reviewers
  • Reviewing 5-10 Award Submissions for various association awards in late September/early October
  • Provide feedback for each award reviewed to assist staff in award winner selection
Call for Peer Reviews opens may 8

Submission Timeline

  • March 3
    Call for Sessions Opens
  • March-June
    Virtual Workshops
  • June 26
    Submission deadline for all educational programming
  • July 11–August 1
    Submission review and selection
  • August 22
    Notification to presenters
  • September 5
    Presenter deadline to accept invitation
  • October 24-27
    NODAC 2025

Virtual Workshops

Click on the workshop title to RSVP and a Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Ed Programming Office Hours

Drop into Office Hours using the links above, registration is not required.

Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely! Everyone has something they can share to help improve and inform the OTR community. If you need help brainstorming ideas attend one of our workshops.

If you are interested in hosting an education session as a panel, we welcome those submissions within the Call for Sessions. Panels can be submitted via the “educational session” presentation type and encourage the use of “Panel” within the session title. From there continue to complete the call for sessions submission form, using the “Co-Speakers” field to indicate any and all session panelists.

An identity-hidden review is used during the first round of reviews for educational sessions. All educational sessions are reviewed by at least three NODA members. NODA chooses to implement an identity-hidden review to help eliminate bias in the selection process; reviewers do not see any presenter information or institutional information in the session submission. When drafting your educational session proposal, submitters are asked to ensure identifying information is omitted.

There are several factors why we require session submissions so early and strive to balance conference planning needs with member commitments. Typically, many NODA members’ work ramps up during the summer time so we want to ensure that the deadline properly accommodates our “busy season” and provides a fair opportunity for orientation focused professionals. This also allows plenty of time for the sessions to be peer reviewed during the selection process. We hope the intentionality in this timeline will allow our members time to prepare their session and enhance their professional development.

The following speaker fields will be used to populate the conference app: name, title, institution/organization, professional levels, and email address. If a photo is uploaded, the image will also be transferred over to the conference app. Sessionize does require fields titled tagline & biography, neither of those system required fields are utilized by NODA and you just enter NA in the submission.

Additional questions may be sent to NODAC2025@umn.edu.