Presentations and Professional Development Courses Content Channel

Submission & Approval Process Guidelines for Presentations and Professional Development Courses at Conference

Proposals for conference presentations and Professional Development Courses (PDCs) must be submitted during the annual Call for Proposals. The call usually opens in June and closes in September.

For Conference Presentations:

Step 1: Submit presentation content via the online submissions system. For specific data collected, visit https://aihaconnect.org/.

Step 2: Each conference presentation proposal receives a two-level review. The first review is conducted by technical reviewers, who are subject matter experts selected from AIHA members and the submitter's peer group. These volunteers review submissions to ensure they are scientifically sound, innovative, and relevant to the profession. There is no cap on the number of reviewers that may be assigned to a proposal. This technical review process occurs prior to a second review by the Conference Program Committee (CPC) and assists the CPC in selecting the final content to be presented in the next conference's education program.

Questions asked and answered by the reviewers during the conference presentation technical review process include:

• Are the selected core competencies selected designated appropriately? (Yes/No)
• This presentation will be of interest to the AIHA Connect audience (Rating 1-5)
• The content of this session is current and relevant to OEHS professionals (Rating 1-5)
• This proposal is clear, well-organized, and well-written. It is important that the session is easy to read and understandable to attendees (Rating 1-3)
• Is the abstract content level designated appropriately (introductory, intermediate, advanced)? (Yes/No)
• Is the abstract audience level designated appropriately (technician, practitioner, professional)? (Yes/No)
• The session does not contain a sales pitch and does not promote a specific vendor or service. (Yes/No)
• This presentation should be accepted for AIHA Connect (Yes/No)
• Open-ended Comments

In addition to scores and feedback from technical reviewers, the CPC also uses attendee ratings from previous conferences to inform their selection. Finally, data from AIHA surveys help identify content priorities and needs for the current year's conference. The review process is blind, and speaker information is not shared.

Step 3: The CPC holds a virtual meeting and makes final program selections.

Every proposal is reviewed to ensure that the final program covers a well-balanced set of conference presentation topics. Conference tracks are identified based on the accepted proposals. If there are gaps in topic areas the CPC would like the conference program to cover more fully, the CPC may reach out to specific AIHA members or committees to develop curated presentations. After major current events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, sessions may be added to the program without undergoing the official review process. The CPC will determine the merit of these sessions on a case-by-case basis.

Step 4: AIHA staff schedule sessions and send out acceptance and declination notifications. The CPC must be selective about the content offered at each conference, as many more proposals could be submitted in any given year than the AIHA Connect program could accommodate, and convention center space is limited.

Proposals may be rejected for poor writing, inaccurate technical information, or insufficient data. For a conference presentation proposal to be eligible, it should incorporate some data findings that attendees would find relevant and valuable in their daily work as OEHS professionals. Proposals may also be declined due to the review process having found a lack of audience appeal and relevance to the OEHS profession. Some topics may also be better suited to a webinar or magazine article than a session at conference.

Finally, if too many proposals are submitted in any given competency area, the CPC will select the proposals with the highest technical review scores or those that offer a different perspective on the same issue to ensure that the conference program represents a good balance of information and viewpoints. The CPC also reviews content to ensure that it aligns with AIHA's strategic goals and the educational needs expressed by members through surveys.

Step 5: Accepted conference presentations are held in-person or virtually at AIHA Connect.

For PDCs:

Step 1: Submit PDC content via the online submissions system. For specific data collected, visit https://aihaconnect.org/.

Step 2: Each PDC submission receives a two-level review. First, technical reviewers, selected to act as subject matter experts, review submissions to ensure they are scientifically sound, innovative, and relevant to the profession. This technical review process occurs before a second review by the Continuing Education Committee (CEC) and helps the committee select the final content to be included in next year's conference program.

Questions asked and answered by the reviewer during the PDC technical review process include:

• Competency: Are the selected core competencies selected designated appropriately?
• Topic Interest: Is the topic: New/Emerging, Core/Foundational, Waning
• Technical Basis: Does the proposal have a sound technical basis? (Rating 1-5)
• Is the course description clear and concise? (Rating 1-5)
• Are the learning outcomes appropriate for the course level? (Rating 1-5) (introductory, intermediate, advanced)
• Does the outline describe the content appropriate for selected course level?  (Rating 1-5)   (introductory, intermediate, advanced)
• Learning Outcomes & Course Outline describes the content appropriate for selected target audience. (Yes/No) The proposal is listed as either: technician, practitioner, professional
• Specialized Track Opportunities: Do the submitter's responses for inclusion or exclusion of the specialized track selections appear to be correct based on the description of the course?
• Business Case/IH Value Statement: Does the statement provided match the proposed course description?
• Recommendation: (Suggest that the CEC ACCEPT or REJECT the proposal)
• Comments: (Open text box)

Following the technical review, each proposal is evaluated by at least two members of the CEC to ensure it is relevant to the profession, appropriately titled, and meets its stated objectives.

The course outline and teaching methods are critiqued, and the presenter's credentials and biographies are reviewed. The committee then considers all proposals and their ratings to ensure that the program reflects a well-balanced set of topics, the educational needs expressed in member surveys, and AIHA's strategic goals. AIHA offers a flowchart (PDF) illustrating the process for reviewing and accepting PDCs.

Step 3: The CEC holds a virtual meeting and makes final program selections.

PDCs are selected to represent the diversity of topics within the OEHS field. Every year, courses are chosen to achieve a balance of skill levels (20% introductory, 50% intermediate, 30% advanced) and audience levels (20% technician, 50% practitioner, and 30% professional). Regarding duration, 60% are full-day courses, 35% are half-day courses, and 5% are two-day courses.

One PDC is selected for each CPAG content priority, and at least 40% of the courses hosted each year are new. For courses conducted at previous conferences, student evaluations are the major factor in the review process: the top five courses from the previous year, based on ratings and attendance, are automatically accepted. The number of final selections is limited by the number of rooms available at the convention center.

Step 4: AIHA staff schedule sessions and send out acceptance and declination notifications. Many more proposals are submitted than can be accommodated at AIHA Connect. There are several reasons why a particular course may not be selected for the program, including its lack of relevance to AIHA members, concerns about the accuracy of the technical information presented, inadequate evaluations by previous students, an overabundance of courses offered in one competency area, concerns that content is overly similar to another course's, the need for course rotation, and a lack of interest by the members at large.

Step 5: Accepted PDCs are held in-person or virtually before and after AIHA Connect.

Note: Standalone Virtual Professional Development Courses are typically by invitation only, based on evaluations of PDCs held in conjunction with AIHA Connect. 

Ready to submit your idea?

In-person teachings (i.e., PDCs and sessions at AIHA Connect) are submitted during the annual Call for Proposals that usually occur in June of each year and close in September.