Wisconsin Idea Conference

The Wisconsin Idea Conference brings together innovative minds from both within and beyond campus walls. We welcome:

Community partners

• Nonprofit organizations looking to amplify their impact through university collaboration
• Public sector professionals seeking to bridge research and practice
• Community leaders interested in shaping the future of university-community partnership

University participants

• Faculty and researchers interested in community-engaged scholarship
• Staff members working on outreach and partnership initiatives
• Students passionate about applying their learning to real-world challenge

The Wisconsin Idea Conference poster session provides an opportunity for faculty, staff, students, and community partners to share their work with conference attendees. We welcome posters from any discipline or sector and on projects/partnerships at any stage of development. The submission deadline is Sunday, Jan. 12.

Topics we are especially interested in include: 

• Success stories, models of, or lessons learned from community-university partnerships 
• Research that is relevant to, and/or conducted, with service practitioners and Wisconsin communities
• Methods for evaluating partnerships and community impact 
• Projects that highlight the Wisconsin Idea in action 

Proposal Submission Requirements: 

(a) Presenter name and email 

(b) 5-10 word poster title

(c) Brief summary of the poster

(d) Clear description of the poster’s relevance to the conference’s audience, for example, how the work benefits service practitioners, opportunities to engage in research partnerships, or lessons learned from community-engaged research projects

Poster Selection Timeline:

• January 12 — Submission deadline 
• Mid-February — Notifications of selection sent 
• March 3 — Poster program finalized 

Review Criteria:

• Relevance of topic — Does the proposal focus on questions, practices, or challenges relevant to the conference focus on community-university partnerships? Does it provide new information on promising strategies, methods, relationships, or lessons learned? 
• Partnership Process — Does the proposal share knowledge about how the partnership was conceived and/or managed? 
• Implications for Practice — Does the proposal provide clear implications for practice relevant to academic and practitioner audiences? 
• Community Impact — Does the proposal outline project outcomes that had measurable impacts on the community? 
• Quality of Submission — Does the proposal demonstrate quality, indicated by clarity, accuracy, and demonstrated understanding of the topic? 

Submission Link

Deadline: Monday, Feb. 3 or until capacity is reached

The Wisconsin Idea Conference is seeking community organizations and community-engaged campus units to table during the event. A limited number of tables will be available at the conference for interested groups to share resources and network with conference attendees. Tabling will occur during an hour-long session block that will also feature poster presentations. 

Tabling Request Requirements: 

1. Group name and contact information (no more than 2 people per table) 
2. Organizational or unit mission 
3. Briefly describe the benefit or resources your group will share with our conference audience 

Due to capacity constraints, we may be unable to accommodate all who express interest in tabling.  

For UW units seeking to table at the event, we do ask for a $100 tabling fee to support the costs of conference planning. If accepted, we will work with you to initiate an internal funds transfer for this cost. 

Application Link