Submissions

Convergence 2026 Request for Proposals

UPCEA & AACRAO invite proposals for Convergence 2026, the joint annual conference for credential innovation for leaders in professional and online education, registration and enrollment management, academic affairs, workforce development, policy, and systems. Building on the field’s evolving needs, the Convergence 2026 program will emphasize implementation, alignment, and learner impact that show how the work actually gets done.

What We’re Looking For: 

• Institution-focused (college, university, or system presenters)   
• Implementation-focused, i.e. what was done, how it was done, and what was learned   
• Transparent about challenges, trade-offs, and difficult decisions 
• Designed with a specific audience and institutional maturity level in mind

Program Tracks: 

To help attendees navigate the program—and to support first-time and early-stage participants—Convergence 2026 will organize sessions into clearly defined tracks. Proposals should align with one primary track and may indicate a secondary track if appropriate:

Credential Innovation Foundations: Launching credential initiatives, early frameworks, and building institutional readiness.

Learner Mobility: Pathways, Transfer & CPL: CPL/PLA, transfer alignment, learner progression, and AI-enabled mobility.

Digital Credentials & Skills Ecosystems: Microcredentials, LERs/CLRs, credential design, skills validation, and digital trust.

Workforce & Community Partnerships: Employer collaboration, regional talent pipelines, sector strategies, labor-market alignment, and Workforce Pell readiness and compliance.
Strategy, Systems & Scaling Transformation: Policy, governance, infrastructure, learner records, data, and AI-enabled systems that support credential innovation at scale.

Session Formats: 

• Panel or Presentation (60 minutes): A 60-minute facilitated conversation featuring two to four speakers or panelists sharing insights, experiences, or approaches around a common theme. Sessions include structured audience engagement and discussion, with preference given to cross-institutional perspectives and ideas that attendees can adapt or scale.  
• Workshop/Toolbox (75 minutes): An interactive, hands-on session designed for deeper learning and practical application. Presenters spend less than half the time sharing ideas, with the majority devoted to participant engagement and the use of ready-to-adapt tools such as frameworks, templates, policies, or implementation guides. 
• Roundtable (25–30 minutes): A small-group, table-based discussion focused on a timely topic or challenge. Roundtables are designed for peer exchange, with presenters guiding conversation and encouraging participants to share questions, solutions, and experiences. Attendees may move between tables during the session to engage with multiple topics.
• Convergence Talk (10 minutes): A rapid-fire presentation by a single speaker offering a concise introduction to an idea, innovation, or emerging issue. Talks follow strict timing and slide guidelines and are scheduled in sequence to give attendees quick exposure to a variety of topics.

Session Levels: 

• New sessions introduce institutions to credential innovation and emerging opportunities.   
• Building sessions explore how institutions can develop structures and programs to launch new credentials.
• Scaling sessions highlight ways to expand credential efforts across the organization and increase impact.   
• Advanced sessions showcase mature strategies driving transformation and leadership in the field.

Primary Audience:

• Registrars, Records, Enrollment Management   
• Online and/or Professional Education   
• Workforce Development and Employer Engagement   
• Faculty and Instructional Teams    
• Data, Technology, and Systems

Submission Requirements: 

• A clear, plain-language session title and description free of excess punctuation 
• Institutional context and the problem addressed  
• Specific practices, decisions, or artifacts to be shared
• Intended audience and session level
• Presenter names and institutional affiliations (corporate participation is welcomed as part of a proposal that prioritizes the showcasing of institutional activities

Proposals will be evaluated based on:

• Alignment with 2026 priorities
• Practical applicability and clarity   
• Institutional leadership and collaboration   
• Quality of takeaways and engagement design   

- Priority will be given to submissions which include professional and/or online teams (i.e. UPCEAns) collaborating with registrars and their teams (i.e. AACRAOns)**

- Proposals that explicitly support early-stage institutions or those new to credentialing work are strongly encouraged.

Note: due to demand, individuals may submit only one session proposal. 

We reserve the right to revise presentation titles, reassign the proposed track, invite collaboration of like ideas, and/or edit the session description of selected presentations for promotional and program publications

Please reach out to Jacqueline Romero at Jromero@upcea.edu, if you have any questions. 

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