
Call for Proposals Information
Thank You!!!
Thank you for considering being a presenter for the School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA)! We are driven to provide high-quality professional development for School Social Workers. If you are chosen as a presenter for our national conference, you are eligible to receive a reduced fee to attend the conference. In addition, presenting at a national conference or presenting through one of our webinars is an excellent opportunity to strengthen your leadership capacity, enhance your presentation skills, and build your professional resume.
Important:
Read before submitting your workshop proposal
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Expectations of Presenters
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SSWAA’s expectation for all presenters is to AVOID political references, stereotypes, and overgeneralizations.
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Content, images, and examples should be racially- and culturally- sensitive.
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All presentations must contain current research (at least 50% of references must be within the past 5 years as of the date for presentation).
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Cancellation
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If you cancel unexpectedly without reasonable cause or we are unable to get in contact with you, you will not be considered for future conferences.
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Cancellation of your presentation will result in a refund minus 25% admin fee.
​2026 Conference Dates:
March 24-27, 2026
St. Louis, Missouri
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Attend FulL Conference
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If you are selected to present at our national conference, you (and up to 2 co-presenters) will be required to register to attend the full National Conference by November 15, 2025. Please make attending the conference a priority. (Presenter will receive a Presenter Discount-details to be provided upon acceptance).
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Please Note: If you are unable or unwilling to attend the full conference, we kindly ask that you refrain from submitting a proposal.
We encourage you to explore alternative avenues for sharing your knowledge and expertise, such as hosting a webinar with SSWAA! Please feel free to reach out to us at PDlearning@sswaa.org to discuss other options.
Submissions are reviewed by a selection team. Presenter(s) name(s), bio(s), and headshot(s), and other identifying information are removed for the selection process. Reviewers seek to plan a well-balanced program through this process by peer-reviewing all materials submitted by each proposal speaker. Selection criteria used during the selection process include:
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Do the title and description clearly articulate the session content?
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Is the topic timely and/or pertinent to the field?
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Are the session goals and objectives clear and appropriate?
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Will this session positively contribute to the conference program and the profession?
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Is the session intended to be interactive and engaging for attendees?
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Presentations that feature intentional calls to positive social change, diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, intersectionality of identity, belonging, accessibility, development of practice with tools and experiential learning, research, and current evidence-based information are particularly desirable.
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All sessions will be either 60-minute (1 hour), 90-minute (1.5 hour), 120-minute (2.0 hour) sessions, or Research Poster Presentations.
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The Proposal Submission Portal will open on May 22, 2025!!
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Proposals must be submitted by July 1, 2025 (11:59 PM Eastern)
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(No Extensions/No Exceptions)
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Please review our Presenter Toolkit for Proposal FAQ and Tips. Please reach out to Dr. JR Bullard-Batiste with any questions at PDlearning@sswaa.org.
Connection to the National Model 2.0
Call for Proposals Timeline
​May 22, 2025 - Proposal Submission Portal opens (5:00 PM EST)
July 1, 2025 - Proposals Submission Portal Closes (11:59 PM EST) - No Extensions will be provided for submissions.
July - August 2025 - SSWAA Proposals Reviewed by Selection Team​
August 31, 2025 - Selection Review Complete and ​Notification of Acceptance
September 15, 2025 - Deadline for Presenters to Accept an Invitation to Present
If the Primary Presenter does not accept or respond to the Notice of Acceptance by the September 15, 2025 Deadline, SSWAA will automatically go to the Waiting List to Select Another Session to Fill the Presentation Space.​
October 1, 2025 - Registration opens for the SSWAA 2026 National Conference
November 15, 2025 - Deadline for presenters to register.
Any presenter who does not register (including primary presenter and/or secondary presenters) will result in a cancellation of session and SSWAA will automatically go to the Waiting List to select another session to fill the presentation space. ​
January 31, 2026 - Deadline for All Presenters to upload final presentation (PowerPoint/Slides and any additional Handout Materials) to the speaker portal.
March 24-27, 2026 - SSWAA 2026 National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri
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Presenters may wish to print off this timeline for future reference and to ensure meeting conference timelines.
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**General Timeline is in place to provide planning ability for speakers. Please note that SSWAA will make every attempt to honor this timeline; however, if any unforeseen changes to the timeline are needed, we will continue to update this schedule here on this webpage, so check back if you have any questions.
ACE Approval Statement:
School Social Work Association of America SSWAA, #1789, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. School Social Work Association of America SSWAA maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 07/27/2023 – 07/27/2026.

