Session Organizer Info

If a session proposal is approved, the proposer(s) become the ‘session organizer(s)’ who will be responsible for reviewing abstracts between January 27 through February 12, 2026, if the session is open to the Call for Abstracts or confirming the arranged participants in their session by February 12, 2026.

An organizer may submit an abstract for the session they are organizing but it must be reviewed and approved by a member of the Conference Program Committee or the affiliated Research Cluster Chair by the February 12 review deadline.

The session organizer(s) also typically assumes the role of chair during the Conference or finds an alternate person for the role.  Ideally, a session chair should not also be presenting in the same session.  A co-chair for the session should be arranged in this situation.

The organizer(s) and/or chair will communicate session information with the participants leading up to the Conference and have the option of requesting material in advance for further review (e.g. full papers or presentations).

Session organizers may contact the CSA Office to request that a presenter be removed from the program if they fail to respond their requests for information or confirmation.

Reminder: Approval of your session(s) in the final Conference Program is pending the results of the Call for Abstracts (if applicable).   If a session receives 3 or fewer submissions, it may be cancelled or merged with another session.

Multiple concurrent sessions are scheduled in four 90-minute timeslots each day with breaks in between.  Participants in presentation and roundtable sessions will be given between 12-20 minutes for their presentations depending on the number of presentations in the session.

• 3 presentations - 20 minutes each

• 4 presentations - 15 minutes each

• 5 presentations - 12 minutes each

Presentation Sessions

• Between 3 and 5 paper presentations on a particular subject

• Open to the Call for Abstracts or with pre-arranged presenters

• In-person session participants typically present orally with slides (using the audio-visual equipment set up in the room). 

• Virtual session participants will be utilizing Zoom to share their screen and slides while presenting orally.

• Presentations may also take a more creative approach such as a film showing or performance art.

Roundtable Sessions (In-person conference only)

• Up to 5 participants discussing topics in the field, research proposals, work in progress, or literature reviews

• Open to the Call for Abstracts, pre-arranged presenters, or all conference attendees

• Audio-visual equipment will not be available.

• In-person participants will present orally and may include hand-outs.

Panel Session

• Up to 5 pre-arranged panelists for a group discussion on a particular subject

• In-person speakers may utilize slides using the audio-visual equipment set up in the room

• Virtual session participants will be utilizing Zoom to share their screen and slides if applicable

Workshop

• Pre-arranged facilitators

• Attendee participation may or may not require pre-registration (contact us to discuss)

Keynote lecture

• Pre-arranged speaker

The CSA Office will send information and reminders regularly to assist session organizers over the coming months.  Below is a general timeline for overall planning.

November/December

• Organizers will be advised if their proposals have been approved

• Call for Abstracts will be opens December 3

January- Applies to sessions open to the Call for Abstracts.

• January 12 - Session organizers will be sent instructions on how to review submissions which includes setting up a ‘Reviewer’ profile on the new Conference website.

• January 16 and 23 - Reviewers will be notified of submissions to their sessions if applicable.

• January 26 - The call for abstract submissions closes.

• January 27 - Session organizers will be able to view all submissions through their ‘Reviewer’ profile on the Conference website.  Note that submissions must be manually assigned to each reviewer by the CSA office.

• January 28 - For sessions or tracks with many submissions, the CSA will send organizers an Excel file with all submission details (track, session, author, title, abstract, presentation details, etc) before the end of the day to assist with sorting.

• January 27/28 - The CSA office will advise on the sessions’ status; i) cancelled or merged with another due to a low number of submissions; ii) allocation of additional sub-sessions (in-person and/or virtual as applicable) due to a high number of submissions.

February

Sessions open to the Call for Abstracts

• February 12 - The deadline to review all submissions and mark them as accepted or declined.  Comments may be included for the submitter.

• February 13 - The review results will be posted on the Conference website for the submitter to access. They will be advised to check the status by email.

• February 20 - Deadline for session details; i) Revised session title and/or description to reflect actual presentations rather than an invitation for submissions; ii) Sessions that have been allocated an additional sub-session must send the CSA office details on how the submissions will be distributed between them; iii) Order of presentations within the session(s) if the organizers have a preference.

Pre-arranged sessions

• February 12 - The deadline for session organizers with pre-arranged speakers to send details to the CSA office (presenter/panelist information, presentation abstracts if applicable).

March

• March 6 - Preliminary Conference program and schedule will be posted.

• March 31 - Deadline for session organizers to confirm session chair (themselves or an alternate person).

• March 31 - Early Conference registration fee deadline (fees increase as of April 1)

April

• April 15 - Deadline for all presenters, panelists, chairs, and discussants to comply with the Conference Participation Policies.

• April 22 - Session organizers will be sent contact information for the confirmed presenters in their sessions. We suggest that organizers/chairs contact presenters with more information about the session.

May

• Final Conference program and schedule will be posted.

• May 8 - Session organizers and/or chair should contact presenters to advise on the length (12-20 minutes) of their presentation and whether a full paper or presentation will be requested in advance of the conference (suggested deadline is May 29 to receive this material).