Congress Guidelines

January 2006

1. Purpose of these Guidelines
2. Roles and Responsibilities
   2.1 ICSEI Board
   2.2 Conference Organising committee
3. Policies
   3.1 Budgetary
   3.2 Organisation
   3.3 Conference programme
   3.4 Guidelines for sponsoring icsei conference attendees
4. Protocols
   4.1 Complimentary registrations and booths
5. Sponsorship
6. Marketing
7. Conference schedule

Annex
Additional Advice and guidance: lessons learnt by conference committees

1. Purpose of these Guidelines

These Guidelines have been developed to capture important information regarding the policies and procedures associated with the organisation of ICSEI Conferences. They are also intended as a guide for the Conference Organising Committee as a means of capturing lessons learnt from each conference.

These Guidelines will be reviewed and revised annually after each conference by the ICSEI Board. The ICSEI President will sign off each new version.

It is expected that the Conference Organising Committee will comply with these procedures and guidelines, and will sign the linked Memorandum of Understanding, but may, in consultation with the ICSEI Board, vary their implementation.

2. Roles and Responsibilities

The specific roles and responsibilities of both ICSEI and Conference Organising Committee are detailed in each section

2.1. ICSEI Board

The ICSEI Board has ultimate responsibility for establishing the strategic direction for its Conferences. The ICSEI Board will determine the schedule for Conferences that will be held on an annual basis. It is expected that conferences will be held in the first two weeks of January of each year. The Board collectively and Board members individually will provide advice and assistance as required by the Conference Organising Committee.

The ICSEI Marketing and Sponsorship Director will assist the Conference Organising Committee each year with processes for registration and program, sponsorship and marketing. Other forms of assistance may be negotiated on an as needs basis.

2.2. Conference Organising Committee

The Board will be pro-active in soliciting appropriate Conference Organising Committees and venues. Members of ICSEI can apply to the Board to host a conference. Usually, these people/organisations must have attended at least three conferences. Given the scale of conferences, if possible, the conference should be jointly hosted by consortia including more than one university, as well as other agencies. Consortia representing more than one country are also welcomed.

The Board needs to ensure that all regions of the world have the opportunity to run conferences and that the conference schedule ensures movement around the regions.

The conference must focus on school effectiveness, school improvement and school reform and support research, policy and practice.

This schedule can be varied at any time by a decision of the Board in collaboration with the Conference Organising Committee. The schedule should ideally be agreed four years in advance. In agreeing to host the conference, a country should agree to abide by the current polices and protocols as outlined in these Procedures and Guidelines.

3. Policies

3.1. Budgetary

The ICSEI Board will provide a seeding grant of €8,000 to the Conference Organising Committee if requested. This loan will be paid in two parts. €4,000 will be paid two years before the conference, and a further €4,000 one year before the conference to help the organisers in preparation for the conference.

Conference Fees

Conference Registration should be advertised at a lower cost for ICSEI Members and for full-time students, as compared to non ICSEI Members.

The Conference Organising Committee will check the ICSEI website for current membership prices (including VAT).

The Conference Organising Committee will propose the conference fees to the ICSEI Secretary/Treasurer, for ratification by the ICSEI Board. A fee of €25 should be included to the registration for each registration (at all levels) to support ICSEI. This ensures that ICSEI can continue making loans to future conference organisers, supporting attendees from developing countries, and building its programme of support between conferences. Special circumstances should be individually negotiated with and agreed by the Board.

The Conference Organising Committee will take responsibility for processing conference registrations and providing the ICSEI Board with up to date financial and registration information. From time to time the ICSEI Board will delegate this responsibility to another authority.

While travel, accommodation and conference organisation can be expensive, ICSEI attempts to be inclusive to researchers, practitioners and policy makes throughout the world, so it is appreciated that the conference fee needs to be kept as low as possible, and a full range of accommodation options (and prices) are desirable. In addition, where, possible, travel between accommodation and conference venue should be kept to a minimum or transport provided and costed.

Fees for the conference should be set to ensure recovery of all operating costs, including the part-time salary for an on-site organiser for the host country and to repay any loans and membership fees.

The Conference Organising Committee needs to take into account:

Necessary expenses for keynote speakers (ICSEI does not normally pay a fee but pays all other expenses, normally economy class).
That some members and full-time students are eligible for a reduced fee.
The inclusion of a welcome reception and, where possible, conference dinner (including entertainment) within the conference fee, as well as provision of lunches and break refreshments.
That in many countries, use of technology for conference presentations is the norm.
Costs for simultaneous translation of keynotes, if necessary.
That there should be access to a publishers’ display, including the ICSEI journal(s), and that members often wish to launch books at the conference.

ICSEI is not responsible for cost overruns or mismanagement of Congress funds; therefore it is advised that each conference organising committee plans carefully and seeks assistance from the ICSEI Treasurer to ensure the conference will be financially viable. The organising committee should take the following into account in costing the conference and setting the fee.

Accountability and Payments

The Conference Organising Committee will take responsibility for providing timely reports to the ICSEI Board regarding financial status in terms of estimated income and expenditure. Agreement of timing of reports will be negotiated at the ICSEI Board meeting following the announcement of the Conference Organising Committee.

The Conference Organising Committee will take responsibility for finalisation of all accounts from the Conference.

The Conference Organising Committee will take responsibility for providing a final conference budget report to the ICSEI Board within six months of the Conference, once all debits and credits are finalised. If this takes longer than six months then an interim, unaudited written report should be provided to the ICSEI Board. The ICSEI Board may exercise its right to request an audited report if necessary.

Within three months of the end of the conference, the €8,000 seeding money and the €25 per participant will be transferred to the ICSEI, Secretary/Treasurer. Conference profit will be split 50/50 between ICSEI and the Conference Organising Committee.

Board Support

The ICSEI President will receive complimentary accommodation and complimentary registration. Board Members will receive complimentary registration to the conference where no funding alternatives are available.

The Conference Organising Committee will fund reasonable travel and related costs for the President to attend the Conference where no funding alternatives are available.

If it proves necessary for Board Members to visit a country in support of its ICSEI Conference preparation, this will be funded by ICSEI.

3.2. Organisation

A four year schedule detailing Conference Organising Committees, or alternative structures, for Conferences, will be developed and maintained.

The Conference Organising Committee will provide regular (at least quarterly) updates to the ICSEI Board against budget, timeframes, and any major issues in the 18 months leading up to the hosting of the Conference.

The Conference Organising Committee has full responsibility and leadership of the Conference theme (in line with the overall strategy and theme agreed by the ICSEI Board at its January meeting in the preceding year) program, venue, and speakers but with due regard to ICSEI protocols.

The ICSEI Board reserves the right to take over the organisation of the conference from the Conference Organising Committee.

The Conference Organising Committee is accountable to the ICSEI Board for both the program and conference management.

The chair of the Conference Organising Committee will represent the committee on the ICSEI Board for the two years prior to the conference until the conference.

At least one member of the ICSEI Board from another country, other than the chair of the organising committee, will be an ex officio member of the programme committee (she/he will not necessarily attend, but will be informed and have input). Where possible, the Board member should have sat on an organising committee of a conference in the last three years.

Notes from previous conference organisers will be passed on and conference organisers should add to these to provide a cumulative record of support.

If an external conference company is employed, the chair of the conference organising committee will be kept regularly informed of numbers of registrants who have and have not paid for the conference.

A comprehensive database should be set up and kept updated.

Minutes of all meetings related to the conference will be forwarded to the ICSEI President and Secretary/Treasurer.

The conference organising committee should liaise with the ICSEI Secretary/Treasurer about arrangements for registration of new members during the conference.

When new members have paid for membership through the conference registration process, notification should be sent to the ICSEI Secretary/Treasurer so that a welcome letter can be sent out explaining membership entitlements.

The Conference Organising Committee should include sponsorship request information in conference publicity (printed and website), and should pass on sponsorship requests to the ICSEI Secretary/Treasurer (see further details in section 3.4).

Within a month of the conference:

The chair of the conference organising committee will arrange for a complete list of delegates to be sent to the ICSEI President, Secretary/Treasurer and Marketing and Sponsorship Director.
The chair of the conference organising committee will arrange for a full electronic list (Excel-compatible) of new members to be sent to the ICSEI President and Secretary/Treasurer.
The chair of the conference organising committee will send a full budget statement and arrange for the transfer of new ICSEI membership monies to the ICSEI Secretary/Treasurer.

3.3. Conference Programme

Keynote speakers, where possible, should be drawn from a range of research, policy and practice backgrounds, taking into account gender and regional balance. Choice of speakers will be discussed with the Board. It is strongly recommended that Keynote speakers be firmed up at least 12-18 months before the Conference.

Approximately 50 per cent of the keynote presenters should represent the mainstream of school effectiveness and school improvement.

The conference organisers will ask keynote speakers to provide PowerPoint or overhead slides in sufficient time for the conference organisers to have them translated or enlarged if necessary. Keynote presenters should also be requested for a copy of their paper and/or PowerPoint slides to post on the conference and ICSEI websites after the conference.

Conference organisation should enable people from research (including students), policy and practice from a diverse range of countries the opportunity to present and discuss issues of concern to them.

A range of presentation formats and lengths (including interactive sessions and workshops) should be offered in the call for presentations to cater for different learning needs and styles.

Decisions about acceptance of proposals should be based on ICSEI’s criteria for proposal acceptance.

Session timetables should be developed to enable participants to follow a strand of interest throughout the conference.

Where possible, opportunities for school visits should be included in the programme, if the conference does not take place during school holidays.

Call for presentations should enable participants to know whether their application was successful by the end of October to enable them to plan and seek funds.

To enable participants to make informed choices about conference sessions to attend, brief abstracts should be available in advance on the conference website and at the conference in the programme brochure. These brief abstracts should be requested from potential presenters as part of the proposal process.

Conference organisers should offer guidelines to presenters about good presentation practice (e.g. overheads that can be read at the back of the room, and planning sufficient time for discussion) and session chairs about their role (e.g. introducing and thanking, time keeping or negotiating the same with presenters who wish to organise their own sessions).

In constructing the final timetable, the Conference Organising Committee should also take the following into account:

The President will play a major role in the opening and closing ceremonies.
The changeover between outgoing and incoming Presidents will formally occur at the Conference every other year. This will be publicly acknowledged as part of the Conference proceedings.
Time should be allowed within the scheduling for informal networking and looking at publishers’ displays (including appropriate length breaks for morning and afternoon tea/coffee and lunch, which will be provided).
The AGM will be built into the Conference programme, the Conference Chair is expected to attend, and copies of the relevant papers will need to be printed during the conference by the Conference Organising Committee.
A networking session for special interest groups will be built in to the Conference programme.
A slot to advertise the following year’s conference will be built in to the Conference programme.
The Conference programme will allow time for Board meetings before the Conference proper begins. A venue and refreshments should be booked for the ICSEI Board by the Conference Organising Committee, and the conference Chair should be available to attend the item about the conference.
Conference delegates and members should be provided with access to all conference papers, whether electronically or in paper format, depending upon the Conference Organising Committee’s preference.

An electronic copy of Conference proceedings should be forwarded to the Secretariat for publication on the ICSEI web site.

3.4. Guidelines for Sponsoring ICSEI Conference Attendees

Each year at the conference Board Meeting the ICSEI Board will decide on a budget for the following year for sponsoring conference attendees who are not in a situation to organise the payment of the ICSEI conference costs themselves. Conference costs might include travel costs, the conference fee and the hotel costs. The Board will decide who is able to receive sponsorships using the following criteria:

The person must be working in schools, school systems or undertaking educational research.
The person must be living in a country identified by the United Nations as a developing country.
The person must have some financial support from their home agency or provide evidence they have sought financial support from that country or other groups.
The person must provide a detailed statement of all costs and how costs not covered by ICSEI are to be covered personally.
Individuals will only be sponsored at most every three years unless special circumstances prevail (e.g. Board member, conference chair etc.)
The person must present a paper indicating the state of school effectiveness and improvement in their country and supply a copy to the Board.
The person must investigate, where possible, the possibility of holding an ICSEI conference in their country and report to the Board on their findings.

People who fulfil these criteria should send their request to the conference organisers, as noted on the ICSEI website, the conference website and in conference documentation. Applications must be received by the end of September. It is possible to ask for sponsoring for just travel costs, registration fees or just hotel costs or for any combination. The ICSEI Secretary/Treasurer will confer with the President about each request and then will submit a proposal to the Board. Applicants will be informed by the end of October.

4. Protocols

It is expected that the hosting affiliate will involve the ICSEI Board and the Marketing and Sponsorship Director in its conference planning activities.

4.1. Complimentary registrations and booth

The President of ICSEI is entitled to complimentary accommodation, and complimentary registration. The ICSEI Board is entitled to complimentary Conference registration, if alternative funding is not available.
ICSEI is to be allocated two free exhibition booths.
The Conference Organising Committee for the proceeding year will be provided with a free exhibition booth at which static displays of conference materials, tourist information and information pertaining to that country will be made available. An expression of interest form should be placed on this table so that current conference participants can lodge interest to seek further information about the following year’s conference.
A meeting room and refreshments are to be made available for the ICSEI Board meeting prior to and following the Conference.

5. Sponsorship

The Conference Organising Committee will attempt to secure sponsorship to support the conference. ICSEI will provide support in this area but is not responsible for securing the necessary sponsorship.

The Marketing and Sponsorship Director and Conference Organising Committee have shared responsibility for obtaining sponsorship and can expect to receive assistance from the ICSEI Board. The Conference budget should not be predicated upon income from such sponsorship unless it is secured before the final budget is formulated.

Traditionally over the last few years Conference registrations have been at around 500-800 registrants.

The Marketing and Sponsorship Director in liaison with the ICSEI Board and Conference Organising Committee will:

Develop policy re appropriate sponsorship protocols.
Develop sponsorship guidelines.
Determine levels of sponsorship for conferences.
Determine levels of sponsorship for publications and website.
Review conference program to ensure appropriate support of sponsors eg. Morning, lunch and afternoon tea around sponsors area.
Contact sponsors for the conference at least 18 months in advance and maintain a relationship with these sponsors before, during and after the conference.
Meet two years in advance with the Conference Organising Committee to establish a strategy and list of appropriate sponsors for the host country.
The conference organising committee should include sponsorship request information in conference publicity (printed and website), and should pass on sponsorship requests to the Marketing and Sponsorship Director.

6. Marketing

This is an important component of conference organisation. It is expected that the Conference Organising Committee in collaboration with the Marketing and Sponsorship Director will give a quarterly report to the ICSEI Board regarding progress with its marketing activities. The Marketing and Sponsorship Director will develop a Marketing Strategy and Action Plan for the Conference Organising Committee and ICSEI Board. A draft will be developed two years prior to the conference and presented to the Conference ICSEI Board meeting for approval.

The Conference Organising Committee will provide a presentation to ICSEI Conference delegates in the year proceeding, as part of its marketing strategy.

Pre-conference publicity should begin approximately 18 months beforehand to give a good lead up time for potential delegates. It is recommended that at least two publicity brochures be produced and distributed in print and electronically to ICSEI members, to those who have attended past conferences and to those who have expressed an interest in attending the proceeding conference. Print materials should also be developed for distribution at occasional conferences that ICSEI Board members attend and for distribution to target audiences. These activities will be the responsibility of the Marketing and Sponsorship Director who will liaise strategy and distribution with the Conference Organising Committee. The Conference Organising Committee should budget for the marketing of the conference.

The Marketing and Sponsorship Director will use a variety of marketing strategies including online, print, brochures, associate journals and sponsors to promote ICSEI and the Conference. To do this effectively, the Marketing and Sponsorship Director will require an accurate membership database that can be continually updated online.

7. Conference schedule

7.1. Conference Schedule

This is provisional only and can be varied by agreement by the ICSEI Board to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

2007	Portoroz	Slovenia
2008	New Zealand	Auckland
2009	Canada	Vancouver

7.2. Past Conference Venues

1997	USA	Memphis
1998	England	Manchester
1999	USA	San Antonio
2000	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
2001	Canada	Toronto
2002	Denmark	Copenhagen
2003	Australia	Sydney
2004	The Netherlands	Rotterdam
2005	Spain	Barcelona
2006	USA	Florida

Authorisation of document:

President ICSEI: Lejf Moos Date: 10 January 2006

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