2025 CUMU Conference: The Power of Place
October 26–29, Baltimore, MD

At CUMU, we champion the vital connection between urban and metropolitan campuses and their communities, recognizing that “place” transcends mere geography. The connection with our cities and regions shapes institutional missions and gives rise to partnerships with the potential to transform individual lives and regional vitality. The 2025 CUMU Conference, The Power of Place, explores how campuses nurture and build upon local assets to promote social and economic mobility, drive regional development, and foster community well-being.

Before submitting your proposal, we invite you to explore tracks, session types and formats, and review criteria to help guide your call for proposal submission.

Tracks

We invite proposals that showcase impactful work, critical perspectives, and innovative ideas. Proposals may highlight ongoing or completed work. Submissions should align with one or more of the following tracks, which show potential topics. Appropriate topics are not limited to the examples shown.

Social and Economic Mobility

• Access and student success from enrollment to graduation
• Workforce partnerships
• Affordability, accessibility, and opportunity
• Long-term tracking of institutional and individual success
• Student well-being

Anchor Strategies for Regional Transformation

• Effective anchor collaboratives
• Local and regional economic development initiatives
• Workforce pathways and business collaborations
• Public-private partnerships addressing public challenges
• Hyper-local and neighborhood-based initiatives

Institutional Mission and Infrastructure

• Student recruitment and retention
• Faculty and staff recruitment and retention
• Faculty promotion and tenure
• Resource development for innovation
• Aligning priorities and infrastructure for engagement
• Strategic planning

Educational Pathways

• Collaborative partnerships between K-12 and higher education
• Seamless transitions from 2-year to 4-year institutions
• Early college and college readiness models
• Supporting educators and investing in local schools
• Innovative programs to support professional development

Civic and Community Engagement

• Engaged research and scholarship within campus-community partnerships
• Open dialogue and civic discourse
• Sustainable, equitable cross-sector partnerships
• Strengthening democratic processes and civic life
• Building community trust

Measuring Impact and Storytelling

• Evaluation methodologies for partnerships
• Campus and system-wide approaches to tracking and assessment
• Data-informed programs and policy
• Innovative storytelling techniques

Session types and formats

The CUMU Conference offers a range of formats that afford participants different methods to access and engage with innovative ideas.

Traditional sessions

Traditional sessions are 45 minutes long. Please select the session type that best fits the content you plan to present.

• Community Conversations: The presenter(s) facilitates a discussion that engages participants to better understand and strategically approach a complex scenario facing their campus and community. 45 minutes. Should use a peer-coaching/design-clinic format. We recommend no more than two presenters/facilitators.
• Mini Workshop: The presenter(s) lead an interactive session through which attendees learn about a new process, infrastructure, or policy approach. 45 minutes. We recommend no more than three presenters.
• Panel Presentation: A group of panelists with diverse viewpoints and perspectives engage in a facilitated discussion with time for participant questions and reactions. 45 minutes. We recommend no more than five panelists (facilitator included).
• Research and Impact Presentation: The presenter(s) share original research, impact evaluation, or design and implementation of an innovative program, initiative, or methodology. Participants are invited to offer questions and feedback. 45 minutes. We recommend no more than two presenters.

Dynamic sessions

Some of the most popular events at the CUMU Conference are dynamic sessions—the poster session and roundtables. Both events allow presenters to share their work with larger groups of people in a more intimate, conversational setting where the participants are moving around to join the conversations they find compelling.

• Poster sessions: Presenters share original research, program or policy innovations, or evidence-informed practices. The presenter provides a poster which is displayed in the poster reception area. During the poster reception, conference participants are invited to peruse all the posters and interact with presenters while enjoying beverages and snacks. 75 minutes. We recommend no more than two presenters.
• Roundtables: Roundtable presenters/facilitators engage three rotating small groups of up to 10 people in a discussion of a project, program, or initiative. Each presenter/facilitator is assigned to a table in the large banquet room, and conference participants join the table for a 25 minute conversation, then move on for a total of three 25-minute conversations. Presenters remain positioned at their own tables while participants rotate three times. 75 minutes with three 25-minute discussions. We recommend no more than two presenters.

Pre-conference workshops

Pre-conference workshops take place Monday, October 21, 8:30–11:30 a.m. These in-depth workshops target specific audiences for interactive skill development and collaborative learning. Three hours. We recommend no more than four presenters.