Submit a Presentation Proposal for the

2026 CUPA-HR Annual Conference and Expo

October 4-6 • Philadelphia Marriott Downtown • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Submit a presentation proposal by May 6.

Who Should Submit a Proposal?

• CUPA-HR members who are higher ed HR professionals with a story to tell or expertise to share
• CUPA-HR members who are subject matter experts who have unique insight into the challenges facing higher ed HR

We are looking for presenters to share their how-tos, best practices, case studies and lessons learned on timely and relevant topics of importance to higher ed HR. While we encourage all interested presenters to submit proposals on any topic(s) relevant to higher ed HR, our members have identified the following as key topics of interest:

• • AI and HR
  • Recruitment and retention
  • Cultural competence
  • HR data and analytics
  • Leadership development

Only CUPA-HR members are eligible to submit a presentation proposal for the annual conference. If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact [email protected] for details on membership and the dues amount for your institution or organization. Please note, submitting a proposal does not guarantee selection. 

Getting Started

• Learning Framework — Review the CUPA-HR Learning Framework. All CUPA-HR learning is connected to the Learning Framework.
• Exploratory Questions — Fine-tune your session idea even further by answering these questions:
  • How does your proposed topic relate to the CUPA-HR Learning Framework?
  • Why is the topic of interest to higher ed HR professionals of varying institution sizes and types — small public, large public, small private, large private, two-year, four-year, etc.?
  • What challenges will your session help others to overcome?
  • Could you co-present with a professional from another institution to give your session more depth?
• Proposal Guide — Use this guide to draft your presentation proposal submission prior to entering the information in the online form.
• Once you have started a submission, you can return to it at any time before the May 6 deadline by going to the My Proposals page in your CUPA-HR account (please note, however, that the form cannot be saved mid-page). You can also edit a submitted proposal before the May 9 deadline. Some fields in the form have character limits, and spelling/grammar checks are not available in the online form.
• To see examples of accepted sessions, check out the 2025 Annual Conference session lineup.

Before You Decide to Submit a Proposal

• Review Important Dates and Timelines — If you will be unable to meet these deadlines or do not have support from your institution or employer to present, please reconsider your decision to submit a proposal.
  • Proposal Submission Deadline: May 6 
  • Selected Speakers Notified: May 26 
  • Speaker Agreement Due From Selected Speakers: June 2  
  • Upload Session Materials to Conference App — Beginning September 24 
  • Delivery of Presentation: October 4-6
• Review the Indirect Costs of Presenting — In the spirit of camaraderie in which CUPA-HR was founded, presenters are asked to share their knowledge without compensation and are responsible for their own travel and conference registration costs. However, presenters do receive a discounted registration fee of $615 for presenters from higher ed institutions and $800 for presenters from corporate organizations.