Symposium
The Symposium for Inclusive Excellence builds a community where the diversity of people, perspectives and ideas are affirmed and celebrated.

2023 Call for Proposals
Please note that sessions should be 90 minutes in length. Priority consideration will be given to proposals that address inclusive excellence at CSU. The selection committee reserves the right to select sessions that align with the mission and vision of the Office for Inclusive Excellence. All proposals, including a session abstract of no more than 150 words, are due by Friday, June 30, 2023.
The Symposium invites presentation topics in areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, current national and international dynamics; topics directly relating to equity initiatives at Colorado State and the Northern Colorado community. Presenters may be students, faculty, staff, community members, researchers, local, regional, or national organizations, programs, and more.
Each year we ask presenters to consider submissions for proposals to share knowledge and build community across the CSU campus and beyond. When submitting proposals, please consider:
- Trending topics of diversity in higher education
- Current national and international dynamics
- Topics relating directly to equity initiatives at Colorado State University
Session Criteria
- Presentation Creativity – style, format, and title
- Learning Accommodations – consider a wide variety of learning styles and accessibility
- Audience Participation – engaging sessions tend to be more successful
- Discussion Time – build in enough time for audience discussion/questions
- Defined Target Audience – designate the demographic of attendees, which will consist of traditional and non-traditional age students, community members, faculty, and staff
We also invite proposals to lead self-care activities to inspire connections and promote the importance of prioritizing individual health to build a strong, inclusive community.
Symposium FAQs
The 2022 Symposium for Inclusive Excellence is open to CSU employees and students, as well as CSU alumni, affiliates, and local community members. Registration is required for all attendees.
Registration is required for all attendees and only takes a few minutes.
First you register through the link at the top of the Symposium page. You will then receive a “Build Your Schedule” email upon completion of the registration form. You’ll be able to create your schedule based on the sessions you are most interested in (similar to a conference) and download the Zoom event information directly to your calendar.
Yes! All online sessions, except for the two keynotes, will be recorded and made available after the live Symposium for Inclusive Excellence week is complete. We are aiming to have these resources up for our community within one month, but we ask for your patience as transferring, formatting, and captioning the files for so many sessions will take time. Folks outside of the CSU community will be able to access the recorded files when they are added to OIE’s YouTube account.
Most sessions, keynotes, and special presentations will be offered through Zoom, using both the meeting and webinar formats. The specific format for each session is indicated in the session description. Several events, including the opening reception, documentary film screening, CSU Inspire, and the MURAL’s Friday session, will be in person.
Webinar: Think of webinars like a virtual lecture hall or auditorium. Webinars help manage the online environment for large audiences. Typically, webinar attendees do not interact with one another and the average webinar has one or a few people speaking to an audience. Participants are encouraged to use the chat and Q&A features to engage with speakers.
Meeting: Zoom meetings enable attendees to use their video and audio features to participate in the session with their presenters. These sessions may include break-out groups, polls, robust audience discussion, and more.
Sign language interpreters will be available at all events during the week. Additionally, computer-generated captioning will be enabled for all virtual sessions through the Zoom platform.
For additional accessibility accommodations, please contact Lalo Velazquez at lalo.velazquez@colostate.edu.
While the Symposium for Inclusive Excellence has always been a popular event at CSU, since moving online we have seen registration numbers dramatically increase. To help us navigate the increase in attendance, please keep the following information and tips in mind:
- Be respectful of presenter(s)’ time and energies. All presentations are being hosted by our peers and colleagues within the CSU community and for many folks, this may be the first time they are presenting to such large audiences (in the virtual environment or otherwise). Thanks for your understanding and patience in advance!
- If you don’t already have Zoom downloaded on your device of choice, be sure to do so. All sessions will be hosted through the Zoom platform.
- Don’t join sessions more than 5 minutes before the scheduled start time.
- All sessions will be equipped with computer-generated, live captioning. View this quick guide to learn about how to access this feature.
- If you are in a session that is using the meeting format (meaning attendees can engage in the traditional Zoom setting using their video and audio as appropriate), please join the meeting with your mic muted and be sure your username reflects your name appropriately. Listen to the presenter and moderator’s prompts and only utilize your mic when asking a question or when instructed to.
- With so many moving parts, there are bound to be some changes to the Symposium for Inclusive Excellence schedule. Please be sure to rely on the emails and the Symposium website for the most up-to-date information.
Amber Sanchez
amber.sanchez@colostate.edu
About the Symposium for Inclusive Excellence
Beginning in 2001 with a one day event, Symposium for Inclusive Excellence (formerly the Diversity Symposium) has now grown into a week-long conference featuring dozens of sessions relating to diversity and inclusion, cutting-edge research presentations, a variety of keynote speakers, and a strand focused specifically on educators.
In addition to longer format talks, a highlight of CSU’s Symposium for Inclusive Excellence is CSU Inspire. This featured event brings 5 – 10 TED Talk-like sessions led by CSU faculty, staff, and students and focused on sharing engaging and inspiring initiatives happening on our campus in relation to social justice, in short 8-minute presentations.