Funding Your Conference Attendance
Paying for professional learning opportunities can sometimes be challenging. Here are some suggestions for potential funding sources for you to consider as you make your plans to attend RP Conference 2024.
Potential funding sources for your conference attendance:
Student Equity and Achievement funds (SEA) on your campus may have professional learning as part of their Student Equity plan. If you aren’t already, become friends with whomever oversees these funds and make your case for funding for the conference.
Justification: “I would like to attend RP Conference 2024 and am asking for funding from SEA. The RP Conference is designed by and for California community college practitioners to share best practices and learn from each other. This year’s conference theme is Creating Student-Ready Institutions and Equity-Driven Change Through Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness. The conference will provide IRPE professionals with a dedicated space to strategize and share how they are informing and supporting equitable change focused on identified student needs and priorities at their institutions. Here are some of the breakout sessions I would like to attend: [list them here].”
Sessions that you can highlight to help make your case for using funding to attend the conference:
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Net Equity Change: A New Calculation to Evaluate the Equity Impact of Programs
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3 ½ Strategic Tools to Overcome Barriers and Promote Evidence-Based Change for Your Equity Initiatives
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Leading Change Through Equity-Focused Annual Planning and Program Review
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Show Me the Gay-ta! Elucidating LGBTQIA+ Data Practices to Elevate and Support Student Success
CA Adult Education Program (CAEP) funding can be used to support attendance at this conference. There are several breakout sessions about noncredit students and transfer success. If you aren’t already, become friends with whomever oversees these funds and make your case for funding for the conference.
Justification: “I would like to attend the RP Conference, and I am asking for funding from CAEP. The RP Conference is designed by and for California community college practitioners to share best practices and learn from each other. This year’s conference theme is Creating Student-Ready Institutions and Equity-Driven Change Through Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness. The conference will provide IRPE professionals with a dedicated space to strategize and share how they are informing and supporting equitable change focused on identified student needs and priorities at their institutions. Here are some of the breakout sessions I would like to attend: [list them here].”
Sessions that you can highlight to help make your case for using funding to attend the conference:
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Noncredit to Credit Alignment Lab - A Framework to Equity for Noncredit Students
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Exploring Geographic Barriers to Transfer for Latinx Students Living in University Education Deserts
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Improving Transfer Success in California Community Colleges with Funnel Analysis and Decision Trees
If your college has a Title V grant, there may be funds for professional development as a part of the grant. If you aren’t already, become friends with whomever oversees these funds and make your case for funding for the conference. Make sure you know what the objectives of your grant are so you can show how attending the conference will help your campus achieve the purpose of the grant.
Justification: “I would like to attend the RP Conference, and I am asking for funding from Title V. The RP Conference is designed by and for California community college practitioners to share best practices and learn from each other. This year’s conference theme is Creating Student-Ready Institutions and Equity-Driven Change Through Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness. The conference will provide IRPE professionals with a dedicated space to strategize and share how they are informing and supporting equitable change focused on identified student needs and priorities at their institutions. The conference has a number of breakout sessions that can help us realize the objectives of our grant. Here are some of the sessions I would like to attend: [list them here].”
Some sessions that you can highlight to help make your case for using funding to attend the conference:
If your college has received funding to address basic needs on your campus, you may be able to request funding to assist with attending the conference. You can talk with your college’s Dean of Counseling or your Student Equity Coordinator/Director to see if there is funding to support professional development opportunities.
Justification: “I would like to attend the RP Conference, and I am asking for funding from Basic Needs. The RP Conference is designed by and for California community college practitioners to share best practices and learn from each other. This year’s conference theme is Creating Student-Ready Institutions and Equity-Driven Change Through Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness. The conference will provide IRPE professionals with a dedicated space to strategize and share how they are informing and supporting equitable change focused on identified student needs and priorities at their institutions. Our college has really stepped up in the last few years to support our students in many ways, and if there is funding available, I would like to attend and participate in some of the sessions such as [list them here].”
Sessions that you can highlight to help make your case for using funding to attend the conference:
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Enrollment Rebound: Leveraging Findings from the Chancellor's Office Enrollment Monitoring and The RP Group Enrollment Decisions College Decision Survey to Encourage a Return to Higher Education at California Community Colleges
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Amplifying Student Voices–Riverside College's Student Street Team
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Cultivating Success: A Journey to the Aspen Prize through the IR Lens
AB 705 & AB 1705 Funds may be able to support your conference attendance. RP Conference is a great place to get ideas from practitioners in the field on how AB 705 & 1705 implementation efforts are going on other campuses. If you aren’t already, become friends with whomever oversees these funds and make your case for funding for the conference.
Justification: “I would like to attend RP Conference 2024 and am asking for AB 705/1705 funding. The RP Conference is designed by and for California community college practitioners to share best practices and learn from each other. This year’s conference theme is Creating Student-Ready Institutions and Equity-Driven Change Through Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness. The conference will provide IRPE professionals with a dedicated space to strategize and share how they are informing and supporting equitable change focused on identified student needs and priorities at their institutions. Here are some of the breakout sessions I would like to attend: [list them here].”
Some sessions that you can highlight to help make your case for using funding to attend the conference:
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Moving Beyond Implementation of AB 705 Towards Equitable Outcomes
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Equity in Action: Evaluating the Impact of the 2023 Hartnell College Math Academy on Student Outcomes
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Advancing Educational Justice: A Case Study of IRPE Practitioners and Faculty Implementing Equitable Placement and Completion Reform in California Community Colleges - Critical Tools for Data Collection and Collaboration
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All about Transfer-Level Math: Research Insights on Throughput, Pre-calculus, and Odds of Transfer
You can modify any of the suggested justifications listed above to fit any other grant or categorical funding you may have available for professional development. Always link the grant’s goals to the purpose of the conference.