NOVEMBER 2026

What's In This Issue

Annual Conference Call for Proposals
Student Contest Flyers Are Available
New College Excellence in Student Engagement Award
Excellence Awards Submissions Due in Early February
November Events
Innovation Abstracts
The NISOD Papers
Schedule a 30-minute Liaison Orientation or Membership Refresher

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Banner promoting the 2027 CCCSE/NISOD Conference, May 26â€“29 in Austin, Texas, featuring illustrations of students and graduates and announcing that the call for proposals is open.

Seeking Presenters to Share Their Innovative Work

The Call for Presentations for the 2027 CCCSE/NISOD Conference is now open! Themed Advancing the Student Experience: The Next Frontiers, the conference is May 26-29, 2027 in Austin, TX.

Click the button below to share the link with others interested in showcasing their impactful best practices and insights. We invite you and your colleagues to submit proposals by January 20, 2027.

Get 2027 CCCSE/NISOD Conference Proposal Details Here!

STUDENT CONTESTS

Download Flyers and Invite Students to Showcase Their Talents

NISOD and CCCSE are excited to celebrate student voice in 2027! Students enrolled at NISOD member colleges and CCCSE participating colleges through May 2027 are invited to participate in our Student Essay Contest and Student Graphic Design Contest.

Click the square contest icons above for details including eligibility requirements, prizes, and new flyers to download and promote the contest at your institution.

The deadline for contest submissions is February 1, 2027. Email questions to membership@nisod.org.

COLLEGE EXCELLENCE IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AWARD

Introducing a New Recognition Opportuity

Is your college also a CCCSE Participating College?

Applications are open for the new recognition opportunity, the College Excellence in Student Engagement, which honors community and technical colleges that turn what they learn from students into meaningful institutional change.

If your college used CCCSE survey findings to improve a program, service, policy, or practice, this is an opportunity to share that work and receive national recognition for the team behind it.

The deadline to submit applications is February 1, 2027.

Click Here for College Excellence in Student Engagement Award Details!

EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Celebrate Your Superstars

Mark your calendar for February 1, 2027 for the deadline to submit Excellence Award recipients names to NISOD.

Don't miss this opportunity to recognize individuals who make a difference on your campus with their outstanding dedication to colleagues and students!

If your team needs the link to the submission form re-sent, please email victoria@nisod.org.

Above: Gaumani Gyanwali,

University of Arkansas-Rich Mountain (AR)

Extend the Recognition of Award Recipients on Campus

NISOD member colleges are encouraged to extend the recognition of Excellence Award recipients in various ways, perhaps in an on-campus school ceremony or announced in a regional or online community journal.

Recognition programs like the popular Excellence Awards not only recognize outstanding work, but reflect well on the college as a leading workplace investing in its team. An awards program also provides an institution with a way to deepen a culture of excellence and belonging.

Above: Macomb Community College (MI) recognized its Faculty (above, left) and Adjunct Faculty (above, right) 2026 Excellence Awards recipients in the college's Development Day in August. Photos courtesy of Macomb Community College.

EVENTS

Webinar

November 5,1:00-2:00 pm CT

From Access to Excellence: Developing Community College Students to Compete, Lead and Thrive in Higher Education and the Workforce (free)

Webinar

October 19,1:00-2:00 pm CT

The AI-Resistant Pedagogy Studio: An Interactive Toolkit for Assignment Redesign (free)

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

From Bystanders to Writers: A Media-Based Approach to First Year Composition

THE NISOD PAPERS

Why Should Instructors Encourage Greater Participation?

A Big Change for our Conference

If visiting the NISOD website recently, or you and your colleagues received our invitation to submit a proposal for the 2027 CCCSE/NISOD Conference, you may have admired the accompanying artwork, also shared above in the Annual Conference section.

This graphic design submission is titled "Born to be Heard" and was created by Arizona Western College student Saghey Barcenas, our winner in the 2026 Student Graphic Design Contest. This design never fails to energize me with its upward motion, rich colors and positivity. It was an honor to welcome and celebrate Ms. Barcenas and our three Student Essay Contest winners last May to the conference in Austin. We look forward to doing the same for four new students in 2027!

Those familiar with the annual conference's traditional timeframe — over Memorial Day weekend —- may have also noticed that next year, the conference will wrap up on Saturday ahead of Memorial Day on May 31, 2027, definitely different for the annual event.

If we can help with questions about the conference, awards, contests or anything else, please don't hesitate to contact the NISOD team.

Victoria Rios

Memberships and Partnership Manager

512-471-4054 | victoria@nisod.org

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