Proposals are due 11:59pm Eastern Time, on Friday, October 30th, 2026!

The 2027 Gulf South Summit will take place March 17-19, 2027, in Atlanta, GA. The theme for the 2027 Gulf-South Summit is "Routes to Joyful Engagement: Rooted in Community, Moving with Purpose." Co-Hosted by SLIC Georgia and GivePulse, the conference committee are thrilled to welcome you to the beautiful Agnes Scott College campus in Decatur, GA.

We welcome presentation submissions that display and strengthen scholarship, advocate applied learning and social responsibility, apply solutions to complex challenges, and innovation to in-service learning. Presentations might include service-learning programs, courses, research, and partnerships and how to impact students and communities through knowledge, engagement, technological advancement, and action. 

Questions to ask when preparing your proposal:

• How are we finding or intentionally creating joy in our community-engaged work?
• How are we helping students connect, participate, and find purpose through service-learning and civic engagement?
• How do our engagement practices foster joy, belonging, and connection for our students, faculty, staff, and community partners?
• What actions should we take to promote service-learning at our institutions?
• How can we teach our students the importance of community and service-based learning in a more technological world?

Effective presentations should go beyond the “what” (i.e., purely descriptive) and include a grounding in context and practice (“so what?”) as well as lessons learned and recommendations for future practice or replication by others (“now what?”). 

The proposal submission form will ask presenters to provide presenter information, presentation title, abstract, and a brief description. Additionally, proposals will indicate what format is preferred for their presentation, the level of the intended audience (Introductory, Experienced, Both), the audience(s) they hope to address (faculty/practitioners, administrators, community partner agencies, students, or all audiences), and to identify thematic connections to this year’s theme.

Presentation Formats:

Individual Presentation (25-minute)

A 25-minute session allows presenters to share a concept or idea, research proposal, conduct a lightning talk, or facilitate a roundtable discussion on a topic of their choice. A brief Q&A may be included. Two 25-minute presentations will be paired together to fill a one hour presentation time slot.

Individual Presentation (60-minute)

A 60-minute session is designed to give presenters more time to go in depth and share information on an educational or professional topic of their choice. The session should include time for Q&A. 

Interactive Workshop

An interactive workshop is 60 minutes and should engage participants in activities that offer insight, practice, or instruction relevant to the topics discussed in the workshop. 

Panel Discussion

A panel discussion is a 60-minute Q&A session with co-panelists assembled by a primary presenter. A panel discussion should involve 3 or more individuals offering various perspectives on one topic. Panelists from different organizations and/or institutions are encouraged. 

Poster (student or professional)

Posters (visual display) are ideal for descriptions/models of civic engagement projects and programs.

Note: Other session proposals may also be considered for acceptance as a poster presentation. 

Thematic Focus Areas:

Atlanta grew up as a junction, a spot on the map chosen because rail lines converged there. It later rebuilt itself entirely, and its BeltLine now turns old rail corridors into the trails and connective tissue linking neighborhoods back together. This year's Summit takes that same instinct and applies it to our own work: how do we build, and rebuild, the routes that connect campuses and communities, and how do we make sure joy, not just obligation, is what travels along them. We'll explore the physical, technological, and relational routes that connect campuses and communities, and how tending them well can restore civic joy, not just civic duty. What makes community-engaged work, in the classroom and beyond it, feel joyful and sustaining, for faculty, practitioners, students, and community partners alike? How do the tools we use help us tell that story more clearly?

This year, the Gulf South Summit is seeking proposals that engage notions of civic joy in how we make either impact and/or inform community engagement. The five subthemes below offer a deeper dive into the theme to better guide proposals. 

Submissions should indicate how they represent or respond to the conference theme (Routes to Joyful Engagement: Rooted in Community, Moving with Purpose), by selecting one or more of the following thematic focus areas:

• Switch Points - How are communities, courses, and curricula forming, changing, and representing themselves? What decisions send engagement work down one track versus another?
• Blocked Signals - What are barriers to community engagement - physical, financial, organizational, or curricular - and what does it take to clear them?
• Junction Joy - What practices, partnerships, and moments make civic work feel joyful and rewarding?
• Powering the Line - How is technology, in particular AI, reshaping community engagement?
• Reading the Rails - How can we use research, data, and assessment to check whether engagement work is actually reaching where it intends? 

Presentation Timing and Location:

All presentations will be delivered in person at the conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Poster Session is scheduled during the opening reception on Wednesday evening, March 17. Poster presenters should plan to be present for the according session. All other presentations will be scheduled during hour-long concurrent sessions throughout the conference March 17-19, 2027.

Proposal evaluation: 

Proposals will be scored based on relevance to conference theme, quality of writing, originality, transferability, and alignment with best practices.

Submission Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, Friday, October 30th, 2026