10/03/2023
Interested in organizing the Queen's Graduate Conference in Literature (QGCL)?
Come to the first QGCL meeting of 2023/24 THIS THURSDAY to learn about how YOU can be involved in the planning of this conference! There are lots of positions available, for varying time commitments. Being involved in creating this conference is also a great addition to your CV :)
Available positions include:
Conference Organizer (1 Graduate Student, 2 Year Term)
Duties: Schedule and chair meetings, oversee conference schedule, secure and distribute funding, recruit and assign moderators to panels, liaise with the department, give introductory and closing remarks at the conference, advise conference committee members as needed, and ensure timely completion of duties by all committee members.
As with the GES, organizers are elected to a 2-year term. The terms are staggered so that there is a senior and junior conference organizer.
Thematic Directors (3 Graduate Students)
Duties: Write the CFP, choose the conference’s general themes (with input from committee members], and create topics and titles for panels in collaboration with the selections board.
Speaker Selections Chair (1 Graduate Student)
Duties: The chair must arrange a keynote speaker and a plenary speaker. Ideally, the later will be Queen’s alumnus. The chair will work with the thematic directors and/or the conference organizers to create a list of suitable potential guest speakers, propose guest speakers to the conference committee and solicit feedback, invite speakers and communicate with them as needed, and introduce the keynote speaker at the conference
Communications Coordinators (2-4 Graduate Students)
Duties: Create a page for the conference on the GES website (work with the GES Digital Information Coordinator), circulate the CFP to GES members, other graduate departments, and the UPEN site, send reminder emails close to the CFP deadline, compile all submissions so they are suitable for quick and anonymous review by the selections board, and send acceptance/rejection emails.
Media Manager (1 Graduate Student)
Duties: Advertise on the GES page, work in coordination with the English Department’s social media manager to create posts for the department socials and website, take pictures of a few panels during the conference to be posted on social media (with consent).
Creative Directors (2 Graduate Students)
Duties: One director will design and create programs (conference organizers must have final approval on design and schedule), and design and post advertisement flyers in Watson.
The second director organizes a virtual creative writing night during the conference, writes a blurb about a call for creative pieces for the CFP, and sit on the selection board to review creative pieces.
Virtual Logistics Coordinators (2 Graduate Students)
Duties: Provide Zoom links for the conference, manage tech onsite, attend panels and ensure tech is running smoothly, and monitor the chat to answer any logistical/technical questions.
Selections Board
This board need not be elected at the first meeting. All graduate
students are invited to participate, except for our communications coordinators to maintain the integrity of the blind submission process. The conference organizers will distribute a call for volunteers at least 2 weeks before the board reviews submissions.
Duties: read all abstracts, select papers for acceptance and rejection, organize accepted papers preliminarily into panels or group by themes, and send list of accepted and rejected papers to the communication coordinators. Recommended that either a conference organizer or thematic direct chair selections board meetings.
