Call for Proposals

The proposal window has closed.

Acceptance notifications will go out no later than February 29, 2024.

Please contact Virginia Shapland with any questions about the proposal process. 

Before You Get Started

 Proposed sessions may be in the form of presentations, panels, workshops, or roundtable discussions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Proposal Process FAQs (click to view or download)

Topics

CLEAR always seeks a wide selection of topics from diverse jurisdictions and both health and non-health professions and occupations. We encourage proposals that present information applicable to a variety of stakeholders.

Click the category boxes below to see more suggested subtopics for this year's conference.

  • Assessment of competency of licensees/New approaches to continuing education
  • Devising meaningful outcome measures that provide evidence of knowledge and competency
  • Regulatory Effectiveness and Efficiency Audits
  • Innovations in Quality Assurance, Continuing Competence and Improvement
  • Addressing issues with ungovernable/difficult registrants
  • Continuing Competence Review, Audit
  • Establishment of independent oversight bodies
  • Regulatory reform 
  • The politicization of regulation & anti-regulation sentiment from governments/policymakers (how to frame consumer protection arguments that will resonate)
  • Economic pressures driving regulation or regulatory changes
  • Cultural shifts and how what is regulated is changing, e.g. cannabis and hemp regulation
  • Innovative and effective strategies for analyzing and presenting data (e.g., data visualization, storytelling, dashboards)
  • The impacts of emergent technology (e.g., Artificial Intelligence) on regulators' work and the professions they regulate
  • Using data to inform decisions (e.g., risk assessments, developing relevant CE based on aggregate complaint data)
  • Demonstrating regulation's impact using data (educating the public, license holders, and legislators)
  • Data security & privacy - data ownership, mitigating security threats, protecting your stakeholder’s information, navigating GDPR & PIPL
  • Electronic credentials - e-licensing systems/data programs that (actually) work
  • Changing licensure requirements or creating alternate pathways as a way to address workforce shortages
  • Licensed online services and practice (telehealth)
  • Reducing barriers to licensure (reducing fees, reviewing laws related to criminal records, eliminating Citizenship or SSN requirements)
  • Licensing compacts and reciprocity agreements
  • Scope of Practice: Healthcare practitioner scope of practice and its effect on access to care
  • Licensure and freedom of speech cases, such as tour guides, diet coaches
  • Entry to Practice: Educating the soon-to-be-regulated; transition from school to work
  • Testing in Skilled Trades and Other non-healthcare areas
  • Unpacking different options for psychometric approaches
  • Unlicensed practice vs. use of title (“engineer” as an example)
  • Regulators’ responsibility toward public education and outreach
  • Defining your organization’s message and communicating it effectively
  • Creating and supporting interprofessional collaboration
  • How regulators do and can promote effective engagement with licensees
  • Harnessing social media for communication & outreach
  • Strategies for effective outreach and engagement with underserved communities 
  • Communication of practice standards (with licensees; with the public)
  • The future of regulation/the role of regulation in the future
  • Workforce mobility, intra- and international
  • Labor shortages and the role of the regulator in workforce recruitment
  • Next steps in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: examples of DEI work done by regulators
  • The intersection of politics and regulation; the impact of politics on regulation
  • The line between collaboration and collusion between licensing bodies and educational accreditors
  • Jurisdictions regulating new professions, such as behavior analysts, art therapists, music therapists, genetic counselors, certified professional midwives
  • Investigating allegations of sexual misconduct
Formats

Proposals may be submitted as one of three formats:

Theater: For presentation (lecture) or panel-style sessions.

Roundtable: For workshops or roundtable discussion style sessions.

Posters: Material will be presented via poster (authors will have the opportunity to interact with attendees during a scheduled "Poster Session").

Tracks

CLEAR's Annual Educational Conference is organized along four tracks of inquiry. Click the boxes below to learn more about each track.

Sessions that inform, educate, and inspire conference attendees to implement innovative solutions regarding legislation, policy, administrative leadership, and daily operations. Sessions that focus on operational efficiency, diversity, equity, inclusion, technology, cyber and physical security, updates to laws, governing policies and procedures, and media and stakeholder relations are in high demand. 

Sessions that educate in the professional discipline process and enhance knowledge and skills for better on-the-job performance by participants in the professional discipline process. The professional discipline process includes the entire process by which the state/province/government entity (1) receives information pertaining to possible violations of law by a member of a regulated group (or a person who purports to be a member of a regulated group), (2) investigates the information received, and (3) makes an appropriate case disposition.

Sessions that allow those involved in both the initial licensure/ registration / credentialing process and the continuing competence and professional development area to discuss the issues, trends, and challenges they face outside of the testing and examination realm. Topics may include defining competencies within a scope of practice, setting non-discriminitory standards of qualification (education, training, experience), implementing quality assurance mechanisms, establishing equivalencies, assessing practical experience, accrediting education providers, exploring artificial barriers to practice, labor mobility (national and international), appeals processes, when should the bar be raised or lowered, re-entry to practice scenarios, etc.

Sessions designed to inform, provoke discussion, and explore new topics related to all aspects of certification and licensing examinations. These topics may include such items as: job analysis, test development and validation, standard setting, test administration, scoring and analysis, score reporting, and examination challenges/defense.
Definitions

Session Coordinator: Person who submits the proposal; makes revisions per the program committee/subcommittee recommendations; enlists a speaker/presenter and a moderator (introduces speaker/presenter) at conference. A coordinator can be speaker or moderator, but not both. (Coordinator Responsibilities) 

Moderator: Person who introduces the session and speaker(s) and facilitates the session. A moderator can be coordinator but not a speaker. (Moderator Responsibilities)

Speaker/Presenter: Person who presents the materials at the conference. Speakers can be a coordinator but cannot be a moderator.

Submitting Your Proposal

Please be sure to have the following information ready to submit:

  • Contact information for Coordinator, Speaker(s) and Moderator
    • Please note if you do not have all speakers identified, you are still able to submit a proposal.
  • Proposed Session Title
  • Track
  • Proposal (no more than 500 words). Please include the following components: Learning Outcome, Innovative (new ideas or approaches), Evidence-Based (relevant research and data that demonstrates the quality of the content), and Practicality (explain practices or resources that attendees will be able to take home and use – such as handouts, website links for further information or specific actionable strategies).  Include major themes, challenges, lessons learned and general applicability for other regulatory bodies. Successful proposals will be broad in scope with international elements that fit diverse occupations and needs.
  • A minimum of three learning objectives. Each objective should be measurable.
  • Length of session
  • Session type 
  • NOTE: The proposal portal allows you to save progress and edit your proposal up to the submission deadline.