By Erin O’Sullivan

If you’re a professional or student with an interest in furthering intramural sports, the 2014 NIRSA Intramural Sports Institute, being held June 10-12, 2014 in Oklahoma City, is the place to be!

This chance to represent your organization, network with leading intramural sports administrators and programmers, and gain exposure to the new and best ideas for college and university intramurals only comes around every other year.

“Going to this event really gave me perspective on where our program is and what direction [it] should be heading in the near future!”

However, why not take your attendance one step further and contribute your knowledge and skills? Our Association’s strength is rooted in the volunteer efforts of our members; the field of collegiate recreation continues to evolve and move forward because of the persistent and innovative strides of its dedicated members. Be a part of the momentum–share your passion, research, and ideas submitting a presentation proposal by January 27, 2014.

Presenting not only gives you an opportunity to show off what you campus recreation program is doing, but also to further your expertise, bolster your resume, and extend the reach of your personal and professional network.

For members looking to renew or become a part of the Professional Registry, this is a great opportunity to earn credits towards your continuing education and development. Professional Involvement Credits, or PICs, will be available for individuals who present or area part of the program committee. NIRSA members who attend educational sessions at the 2014 NIRSA Intramural Sports Institute will qualify for NIRSA Continuing Education Units, or CEUs.

The 2014 NIRSA Intramural Sports Institute is your chance to network with and be inspired by those who share your passion for intramural sports.

At the 2012 event, attendees earned up to 0.7 CEUs while engaging with a diverse and robust array of educational sessions. Presenters covered everything from concussions and injury prevention to pay-to-play sport models to employee training tactics. All sessions received above average reviews, with many reaching the “outstanding” designation. Attendee feedback included comments such as, Very helpful content that covered a lot of areas/topics I wouldn’t have otherwise thought to consider and Extremely knowledgeable and enthused presenters; I can’t wait to take some of these ideas back to my campus! Now is your chance to keep the momentum going and lead the charge as intramural sports continues to grow, develop, and guide students’ lifelong learning and values.

“The Intramural Sports [Institute] was great for a new professional in intramurals. It gave me access to new ideas to take back to my program. Nothing else could provide the networking contacts like this [institute] did for me.”

Submitting proposals is now easier than ever!

As always, you can utilize NIRSA’s guidelines for submitting effective proposals. This page not only provides tips for best constructing your title, description, and learning outcomes, but also shares the criteria that the program reviewers will be using when selecting proposals.

Additionally, beginning with the 2014 Intramural Sports Institute, the professional development and IT departments at NIRSA Headquarters are excited to offer a new online system for presentation submissions. This upgrade responds directly to member feedback and allows increased and improved accessibility and options for the submitter.

Among the many advantages this system provides to members are an ability to print and clone presentations, an ability to save a submission and come back to it later, an easier way for reviewers to rate proposals, and a more direct line of communication between reviewers and proposal submitters, especially when a proposal has been declined.

The short video below includes a step-by-step guide to the ins and outs of our new system.

Learn about NIRSA’s new Presentation Proposal software at YouTube.

You can access your presentation proposal dashboard at any time by visiting abstracts.nirsa.org.

Presenter Membership and Registration Requirements

“Intramural sports isn’t just about officiating any more and this event proves that.”

Lead presenters and co-presenters for all educational sessions must hold current professional, life professional, emeritus, student, or associate NIRSA member status at the time of submission of the presentation proposal through the event. They must also be registered for the 2014 NIRSA Intramural Sports Institute prior to the start of the event.

For more details on these guidelines and policies, please visit the NIRSA website.