Organizing Committee

General Chair

Carla Strickland (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
chair2026@respect.acm.org

Committees

The ACM RESPECT Organizing Committee is charged with the planning, coordination, and development of the ACM RESPECT Conference, including topics, schedule, speakers, and coordination of any special events offered in conjunction with the conference.

Specifically, the Organizing Committee is responsible for:

• Developing the annual conference theme for and ensuring all conference planning decisions adhere to the ACM RESPECT mission.
• Developing an agenda for the conference that is timely, promotes dialogue, and contributes to the research base in computing equity.
• Securing volunteers to chair conference committees.
• Securing presenters, moderators, facilities, and equipment necessary to implement the conference.
• Supporting the Accessibility Co-Chairs
• Providing all the needed information to the Digital Co-Chairs

For questions related to the ACM RESPECT organization, contact the general chairs.

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Accessibility Committee:

The Accessibility Committee is charged with making ACM RESPECT accessible to and equitable for people with disabilities. This includes communicating the values and needs of disabled community members and facilitating the provision of accessibility services at ACM RESPECT.

Committee Members:

Committee Co-Chairs (2)
Committee Members (2-4)

Time Commitment:

• 1-hour monthly meeting with the Accessibility Committee
• 1-2 hours of work outside of meetings per month; more time may be needed in the lead-up to the conference.

The Accessibility Committee will focus on:

• Ensuring the conference location, venue, website, submission and review process, papers, presentations, meals, and social events are as welcoming and accessible as possible for all attendees.
• Ensuring attendee and presenter needs are understood and addressed.

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Program Committee:

The Program Committee will be responsible for crafting the content for the peer-reviewed portion of the program, including presentation modalities, by soliciting proposal submissions through a call for proposals and facilitating the peer review process, including soliciting and selecting volunteers, reviewing, and selecting proposals for the conference. The program committee is also responsible for the coordination of conference content publication.

Committee Members:

• Committee Co-Chairs (2)
  • Senior Co-Chair – Carla Strickland (University of Chicago)
  • Junior Co-Chair – Earl Huff (University of Texas at Austin)
• Track Chairs (10–15)
  • Research Papers
  • Experience Reports
  • Perspectives

Time Commitment:

• 1-hour monthly meeting with the Program Committee
• 2-3 hours of work outside of meetings per month; more time may be needed in the lead-up to deadlines and events, specifically during reviewer assignments, initial decisions, and final decisions

The Program Committee will include three tracks, with chairs leading each track:

Research Papers

Research papers are completed works that describe empirical studies of broadening participation research and are expected to be original work. Broadening participation research is inherently interdisciplinary; as such, related literature and theory may be drawn from computer science education, education, learning sciences, cognitive or social psychology, social sciences, and other related disciplines.

Experience Reports

Experience reports are completed works or works in progress that describe an educational or outreach approach, curricula, program, or initiative that focused on and impacted at least one underrepresented population in computing. Experience reports differ from research in that they usually lack a theoretical framework, research design methodology, and/or analysis to support the evaluation of the impact of the experiences reported.  All submissions in this track should provide a rich reflection on what worked, what didn’t, and possible explanations as to why in enough detail to allow others to adopt the approach/curricula/program/initiative.

Perspectives

Perspectives papers should communicate new ideas, reflections, or provocations within and beyond our current discourse on equity-based computing and computing education. They may also present a concise summary of a timely, relevant issue or an evergreen issue to computing equity. The Perspectives track combines prior Perspectives tracks (in 2024 and 2023) that were more focused on a single issue. Prospective authors may be informed by the examples set by the accepted works in those tracks. Submissions in this track must be grounded in theoretical literature, and sufficient references to support the perspective presented must be included. Acceptance will be based on the degree to which the reviewers find the perspective to be convincing, well-supported in the literature, timely, and coherent.

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Local Arrangements Committee:

The Local Arrangement Committee will work with the conference venue, local vendors, and other committees in the planning of the conference space, including room set-up, receptions, and other local logistics. The Local Arrangements Committee will also develop resources and opportunities for conference attendees to more fully engage with the conference location.

Committee Members:

• Committee Co-Chairs (2)
• Committee Members (2-4)

Time Commitment:

• 1-hour monthly meeting with the Local Arrangements Committee
• 1-2 hours of work outside of meetings per month

The Local Arrangements Committee will focus on providing an engaging experience, including:

• Partnering with the Finance and Supporters Committee on hosting inclusive and accessible receptions and serving as hosts during each event.
• Coordinating audio-visual requirements with the conference venue, General Chair, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Co-Chairs, and Program Co-Chairs to ensure the proper equipment is in place for each session, including microphones and projectors.
• Collaborating with Registration and Program Committees to coordinate room assignments for plenary and concurrent sessions, poster sessions, and meals.
• Setting the vision for how conference attendees can engage with local BIPOC communities and develop relationships with groups and individuals.
• Obtaining information and/or developing various guides for conference attendees with regard to local shopping, entertainment, and restaurants.

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Registration Committee:

The Registration Committee will be responsible for planning and running conference registration (both advance and on-site) procedures and logistics, including handling of credit card fees, cancellation policy, and creation of name badges.

Committee Members:

• Committee Chair (1)
• Committee Members (6-8)

Time Commitment:

• 1-hour monthly meeting with Registration Committee
• 1-2 hours of work outside of meetings per month; more time may be needed in the lead-up to the conference beginning in June

The Registration Committee will be responsible for:

• Creating a Whova contract and utilizing it for keeping the registrant count and other information.
• Determining and implementing registration discount codes
• Preparing for and staffing on-site registration/conference check-in, including providing any necessary supplies.
• Maintaining correspondence with registrants and answering any registration questions.
• Partnering with the General Chair to coordinate honorariums and accommodations for plenary speakers

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Finance and Supporters Committee:

The Finance and Supporters Committee is responsible for working with the General Chair to set the event budget and allocate areas of the budget to facilitate the resources needed by the other committee chairs. The Finance Committee is also responsible for making all payments, tracking income and expenses, and securing and tracking conference supporters.

Committee Members:

• Committee Co-Chairs (2)
  • Finance Chair
  • Supporters Chair
• Committee Members (2-4)

Time Commitment:

• 1-hour monthly meeting with Finance and Supporters Committee
• 1-2 hours of work outside of meetings per month; more time may be needed in the lead-up to the conference beginning in June

The Finance Committee will be responsible for:

• Preparing a budget and tracking expenses and revenue as planning progresses.
• Coordinating with the Registration Committee regarding registration payment procedures prior to, during, and after the conference.
• Obtaining the supporters’ financial commitments to support the activities of the conference.
• Developing recognition mechanisms for supporters, vendors, and other conference contributors.
• Partnering with the Local Arrangements Committee to make arrangements for supporters’ displays, including determining space availability.
• Preparing and sharing budget updates with the SIGCSE liaison and ACM RESPECT steering committee.