By February of each year, we will refresh the Ballast system and start accepting proposals for the year’s conference. Login to samla.ballastacademic.com, click “Propose a Session,” and follow the on-screen instructions. Your proposal is most likely a panel or a roundtable, organized as a special session. Regular sessions are established sessions that have run with SAMLA for 4+ years and have been approved to hold a regular session status. Be sure to include any co-chairs using the “Add Co-Chair Feature.” 

 Do not include any of the following in your proposal: 1) any text that suggests you will solicit abstracts via your email per a deadline that you set, and 2) any text, including your title, not properly formatted in MLA style. The global abstracts deadline for SAMLA is September 1, and all abstracts are solicited through Ballast, without exception. You are not allowed to solicit abstracts for SAMLA via email or set a deadline earlier than SAMLA’s global deadline.

Yes, updated on a regularly rolling basis. You can access the CFP page by creating an account on samla.ballastacademic.com and then clicking the “Call for Papers” tab. All accepted proposals will automatically appear on the internal CFP page. Applicants submitting abstracts will browse the CFP page and must submit their abstract to your session through Ballast. 

Once your proposal is accepted, it will appear on SAMLA’s internal CFP page. Applicants must submit their abstract to your CFP through Ballast. Please see points 3 and 4 above for additional information as needed. 

You would fall into the pre-formed panel category. First, the panel chair must submit the proposal to SAMLA using the “Propose a Session” feature on Ballast. See point one for instructions on how to submit. Then, once the proposal has been accepted, each of the people on the panel must create their own Ballast accounts and submit their abstracts to the chair’s CFP by clicking “Call for Papers” and searching for the proposal title. Finally, once all abstracts have been submitted, the panel chair must login to Ballast, go to their Session Manager, and “Accept” each of the abstracts.  

Pre-formed sessions submitted to SAMLA without following these instructions will be rejected. 

Your session falls under the Undergraduate Research Forum (URF) category. Please indicate “URF: ” at the beginning of your title when submitting your panel proposal. See point one for instructions on how to submit. Once the proposal has been accepted, each undergraduate must create their own Ballast accounts and submit their abstracts to the CFP by clicking “Call for Papers” and searching for the proposal title. Finally, once all abstracts have been submitted, the panel chair must login to Ballast, go to their Session Manager, and “Accept” each of the abstracts. 

Generally, it’s July 15^th, but please refer to the front page of samla.ballastacademic.com for any changes.  

The global deadline is generally September 1^st, but please refer to the front page of samla.ballastacademic.com for any changes. You must follow the SAMLA global deadline.

You will have one week after the global abstracts deadline has passed to finalize your selections. We recommend reviewing submitted abstracts on a rolling basis to prevent last-minute stress. 

Please click “Reroute” and ensure the abstract is being rerouted to the “General Call for Abstracts.” This allows SAMLA to do a second review before a final rejection. Please do not click “Decline.” 

Unless the SAMLA administrators have initiated an override, panels are capped at four maximum presenters (including the chair, if they are presenting). Roundtables are capped at ten maximum presenters (including the chair, if they are presenting).  

Login to Ballast. Go to your session manager. Click “Manage” next to your session title. Scroll to the bottom of that page below the list of abstracts. Click “I would like to request a split.” Provide a reason and submit your request. SAMLA will review and approve if your request meets the requirements. 

You should be proactively logging in to Ballast throughout the year once your proposal has been accepted to check if you have received enough abstracts. If you ask us for help at the beginning of September, we may be able to route some of the General Call for Abstracts papers to you. We are aware of which panels are underperforming in terms of abstract solicitation, so we will likely already know you are behind. We will do our best to boost you up and are moderately successful at doing so. However, please don’t rely on us. Boost your outreach. Get some of your students to join. If all else fails, and it sometimes does, we will have to withdraw acceptance of your proposal.  

Yes. You can request a co-chair if you would like at the time of submitting your session proposal on Ballast by clicking “Add Co-Chair” on the session proposal screen.  

At the conference, please introduce the topic of your session and your panelists. Please keep track of time, ensuring that each presenter does not exceed their allotted time, thereby disrupting the time of other panelists. You can consider holding up cards to alert the presenter when they have 5 minutes left, 2 minutes left, etc.  

Each track runs for 75 minutes. We generally recommend 60 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of Q&A.  

Yes. Like every other attendee, chairs must pay for both membership and conference registration.  

No. SAMLA does not accept scheduling requests. Panels can be scheduled for any time slot during the conference, although we will try to accommodate special circumstances.

No. SAMLA is a 100% in-person conference experience.