Iowa State holds a conference every year for race and ethnicity in which all who attend have the opportunity to reflect and unpack different aspects of race and ethnicity. 

According to the ISCORE website, the Thomas L. Hill Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity (ISCORE) is a comprehensive forum on issues of race and ethnicity at Iowa State and beyond. The local conference is designed to model the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE).

The NCORE-ISCORE Project consists of a delegation of Iowa State students, faculty and staff who attend NCORE and then return to campus to share information and experiences with the university community.

Japannah Kellog, director of the NCORE-ISCORE Office, said this year’s conference will look different due to the pandemic, but there will still be discussion over these serious topics. 

“Under the circumstances of COVID-19, it has given us the opportunity to be creative in order to keep our campus committed to continuing conversations around this topic,” Kellog said. 

Kellog said there is a planning committee of 20 professionals and a student advisory board that meets in order to plan the virtual conference. He said ISCORE will be held as a virtual conference over the course of three days instead of two, like the previous years. He said this is to ensure students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to attend sessions and present sessions themselves. 

“In this situation, we really want to embrace the barriers that are facing our campus,” Kellog said. “However, we also want to provide some degree of normalcy.”

Kellog said the goal of this year’s ISCORE conference is to incentivize people to learn from different sessions and apply it to action.

Kellog also said he encourages people to consider presenting at ISCORE by submitting a proposal. 

“With all things that have happened this summer, I don’t think there is a shortage of real-life experiences surrounding these topics,” Kellog said. “I think the best thing about ISCORE is that people put time in researching their point of view; it enlightens the audience.”

The following are requirements for a proposal for an ISCORE presentation. 

1. Title

2. Abstract of 200 words or less to be used in the conference program

3. Presenter(s) information:

• Name as it should appear in the program

• Job title or academic classification (graduate, senior, junior, etc.)

• Department or major

• Contact information of presenter(s) (mailing address, phone number and email)

4. Students only: Name of your professional mentor assisting you through the process (A professional mentor is a staff or faculty member you have consulted regarding your presentation for topic selection, presentation review, development of learning outcomes, etc.)

5. Provide 1–2 learning outcomes. These will describe what those present in your session should know or be able to do as a result of having attended it.

Submissions for proposals are due by Dec. 1, and notifications and acceptance for proposals will be sent out Dec. 16.  

For those interested in participating in ISCORE, they can submit their proposals here.

More detailed updates will be released at a later date. 

ISCORE is free and open to the Iowa State community. It will take place March 4 and 5. The pre-conference for faculty, staff and volunteers will take place March 3.