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Process by which SER symposia, concurrent contributed sessions, and poster presentations are determined by Society.
Symposia
- SER sends an email in mid-July with a call for symposium proposals. Due mid-September of respective year.
- Proposals are reviewed and ranked by SER executive board members (President, Past-President, President-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer, and four Members at Large) in preparation for the Fall SER board meeting. Then a consensus is reached in person at the Fall SER board meeting regarding which symposia are selected. The board tries to keep a balance of topics and institutional representation. Review criteria include:
- Session topic (significance, innovation, impact, appropriateness for SER audience);
- Expertise and appropriateness of the moderator;
- Indication of whether speakers have committed to participating in symposium;
- Whether prospective moderator has served previously (an effort is made to give other members a chance);
- Career stage of the moderator (in some circumstances, an effort is made to pair junior and senior epidemiologists as chairs in a single session);
- Evidence of consistent SER membership in the last 5 years.
- In 2018, 57 proposals were submitted and 21 were accepted (37%).
- Starting in 2019, there will be a maximum of 2 symposium presentations allowed per SER member. The rationale for the cap is to provide opportunities for more SER members to plan and participate in symposia, and to encourage a broader range of symposium topics.
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Process by which SER workshops are determined by the Society for Epidemiologic Research executive board.
Workshops
- SER sends an email in mid-July with a call for workshop proposals. Proposals are due mid-September of the respective year.
- Proposals are reviewed and ranked by SER executive board members (President, Past-President, President-Elect, and five Members at Large) in preparation for the Fall SER board meeting. Then a consensus is reached in person at the Fall SER board meeting regarding which workshops are selected. SER workshops can be offered in two formats, in person and virtual. At the time of submission, the instructor has the opportunity to indicate their preferred format(s). In person workshops are limited to onsite space at the Annual Meeting. The board tries to keep a balance of topics and overall interest to the SER membership. Review considerations include:
- Session topic judged to be relevant and interesting for SER members
- Past workshop or other teaching experience of presenters
- Priority for novel or cutting edge methods or problems
- Range and depth of material judged appropriate for length of session
- Priority for workshops that use various creative resources to engage participants (code, simulations, animations, etc.) or for other creative instructional approaches
- Balance of topics and levels across selected workshops
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Oral Abstract and Poster Sessions:
- SER announces abstract submission system is open in late Fall. Deadline is usually in mid-January.
- Process by which volunteer peer-reviewers identified: at the time of membership registration every year, members have the option to check if they are interested in serving as an abstract reviewer. An email is sent to these volunteers to identify their areas of expertise to review (no limit on number of areas). A reviewer sign-up link is also included on the website, which current members can access.
- An email is sent out in November regarding a call for abstracts, which includes a link for volunteering to review the abstracts.
- In late January, abstracts are peer-reviewed by all SER members who volunteer.
- Abstracts that score below an agreed upon value (varies each year and depends on space constraints at meeting site) are retained for selection by Selection Chairs.
- Between the fall board meeting and the time the abstracts are reviewed, a spreadsheet requesting nominations for Session Chairs for the OAS is sent to SER executive board members.
- Board members submit their nominations in a “blinded” fashion to Executive Director.
- The nominations are then compiled and summarized across executive board members, and the final selection of Session Chairs is made by the SER president based on the following criteria:
- Expertise and appropriateness of the chair to lead OAS on topical area;
- Whether prospective chair has served as Session chairs previously (an effort is made to give other members a chance);
- Career stage of the session chairs (in some circumstances, an effort is made to pair junior and senior epidemiologists as chairs in a single session);
- Session topic (enough abstracts need to be submitted on topic for a OAS to be offered);
- Evidence of consistent SER membership in the last 5 years;
- Session Chairs are invited to participate by email by the SER President. If they cannot participate, the President chooses the next person on the list.
- Session Chairs are sent detailed instructions about how to choose from peer-reviewed, scored abstracts. They are provided with the average reviewer scores for each abstract. They are encouraged to select at least one student abstract for presentation.
- There is a maximum of 1 concurrent contributed session oral presentation per SER member (as first author of oral abstract presentation). In most years, there is no limit on the number of poster presentations per SER member. However, this is contingent on space allocation at the hotel in the current year. During years when there is limited physical space for poster presentations, high-scoring abstracts from individuals with multiple accepted abstracts will be placed in an online abstract program book.
- In 2018, 882 regular abstracts were submitted. 144 (16%) were accepted as oral presentations and 675 (77%) were accepted as poster presentations. Late-breaker abstracts have a lower acceptance rate.
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Click here to learn about the responsibilities of SER Executive Committee Members
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Nomination and Selection of The Society for Epidemiologic Research Leadership
Executive Committee
Nominations for Executive Committee positions are solicited through the general membership, membership and nominations committee, and current executive committee members.
General Membership: A Call for Nomination is sent to all current members of the Society to submit their recommendations. Self-Nominations are also accepted.
Membership and Nominations Committee: Committee members are asked to submit recommendations for consideration for each Executive Committee position to be on the ballot for the specific year.
Executive Committee: During the September board meeting, Executive Committee members review the nominations lists of potential candidates. At this time, Executive Committee members are invited to add additional names for consideration.
The Executive Committee reviews the list of nominations and prepares a slate for potential candidates based on prior SER engagement, recommendations, and in keeping with a balance of the many different aspects of diversity including field of expertise, experience, involvement with SER, social and demographic factors. Back up recommendations are listed as some members may not be interested/available to run for the position in the given year.
With a focus on diversity in all aspects, the Executive Committee reviews the overall balance of the existing board members with the leadership needs for the society.
Committee Co-Chair
Committee Co-Chairs are selected by the leadership of the society in conjunction with current committee co-chairs for the respective committee. Though not required, most committee co-chairs are selected by committee members on the committee. Involvement in the committee plays an important role in Committee Co-Chair nominations as well as diversity, as stated above.
Committee Members
Committee members are solicited through the membership registration form where members are asked to indicate which committees they are interested in serving. During the Spring of each year, Committee Co-Chairs receive a list of individuals who have indicated interest in serving on a committee. The Committee Co-Chairs review the current committee structure, committee needs, and put forth recommendations for new committee members through the SER Executive Director. All Committees submit their recommendations during the same time period, to ensure an overall balance across the committees. Members are able to indicate interest for more than one committee. The SER Executive Director reviews the requested list to verify if there is any overlap with other committees and current membership status. Once finalized, Committee Co-Chairs will receive the approved list of new committee members and begin inviting individuals to serve. Again, diversity is an important factor for the selection process of committee members.