Conference Proposals

The Illinois Council on Family Relations would like to invite you to consider submitting a proposal to present at the annual conference on Friday, April 4, 2025. This conference will be a full day and hosted at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. After proposal are reviewed, presenters will be notified via email. The schedule for the conference will be shared with presenters soon after the notifications are sent. The theme for the ILCFR 2025 Conference is Strengthening America’s Safety Net: Supporting Women, Children, and Families.

We are seeking proposals which relate to the conference theme and general submissions about couple and family relationships. We welcome the following groups to submit proposals:

  • Undergraduate and graduate students
  • Researchers and educators
  • Practitioners and social service providers
  • Family life educators
  • Members of the community

We are seeking proposals in the following presentation formats:

  • Paper Presentation
  • Poster Presentation
  • Panel Discussion
  • Workshop

All proposals submitted will be blind peer reviewed by the ILCFR proposal review committee.

All Proposal Submissions are due by March 7, 2025, at 11:59pm.

Presenters will be notified by March 15, 2025.

Proposals must be submitted electronically and include the following:

  • Proposal title (Limited to 12 words or less)
  • Authors’ names, education level, and affiliation
  • Presenter(s) names
  • Abstract (not to exceed 500 words) – a description of your proposed presentation, including how it relates to the conference theme
  • 3-5 key words that your presentation focuses on
  • Your Preferred format: paper presentation, poster presentation, panel discussion or workshop*

*A workshop focuses specifically on techniques and/or skills either in a particular field or related to a particular topic.

Special instructions for undergraduate student proposals:

  • It is expected that you will work with a faculty mentor who will help guide you through the creation of your proposal
  • It is expected that your faculty mentor will read through your proposal before you submit it to ILCFR and, when needed, offer you suggestions for edits.
  • If you are submitting a poster with a faculty member, ILCFR would like you (the student) to be the presenter at the conference poster session.

Please use the button below to submit a proposal for the conference.

ILCFR 2025 Conference Proposals