Oct. 23 – 26, 2025
Grand Traverse Resort, Acme
The Call for Proposals is now open for the 2025 Michigan Association of School Boards Annual Leadership Conference; submissions are due by Friday, April 11!
This year’s event will take place Oct. 23 – 26 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme, Michigan. MASB needs your expertise to create exceptional learning experiences throughout the conference. To this end, we are seeking Clinic Session presentation proposals from school districts, school board members, thought leaders and organizations.
Clinic Sessions will be presented Friday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 25. All sessions will be 60 – 75 minutes.
SUBMIT PROPOSAL
MASB strives to provide the highest quality educational leadership for boards of education in Michigan. The Annual Leadership Conference is the Association’s flagship event—a comprehensive four-day learning and networking experience bringing together hundreds of board of education members, school district leaders and content experts. The goal is to inform and equip school board members so they may govern and lead their districts effectively.
There is significant competition to present Clinic Sessions, and a limited number of proposals will be selected. The best proposals:
- Honor the governance role of boards of education. School district governance is complex. Prior to submitting a proposal, familiarize yourself with the roles and responsibilities of school board members as outlined here.
- Allow and manage time for participant interaction. Clinic Session time passes quickly. The best sessions share information while also creating space for engagement and interaction that help ensure learning outcomes.
- Include the voice of school board members. If you are a superintendent, partner with members of your board. If you represent a business or organization, partner with a school district that has experience with your session topic and invite a school board member and superintendent to co-present with you.
- Refrain from selling. School board members come to the conference to learn and network. If you want to develop a relationship with participants, share a success story, not a sales pitch.
Presenting at MASB’s Annual Leadership Conference is the ideal way to share best practices, disseminate effective strategies and deepen understanding of emerging issues in education.
SUBMIT PROPOSAL
If you have any questions, please contact Education Programming Manager MacKenzie Feldpausch, M.A.
CONTACT ME
An annual statewide conference like this offers access to training that can benefit both you as an individual board member and your district. Research indicates that boards with high expectations, united teamwork with the superintendent, good understanding of data, and a focus on team development and knowledge building often govern districts with high student achievement.
This conference also presents a great opportunity to learn from your fellow board members. Use this time to build personal relationships, share lessons learned and best practices. This way, everyone can benefit from your experiences and expertise in your role, and you can learn from theirs.
Event Policies
Accessibility and Accommodations
MASB strives to hold meetings, conferences and other professional events with no barriers of any type that would exclude people from attending or participating. If you require any kind of accommodation to fully participate, special dietary meals, or have questions regarding accessibility, please contact Whitney Haughey, CMP, Conference and Event Planner at least two weeks prior to the in-person event date.
Cancellations
In-person and virtual event registrations:
No refunds are given for cancellations within seven days of the event; substitutions may be made in lieu of cancellations. All cancellations must be submitted in writing and will be charged a $25 cancellation fee.
Online/recorded registrations:
There are no refunds or substitutions given for self-paced online courses or recorded webinars.
Code of Conduct
MASB is dedicated to providing a harassment-free program experience for everyone. Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated and is defined as:
- Harassment, intimidation or discrimination in any form related to gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, physical appearance, age, experience or other characteristic.
- Use of hateful, obscene, defamatory, discriminatory or violent language.
- Use of sexual language, nudity and/or images.
- Unwelcome or uninvited attention or contact with another participant.
- Expressed or implied threat of physical or professional harm.
- Harassing photography or recording.
- Sustained disruption of presentations, sessions or other events.
MASB reserves the right to take any action deemed necessary and appropriate in response to any incident of unacceptable behavior, including immediate removal from the event without warning or refund and restrictions on attendance at future MASB events. If you experience harassment, notice unacceptable behavior or have any other concerns, please contact an MASB staff person or member of the MASB Board of Directors immediately. We value your attendance.
Disclaimer
MASB reserves the right at any time and in its sole discretion to cancel this event or limit capacity due to actual or threatened acts of God, fires, floods, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, government regulation, strikes, failure of public utilities, unusually severe weather, or other similar cause beyond the control of MASB making it illegal, impossible or inadvisable to hold the event as advertised and presented. If capacity is limited, MASB will process in-person registrations in the order they are received until reaching the capacity limit and then all other registrations shall be processed to allow for virtual attendance.
Event Access and Materials
In-Person Events:
All handouts and materials will be distributed in person, if approved by the presenter or instructor.
Self-Paced Online Courses:
To access a self-paced course or recorded webinar, log in to your MASB account and click the Learning Portal button. If you have additional questions, please contact us at compass@masb.org.
Virtual Events:
Your access and handout links will be sent via email by 1 p.m. the day before the event.
Event Photography
Registration and attendance at, or participation in, MASB’s conferences, CBAs and other activities constitutes an agreement by the registrant to MASB’s use and distribution of the attendee’s image or voice in photographs, videos, electronic reproductions and audio recordings of such events.
Guest Policy
Guests are required to be pre-registered in order to participate. A guest is defined as a spouse, significant other, family member, or friend of a registered participant. School board members and school district staff are not eligible to register as guests. Guests are not eligible for education credits or SCECHs and must be identified as a guest during the entire event.
Join the Conversation
Share with others that you are attending on social media using #MASB. Be sure to tag us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Meal Policy
MASB makes every effort to keep costs for programs and services as reasonable as possible for members.
To help with that effort, and out of respect for all our registered attendees, we ask that you please understand the following:
- All meal functions are for registered attendees only and are based on their session enrollment. (Morning session: includes breakfast; afternoon session: includes lunch; full-day registration: includes both breakfast and lunch.)
- Attendee name badges are required during the entire event. (Board Member Certification Classes, General Sessions, Clinic Sessions, Delegate Assembly, Meals, Receptions, etc.).
- Meals provided by MASB are to be consumed in the designated meeting space identified for that portion of the programming.
- Food and beverage items are not permitted to leave the meal function room unless already agreed upon by MASB staff.
No Recording
Out of respect to our speakers and facilitators as well as to protect your investment, please do not record any MASB CBA, Preconference, General or Clinic Session, event or workshop.
Non-Member Event Participation
Individuals who are not school board trustees may attend MASB events that are specifically designed for them; an event they have received an invitation to; or an event sponsored by a member district that they have been invited to participate in. A prime example is events planned specifically for a candidate running for the school board. MASBs standard for non-members is a 30% increase in service/registration rates.
Participant Capacity Limits
MASB reserves the right to CANCEL all classes that don’t meet minimum registration requirements.
MASB reserves the right to set a maximum capacity for any event. If maximum capacity is reached, MASB will add registrants to the waiting list in the order they are received.
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