The American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC) seeks proposals from U.S.-based organizations that can demonstrate strong partnerships with healthcare and community health systems to host Collaborating Across Borders IX in Spring/Summer 2025.
Full Proposals due by March 31, 2023 at 11:549 pm CT
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Background
The Collaborating Across Borders (CAB) conference is a signature event of the AIHC (https://aihc-us.org), planned and delivered in partnership with our Canadian partner, the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC). CAB is the premier Canada-United States joint conference focusing on an exploration of common issues around interprofessional practice and education. The biennial series was launched in 2007 as a North American interprofessional initiative where educators, clinicians, researchers, policy makers, students, and patients on both sides of the international border engage in rich and productive dialogue regarding interprofessional education, practice, policy, and research. The conference moves between Canada and the United States in odd-numbered years. In 2023, CIHC is working to expand the reach of CAB VIII, hosted by the University of Toronto, to reach a broader audience, including Francophone residents of Europe and Africa. Consideration of expansion of CAB IX to be more inclusive of other nations, such as all of North America or the Western Hemisphere, is a possibility.
The CAB conferences have grown dramatically since 2007 in terms of program and attendance. The first conference was founded in 2007 by the University of Minnesota in collaboration with CIHC. The University of Minnesota is home to the AIHC and the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. In 2018, AIHC became the professional community of the National Center. The following is a summary of attendance at previous CAB conferences.
- CAB I. University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; October 2007. 250 attendees.
- CAB II. Dalhousie University; Halifax, Nova Scotia; May 2009. 400 attendees.
- CAB III. University of Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; November 2011. 750 attendees.
- CAB IV. University of British Columbia; Vancouver, British Columbia; June 2013. 750 attendees.
- CAB V. Virginia Tech University, Roanoke, Virginia, October 2015. 680 attendees.
- CAB VI. University of Alberta; Banff, Alberta; October 2017. 600 attendees.
- CAB VII. Indiana University; Indianapolis, Indiana, October 2019. 625 attendees.
- CAB VIII. University of Toronto; virtual, May 2023. Anticipated 300+ attendees.
To learn more about past Collaborating Across Borders conferences, visit the 10th anniversary collection of CAB conference programs, highlights, and abstracts here: https://nexusipe.org/CAB
Host Institution
As the professional community of the National Center (nexusipe.org) at the University of Minnesota, and based upon experience over the past fifteen years hosting CAB in the United States, AIHC is restructuring the roles and responsibilities for the host institution to make it more accessible for institutions to consider while also limiting the potential financial and other risks for a host institution.
An ideal host could be a single institution or a collaboration among multiple institutions within a vicinity. The countless benefits to hosting Collaborating Across Borders include:
- Elevating local innovations in interprofessional practice and education through strong community involvement.
- Local IPE leaders engaging and learning national and international experts.
- Strengthening of local interprofessional practice and education efforts through visibility of location, national and international efforts.
- Creating learning experiences for faculty, staff, community practitioners and students through proximity of a premiere international meeting within the community.
Financial Liability
The AIHC, together with the National Center, will assume all financial liability for CAB IX. Contracts will be negotiated and signed by AIHC/National Center when possible and in partnership with the host institution when appropriate or necessary in order to secure the best terms based upon local relationships. AIHC/National Center will develop and manage the conference budget and will be responsible for all financial decisions.* All realized profits/losses resulting from CAB IX will accrue to AIHC/National Center.
*As noted below, host institution maintains financial responsibility for opening reception.
Host Institution Role and Responsibilities
The AIHC is seeking a host institution to provide local leadership and coordination of activities as well as facilitate connections within the local community to support a successful CAB conference, including conference/meeting space and lodging. Priority will be given to proposals that can offer free/reduced fee conference spaces with close proximity lodging (within walking distance).
Host responsibilities include:
- Liaise partnerships within and between the host institution and local community partners.
- Identify individuals appointed to serve in key roles throughout the planning process, including:
- An individual/team to serve as the point of contact for communication between the host institution and AIHC/National Center
- Individual/individuals to serve on CAB executive and planning committees
- Staff support onsite throughout duration of meeting (estimated 5 logistics staff and up to 10-20 faculty/student volunteers)
- Facilitate and assist in negotiations with local vendors to secure contracts as needed to support the conference (hotel, space, catering, technology, etc).
- Organize and pay for an opening reception for CAB meeting attendees.
- Fundraise toward the enhancement of the conference.
Additional details regarding host responsibilities and financial obligations can be found in the proposal submission section below.
AIHC/National Center responsibilities include:
The AIHC, together with the National Center, will serve as primary meeting planners for CAB and will take full financial responsibility for the conference (outside of opening reception) while working in close collaboration with the host institution for decisions regarding space, technology, accommodations and related decisions. The National Center has significant program development and planning expertise. AIHC/National Center will maintain program decision responsibility to assure quality of content delivered.
Meeting planning services provided by AIHC/National Center include:
- Convening an Executive Committee and all relevant subcommittees, including representation from AIHC, CIHC, host institution and the National Center. Committees will have responsibility for selecting conference theme, speakers, and sessions.
- Establishing all fees, costs, and schedules and making all financial decisions associated with the conference based upon dynamic real-time data throughout the conference planning process.
- Developing and hosting the CAB IX conference website.
- Managing the Call for Abstracts and Peer Review process.
- Providing Jointly Accredited US interprofessional continuing education credit for appropriate sessions.
- Entering into agreements with and reimbursing any invited plenary speakers.
- Developing and managing the conference budget, including all elements of the meeting (registration and speakers fees, AV, conference amenities, food and beverage, managing hotel room-block agreements, etc.).
- Negotiate hotel and meeting venue contracts, working with the local host if needed (i.e. university facilities or vendors).
Proposal Submission
Institutions* interested in hosting CAB IX are invited to submit a letter of intent and proposal in pdf format on the following dates.
All institutions considering the submission of a proposal are requested to submit a letter of intent by Friday, February 17, 2023 at 11:59 PM. The letter of intent will be submitted as an online form.
Institutions interested in hosting CAB IX are invited to submit a full proposal in pdf format no later than Friday, March 31, at 11:59 PM. Proposals will be submitted through an online form and will include two PDF documents, 1) Proposal, and 2) Institutional Letter of Support. To submit the full proposal, click here
If you have questions regarding the Letter of Intent or the Call for Proposals, please contact Jennifer Kertz, National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, at jkertz@umn.edu.
*As noted earlier in this document, an ideal host could be a single institution or a collaboration among multiple institutions within a vicinity.
Attendee Assumptions
CAB IX will be the first in-person convening of Collaborating Across Borders since the COVID-19 pandemic. With this in mind, attendance is difficult to predict and can’t be assumed based upon previous attendance trends. Host institutions are asked to base proposals on attendance scenarios ranging from 450-600.
Conference Format and Dates
The conference will be held spring/summer 2025. Typically the conference is four days with optional pre-conference workshops and an opening reception on Day 1. The conference programming is usually completed by the afternoon on Day 4. In your proposal, please identify proposed month/dates for the conference.
Budget and Sponsorships
AIHC, together with the National Center, will maintain all responsibility and oversight of the conference budget and will set registration fees. Host institution will be responsible for all costs associated with the opening reception. The host institution is encouraged to seek local sponsors to offset costs of the opening reception. Beyond the cost of the opening reception, funds raised locally can be applied toward student scholarships, host institution expenses and/or other meeting enhancements. Plans for use of locally raised funds must be in alignment with CAB conference goals and approved by AIHC/National Center.
In addition, the host institution will work in partnership with AIHC/National Center and CAB Executive Committee to secure national sponsorships to ensure the financial viability of the CAB IX meeting.
Required Letter of Intent Elements
Letter of Intent will be submitted via an online form. Please be prepared to submit the following information:
- Name of Host Institution/Collaboration
- Contact Name
- Contact Phone
- Contact Email
- Proposed City for Conference
- Brief statement about institution’s interest in hosting CAB IX. (Up to 300 words)
* If you would like to submit a proposal to host CAB IX but miss the February 17 deadline, please contact Jennifer Kertz, jkertz@umn.edu.
Required Proposal Elements
Proposals will be submitted via an online form. Please upload a PDF with your responses to the following sections: Contact Information and Location, Statement of Interest, Host Institution Overview/Commitment to IPE, and Proposed Conference Venue (limit of five pages). The Letter of Support will be submitted as a separate PDF (limit of two pages).
- Contact Information and Location
- Name of Host Institution/Collaboration
- Contact Name
- Contact Phone
- Contact Email
- Proposed City for Conference
- Proposed Dates for Conference
Statement of Interest
A brief statement describing your institution’s interest in hosting CAB IX and why you believe you are well positioned to host the premier North American interprofessional conference.
- How you believe local IPE program goals will be advanced by hosting CAB IX.
- Unique attributes/considerations of your institution that would serve to illustrate interprofessional collaboration to CAB IX attendees.
- Experience relevant to hosting CAB IX i.e. experience offering large conferences, fundraising, etc.
- How the host institution will assist AIHC/National Center to develop and implement CAB IX (ability to solicit sponsors, availability of volunteers (including student volunteers), relationships to support site/vendor sourcing, other factors you want to highlight for consideration).
Host Institution Overview/Commitment to IPE
Brief statement describing the institution and/or collaboration of institutions submitting the proposal and their commitment to advancing interprofessional practice and education locally, regionally and/or nationally.
- Description of local IPE program and/or IPE collaboration
- Professions/disciplines involved in interprofessional initiatives
- Program and/or financial resources available to support CAB IX
Proposed Conference Venue/s
Description of the proposed conference venue/s, including a description of the city, conference facilities, estimated costs, catering options, suitable hotels, transportation (specifically size of airport and international status, distance from conference site to airport, travel times by air and/or car from a geographic sample of larger cities), culture and entertainment, walkability of the proposed conference venue as well as access to sufficient restaurants and other amenities within walking distance.
Conference venue/s should have capacity for up to 10 concurrent sessions in relative proximity, plenary sessions and an opening reception. Venues should have capacity for 450-600 people. Please note in your proposal maximum capacity for plenary and concurrent sessions given your proposed conference venue. Hotels should be located in close proximity (walking distance) to the conference venue. If hotels are not within walking distance of the conference venue, please describe the proposed transportation plan for conference attendees to travel between conference venue and hotel.
Proposals that address experience working with the conference venue and vendors to secure low and/or no-cost contracts, discounts and/or limited liability hotel room blocks will be given preference. Please include rates and estimated costs, when applicable.
Institutional Letter of Support
Letter of support on institutional letterhead from institutional leader who would assume responsibility for the conference. Letter should include:
- Names of institutional units providing local conference leadership.
- Statement of why the institution wants to host CAB IX and how you believe the institution will benefit from the international exposure.
- Commitment to organize and pay for an opening reception for CAB IX attendees. Please include strategies planned to cover expenses related to opening reception.
- Any financial and/or programmatic commitments made to ensure a successful meeting, including institutional sponsorship, financial support and/or in-kind resources.
Review Process
A review panel including AIHC members with conference planning experience will evaluate all submissions using a standard rubric. The AIHC Executive Committee will maintain responsibility for the review of financial aspects of the proposal.
Finalists will be invited for an interview to provide additional detail and/or clarify questions. Identification of key personnel to represent host institution and serve in key leadership roles would be required prior to selecting a host institution. The AIHC Executive Committee will make final decisions.
Timeline
| Monday, January 23, 2023 | Release CAB IX Call for Proposals |
| Friday, February 17, 2023 | Letter of Intent due |
| Friday, March 31, 2023 | Proposal submissions due |
| Mid April 2023 | Finalist Interviews |
| May 16-18, 2023 | CAB IX Host Announced |