Responsibilities of Presenters
Presenters Should:
- Register for the GPSA meeting at least three to four weeks in advance.
- Send electronic copies of papers to panel discussants, chairs, and other presenters at least two weeks prior to the first day of the GPSA conference.
- Prepare a short presentation of the paper for the panel discussion.
- Refrain from indulging in extensive discussion of methods, statistics, and/or literature.
- Refrain from reading large sections of papers.
- Have available as appropriate some copies of the paper to hand out to audience members after the talk.
- Accept the comments of the discussant and audience as constructive.
- Refrain from indulging in ideological discussions of policy with the discussant and/or audience.
Responsibilities of Panel Chairs
Panel Chairs Should:
- Assist the Program Chair, if necessary, with identification of appropriate discussant.
- Register for the GPSA meeting at least three to four weeks in advance.
- Send reminders, if necessary, of meeting and paper deadlines to presenters and discussants.
- Arrive at the panel early to ensure the room is properly set up.
- Introduce members of the panel.
- Define the substantive area of the panel.
- Instruct presenters on time allotment and maintain control of the time allotted to each paper presentation (based on the number of papers to be presented).
- Allow appropriate time for discussant comments.
- Allow for audience participation through questions and answer period.
- If appropriate, forward high quality papers for review to be included in online proceedings and/or for award nominations.
- Finally, within three days of the conclusion of the conference, inform the Program Chair in writing (an e-mail is fine) which panelists participated in the panel.
- Take note of who did not attend and send to Conference Program Chair.
Responsibilities of Discussants
- Register for the GPSA meeting at least three to four weeks in advance.
- Read panel papers thoroughly and prepare constructive comments and appropriate questions to stimulate discussion during the panel.
- Refrain from indulging in entertaining comments and focus on research guidance and alternative hypotheses to those offered by author(s).
- Note gaps in literature in the papers presented.
- Comment on alternative methodologies.
- Comment on possibilities for paper submission for publication, if appropriate.
- Recommend high quality papers to the panel chair for inclusion in online proceedings and/or award nominations.
- Make written copies of comments for panel presenters if appropriate.
- Please take special note if a presentation is by a student. If you have a student paper, remember to be encouraging in your comments, and not degrading.
Contacting Panel Members
- Panelists, discussants, and panel chairs can download the panel contact list in PDF and Excel formats here:
- 2016 GPSA Panel Contact List (PDF)