The theme “Communication as Engagement” offers an opportunity to reflect on how Communication Centers have already been contributing to the mission of higher education for engagement. Moreover, the conference theme encourages participants to respond to these calls for engagement by pushing our understanding of what those mean in our current moment. At James Madison University, engagement has three facets; engaged learning, civic engagement, and community engagement. How is it that Communication Centers, or other peer-based learning centers, facilitate and participate in engaged learning, civic engagement, and community engagement?

Conference participants might consider best practices or processes at their home institutions that facilitate traditional engagement or enable new forms of engagement. Framing questions can include but are not limited to:

• What role does communication play in engagement?
• How does your Center or Lab currently participate in practices of engagement?
• How do we encourage tutors, consultants, or peer educators to be engaged?
• How can we collaborate with other campus and community partners to be leaders in engagement?
• Are there concerns with privileging engagement?
• How do we define or measure successful Center engagement?
• What role can online or digital communication offer engagement?

In addition to traditional NACC conference attendees from communication centers and speaking labs, we encourage participants, entries, and attendance from writing centers, multimodal centers, supplemental instruction, science and math learning centers, other tutoring services, and other higher education or community professionals interested in engagement.