Instructions for Session Chairs
Planning Sessions
- Rules for Participation: Session chairs should review the Rules for Participation carefully. Please note especially the participation policy; session chairs who solicit papers for their sessions should inquire whether the invitee has already submitted a paper to another session, and if so, should withdraw their invitation to avoid having the person give more than one presentation as first author.
- Session Length: Sessions are scheduled in time slots of two hours and five minutes in length. Please plan for no more than two hours and five minutes per session. Please allow at least 5 min. for discussion of each paper. Please note that any session with papers that exceed this time limit or that does not allow time for discussion will be sent back to the session chair for reduction and revision. If you receive more than five high-quality submissions for a single session, please ask the program chairs if it is possible to add a second session. Please remember also that four high-quality presentations are better than five medium-quality presentations; we are interested in quality rather than quantity at these Annual Meetings. If you do not think you will have enough papers to fill a two hour and five minute session, please contact the chair(s) of the program committee by March 1, 2017.
- Peer Review: Session chairs are responsible for assessing the quality of submissions. Chairs may want to consult with others in the field while reviewing some submissions. Please read ASOR’s Policy on Professional Conduct and keep this in mind when reviewing paper submissions.
- Acceptance/Rejection of Papers: Please submit your assessment of each abstract via ASOR’s online abstract submission system. The official deadline for completion of your review of submissions is April 1, but earlier notice is appreciated. The ASOR office will notify proposers of whether their papers have been accepted or rejected. Please do NOT notify proposers yourself of the acceptance or rejection of their proposals, as it is important that all acceptances and rejections be issued at the same time, in an official format, and from the ASOR office.
- Timeline and Deadlines: Session chairs should read the Deadlines for ASOR 2017 Annual Meeting carefully as these will affect whether your session is approved and individual papers may be accepted.
Final Submission
The final submission of materials for all sessions must include the following items and must be submitted to the ASOR Office in Boston via email attachment no later than April 25, 2017.
1. Program Copy for Session: Program copy should follow this format (see the sample program copy below):
- Complete title of the session, indicating the session number in parentheses. E.g., Reports on Current Excavations and Surveys, ASOR-Affiliated (Session #1 of 2).
- Theme/brief description of the session (5-50 words).
- Total time for the session and times for each paper. The total session time may not exceed two hours and five minutes, including breaks and discussion.
- Speakers in the order of appearance, including affiliation and paper title. If necessary, refer to the online Abstract Submission system to verify each participant's name, institutional affiliation, and paper title. Your summary will be used to create the Program Book for the Meeting, so it is essential that it be as accurate as possible.
2. Abstract Copy: The Abstract Copy will be used to create the Program Book for the meeting, so it is essential that it be as accurate as possible. Please compile a Word document that lists the presenters, their affiliations, paper titles, and abstracts in the order they will appear in your session. A single abstract from the session chair representing an entire session is not acceptable. Please edit your presenters’ abstracts to reflect the format of abstracts listed above (II. Abstract Submissions, Item C). If your presenters submit abstracts longer than the 250 word limit, please edit them to conform to the limit and send the new revised abstracts to the ASOR office with your other materials.
3. Special Media Requests: All rooms will be equipped with an LCD digital projector and screen. Session chairs are responsible for arranging to have a laptop on which to load PowerPoint presentations, and which can be connected to standard LCD projectors. ASOR does NOT provide computers for sessions.
If you need any other audiovisual equipment beyond that listed above, it is the session chair's responsibility to email Arlene Press with your request for other AV equipment than that listed above by April 25, 2017. Late requests cannot always be met and can be expensive. This is especially the case with older technologies like slide projectors.
The program committee reserves the right to reject any session whose final form as submitted on April 25 is substantially different from the proposal originally approved.
Note: If a session chair needs to cancel a session due to a dearth of submissions or other reasons, he/she must notify the program committee Chair(s) by March 15, 2017.
Etiquette for Session Chairs/Presiders
All session chairs should be aware of the following rules of etiquette:
1. Discussants: It is essential for the success of a session involving a discussant that the discussant receives a draft of the papers at least one week before the Annual Meeting. It is the responsibility of session chairs to facilitate this exchange.
2. Session Schedule: The printed schedule will be followed strictly. Let presenters, respondents, and panelists know of this practice. If a participant of the session does not attend and does not submit a paper to be read or finishes early, do not begin the next presentation until the printed time. Fill "gaps" with discussion or a break; the session should not be rearranged or otherwise modified. It is essential for the success of the papers and the ensuing discussion that papers not be allowed to run beyond the time allotted for them.
3. Changes to Schedule: Announce any changes to the schedule at the beginning of the session and at the time of the change.
4. Troubleshooting: Ask your student assistant (either a student scholar or volunteer) or contact the ASOR registration desk while at the meeting if you have problems, such as:
- The room is not set up according to special requests that the chair may have arranged in advance of the meeting.
- You cannot find the light switches, require an additional carousel, etc.
*Note, any additional audio-visual equipment beyond that listed on the session/media form must be approved by the ASOR office and may incur excess charges to the session.
- Another group is in your room at the time you are scheduled.
Program Copy Sample
(Possible format for session with five papers)
*Sessions must total 125 minutes
Archaeology of Jordan II (Session 2 of 3)
Theme (optional): None
Session Chair: S. Thomas Parker (North Carolina State University), Presiding
Leigh-Ann Bedal (Penn State Behrend) “A Woman’s Personal Assemblage from the Cave of the Petra Garden and Pool Complex” (20 min.)
Discussion (5 min.)
Cynthia Finlayson (Brigham Young University), “New Excavations on the Ad-Deir Plateau: Seasons 2014-2015 of the Ad-Deir Monument and Plateau Project in Petra, Jordan” (20 min.)
Discussion (5 min.)
Pamela Koulianos (North Carolina State University), “The Chronology of the Petra Garden and Pool Complex through Course-Wares” (20 min.)
Discussion (5 min.)
S. Thomas Parker (North Carolina State University), “A Nabataean and Late Roman Domestic Complex at Petra” (20 min.)
Discussion (5 min.)
Sarah Wenner (North Carolina State University), “The Nabataen Ceramic Tradition in Petra after the Roman Annexation” (20 min.)
Discussion (5 min.)
ASOR Program Committee
Click here for a list of Program Committee members.