What will each conference day look like and what are some of the conference highlights I should know about?
Tuesday:
9:30am -12:30pm: Pre-Conference Sessions
2:00 – 2:30pm: Conference Welcome and Kick Off
3:00pm: SLC leaves for UC Davis Campus
2:40 – 3:40pm: Concurrent Roundtables
3:40 – 4:40pm: Poster Session 1
5:30 – 7:30pm: Inclusive College Fair at UC Davis
(No meals provided on this day)
Wednesday:
7:00 – 8:30am – Breakfast
8:30 – 10:00am – Keynote
10:15 -11:15am – Breakout Block 1
11:30am – 12:30pm – Breakout Block 2
12:30 – 2:30pm – Lunch and Keynote with special guest Jim LeBrecht (Crip Camp) and student panel
2:00 – 4:30pm – SLC Advocacy Trip to California State Capitol
2:00 – 3:30pm – Breakout Block 3
3:30 – 4:30pm – Poster Session 2
4:30 – 5:30pm – Affinity Group Meet Ups!
6:00 – 9:00pm – Conference Reception and Karaoke Party at Cafeteria 15L (1116 15th St)
(Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and substantial reception fare provided)
Thursday:
7:00 – 8:30am – Breakfast
8:30 – 10:00am – Leadership Awards Presentation
10:15 -11:15am – Breakout Block 4
11:15am – 12:15pm – Breakout Block 5
12:15 – 1:45pm – Lunch and Federal and State Policy Keynote by Denise Rozell, Stephanie Smith Lee
1:45 – 2:45pm – Breakout Block 6
2:45 – 3:45pm – Concurrent Roundtables
3:45 – 4:30pm – Conference Wrap Up
(Breakfast, lunch, and snacks provided)
Date/Time
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
5:30 – 7:30p
Location
UC Davis International Building
463 California Ave #3140
Davis, CA 95616
Shuttle Transportation to/from UC Davis Campus:
Buses will transport conference attendees from the conference venue (Sheraton) to the College Fair venue (UC Davis International Building). Shuttles will run back and forth until the end of the college fair. Exact shuttle schedule forthcoming.
College Fair Exhibitors will have access to their exhibitor tables in the International Building starting at 3pm.
Related Links:
Learn about all the helpful features of Whova and download it HERE. Please note that you will access the map of the conference venue through the conference app and get notifications of any program updates/changes through the app as well.
If you are a presenter having trouble logging into Whova and locating our event, please make sure that the email you are using is the same as the one you used to submit your proposal.
The conference has reserved room blocks at three locations.
CLICK HERE for room block booking links and other nearby hotel options.
The main conference check-in table will be located outside the Grand Nave Ballroom. There will be a conference staff member present for check in and questions for the entirety of the pre-conference and conference.
Tuesday, October 27 at 8:00am – Thursday, October 29 at 4:30pm
Once the SLC agenda is complete, it will be added to Whova and provided in a separate document for SLC attendees. All communications about SLC, including special outings will be sent by Rebekah Wallis (rwallis@syr.edu) who is overseeing this year’s SLC conference. Please contact Rebekah with any questions.
Please review the speaker guidelines for the session type that you will be presenting. PLEASE NOTE the sections on accessibility, as these three items are mandatory steps for all presenters:
REVIEW THE COMPLETE SESSION GUIDELINES
SOTA will be offering a recorded and live training for presenters on the expectations for accessible presentations. We will share more information on these through the Whova App.
This year’s conference will run from 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, through 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 29.
We have a very full schedule, and creating the program requires coordinating presenters with multiple sessions, student presenters whose schedules need to align with the Student Leadership Conference, and several other logistical and space considerations. As a result, it can be challenging to move sessions around to accommodate individual schedules.
That said, we will do our best to accommodate travel requests whenever possible.
All conference inquiries should be emailed to coordinator@sotaconference.com.
