SAVE the DATE

Join us in St. John’s, Newfoundland on Thursday, October 15th and Friday, October 16th, for the 2026 ACCADA Conference. Hosted by the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Get ready to learn, connect, and collaborate with colleagues from across Canada through sessions designed to inspire, inform, and strengthen the work we do every day in clinical academic administration.

Who Should Attend?

The ACCADA Conference welcomes administrative professionals, managers, coordinators, and leaders who support the academic, clinical, and research missions within Canada’s medical schools. Whether you’re a seasoned administrator or an emerging professional, this conference offers valuable insights, networking opportunities, and tools to enhance your impact within your department or faculty.

Registration Opens Soon! Stay tuned...more details will be posted as they become available!

ACCADA 2026 Conference – Call for Proposals

Leading – On the Path to Wellness - Clinical Academic Leadership at Every Level

St. John’s, Newfoundland | October 15–16, 2026

ACCADA invites members from Canadian medical schools to share their expertise at the 2026 Conference in St. John’s.

This year’s theme: “Leading - On the Path to Wellness” recognizes that leadership in clinical academic administration happens at every level. From operational decision-making to workforce sustainability, from emerging technologies to succession planning, we shape institutional culture and system resilience every day.

We are seeking engaging, practical, and interactive sessions that reflect the realities of clinical academic administration in Canada.

This is an opportunity to:

Spotlight expertise within our national community
Share transferable practices across institutions
Strengthen collaboration across Canadian medical schools
Showcase leadership in action

Topic Areas:

Proposals should align with one of the following:

AI & Technology Applications in Clinical Academic Administration
Workforce Sustainability
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Truth & Reconciliation
Unionized Workforce Dynamics
Succession Planning & Transitions
Emotional Intelligence
Burnout & Well-being
Finance & Alternative Funding Models (share your success story)

Session Formats:

ACCADA 2026 will include:

45-minute Fireside Chat
60–90-minute Single Speaker Presentation/Workshop
60 – 90- minute Panel Discussion/Presentation

Sessions must:

Be relevant to clinical academic administration
Include clear, practical takeaways
Incorporate meaningful audience engagement (interactive components are strongly encouraged)

Presenter Information

Registration fees will be waived for selected presenters.
Travel and accommodation expenses are not covered.
Presenters must be available to present in person in St. John’s on October 15–16, 2026.
Accepted sessions must reflect the approved proposal topic and format.

Submission Timeline

Call Opens: Monday, February 25, 2026

Submission Deadline: March 23, 2026

Please read the Submission Guidelines before submitting your proposal

Notification of Decisions: Early April 2026

A limited number of proposals will be accepted.

We look forward to showcasing leadership, innovation, and expertise within our national clinical academic community.

SUBMIT PROPOSAL

Where to Stay - Alt Hotel St. John's

ACCADA Conference Hotel Accommodations

A dedicated room block is available for ACCADA Conference attendees at Alt Hotel St. John's, our official conference venue.

Set directly on the St. John’s harbour, the hotel offers sweeping views of The Narrows and an unbeatable location just steps from downtown and the Signal Hill hiking trails.

Rooms are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to book early to secure your spot and take advantage of the special conference rate.

Reservation Block Deadline:

SUNDAY, August 30th, 2026. After this date, the hotel reserves the right to release rooms not reserved and all late reservation requests will be processed according to room and rate availability.

Ensure you book by Sunday, August 30, 2026, to take advantage of the special conference rate!

Need a longer stay? Attendees are welcome to contact the hotel directly, while availability outside the room block isn't guaranteed, they may be able to extend the conference rate.

We look forward to welcoming you to St. John's this October!

RESERVE NOW

Alt Hotel, St. John's

125 Water Street,
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1C 5X4

Please note: All hotel bookings are the responsibility of the individual guest. Any changes or cancellations may be subject to hotel fees or policies. ACCADA is not responsible for hotel reservations or associated charges.

The 2025 ACCADA conference was hosted by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and took place on October 16 & 17, 2025, in Toronto.

We are grateful for their support in making this conference a huge success!

Take a look back at the ACCADA_2025_Program

Here's a look back on the 2022 'Building Your Leadership Arsenal' Virtual Conference and the 2023 'Leaders Among Us, Edmonton' and "Moving Ahead of the Curve" Halifax, "Elevating Excellence in Academic Administration" Toronto agenda.

PAST ACCADA Conference Speakers:

Sarah Jenner,
Principal, Sarah Jenner Consulting
Executive Director of Mindful Employer Canada

About the Session: The Care Cycle: Creating a Culture Where Mental Health Is Part of the Plan Mental health should be part of the everyday care we extend to our teams, not just addressed in crisis. This workshop offers practical tools to help clinical academic administrators normalize mental health in team conversations, respond confidently when someone is struggling, and build flexible support plans that allow people to stay at work when possible. We’ll also explore how to support co-workers who take on extra responsibilities during a colleague’s leave, ensuring care is extended across the entire team. Learning Objectives By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: Apply strategies to reduce stigma and encourage employees to seek support when facing mental health challenges at work. Use compassionate conversation starters to confidently engage with staff who appear to be struggling. Implement a step-by-step framework to co-create flexible work plans that support employees who wish to stay at work while managing their mental health. Support co-workers absorbing additional responsibilities with tools that promote fairness, balance, and burnout prevention. About Sarah: Sarah is the Principal of Sarah Jenner Consulting, the Executive Director of Mindful Employer Canada, a facilitator, a training formulator, and a human-centered leader. She has spent the last 12 years creating leadership development programs that show leaders how to address workplace issues, cultivate team relationships, and improve psychological health and safety.

Dr. Jessica Riddell,
Professor, Dept of English, Bishop's University
3M National Teaching Fellow (2015)

About the Session: From Scarcity to Sustainability: Reimagining Wellness in Clinical and Medical Education Administration through a Hope Circuits Lens In the wake of the pandemic, clinical and medical education administrators face unprocessed grief, trauma, and burnout—pressures heightened by escalating workloads and austerity measures. While institutions ask us to be hopeful and visionary, little space is provided to process the realities of “the age of great overwhelm.” This gap between aspiration and implementation threatens both individual well-being and organizational sustainability. This session calls for recalibration. Instead of striving to “bounce back,” participants will explore how to move forward—shifting from survival-mode management toward sustainable wellness cultures at personal, team, and institutional levels. Drawing on the Hope Circuits Project, led by Dr. Jessica Riddell, the session introduces ten conceptual tools that transform despair into agency, disillusionment into clarity, and exhaustion into courageous hope. Participants will leave with practical strategies to embed these tools into daily practice and act as architects of change within their own ecosystems—building pathways toward systems that foster human flourishing and long-term sustainability. About Jessica: Dr. Jessica Riddell is a Full Professor of Early Modern Literature in the English Department at Bishop’s University (Québec, Canada). She holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence and leads conversations about systems-change in higher education that shifts the focus from resilience to human and ecological flourishing. She facilitates dialogue at the national and international levels about how universities fulfil their public purpose. Her recent book, Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and other Systems for Human Flourishing (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024), is an expansive call for the reinvention of universities and the renewal of their social contract.

Mitchell Starkman Movement Headshot_edited.jpg

Mitchell Starkman,
FCAMPT, RPT, MScPT,
Clinical Director and Physiotherapist, Synergy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

About the Session: Hybrid Ergonomics for the Desk-Bound: Practical Strategies for Comfort and Injury Prevention This interactive seminar will explore practical, evidence-based ergonomic strategies tailored to the demands of administrative and desk-based work. Participants will learn how to optimize their workstation setup, recognize and address common postural habits, and implement simple movement strategies to reduce discomfort and prevent injury. Whether working in-office or remotely, attendees will leave with actionable tools to improve comfort, productivity, and overall well-being. By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Identify key ergonomic principles to improve workstation setup and reduce strain. How to find and maintain proper sitting and standing posture to minimize musculoskeletal discomfort associated with prolonged poor posture. Apply simple movement and stretching strategies throughout the workday to enhance mobility and prevent injury. About Mitch: Mitchell Starkman, PT, FCAMPT, is a registered physiotherapist and the owner of two multidisciplinary clinics specializing in musculoskeletal care. A graduate of Queen’s University (2014), Mitchell holds an FCAMPT designation and integrates manual therapy, exercise-based rehabilitation, and dry needling in clinical practice. With a strong interest in workplace wellness and injury prevention, Mitchell has delivered seminars and workshops on ergonomics and movement strategies for office workers across various industries. They are also the creator of Desk Jockey Physio, a platform dedicated to helping desk-based professionals stay healthy, mobile, and pain-free. DRESS FOR COMFORT & be ready to stand up and move around the room.

Keshav Raina,
Data Analyst
Planning, Governance and Assessment, ITS
University of Toronto

About the Session: How to make AI work for you Administrative work is vital, but it can involve repetitive tasks that contribute significantly to mental load, detracting professionals from their core responsibilities. Generative AI is already transforming many aspects of the modern workplace, and it can be used to streamline workflows to be more automated and efficient, making heavy workloads manageable. This workshop will explore leading AI platforms (including ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Gemini) to tackle administrative pain points. You’ll master a versatile prompting framework, allowing you to get high-quality output from AI quickly and reliably. We will discuss AI hallucinations and security concerns, focusing on practical solutions you can immediately implement. We’ll dive into common use cases, including taking minutes, scheduling, managing documents, reviewing communications and more. Finally, we’ll explore more advanced solutions such as agentic workflows and see how they can transform your approach to administrative work. Learning Objectives By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: Identify common administrative tasks that can be streamlined using generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, and Gemini. Apply a flexible prompting framework to generate reliable, context-aware outputs that save time and reduce repetitive effort. Recognize potential limitations and risks of AI (data privacy, inaccurate information), and implement practical strategies to mitigate them. About Keshav: Keshav Raina is a Data Analyst in Information Technology Services at the University of Toronto. An early adopter of generative AI in higher-education settings, he has delivered multiple demos and workshops that have drawn hundreds of academic and administrative attendees, focusing on effective prompt engineering, mitigation of AI hallucinations and risks, and AI platform selection. Keshav brings real-world insights on integrating AI into administrative workflows to improve efficiency and reduce staff mental load.

The ultimate showdown of department pride, practicality, and who brought the best mug. That’s right, the ACCADA Swag Swap is on. Here’s how it works: Bring a wrapped or bagged swag item (no logos showing – we’re keeping it anonymous this year to level the playing field). Take a swag item. No swag? No swap. Them’s the rules. What should you bring? Think of the kind of item that makes someone say, "Where’d you get that?!” The sweet spot is usually around $40–$70 in value, but creativity, quality, and uniqueness win the day. From branded tumblers and cozy blankets to smart gadgets and fancy pens, it’s your chance to flex your department’s swag game. Hot tip: The more effort we all put in, the better our odds of scoring something seriously awesome in return. Ready to swap, surprise, and score? Don’t forget to pack your (disguised) swag and bring the fun. Don't forget to wear your School Colours that day!

Event Highlights

Explore cutting-edge insights, foster invaluable connections, and elevate your expertise at the ACCADA Conference – where innovation meets collaboration in clinical academic administration. Immerse yourself in interactive sessions, networking opportunities, and quality professional development tailored to advance your career.

Stay Ahead of the Curve:

Stay informed and ahead of industry trends in this transformative era, positioning yourself in the evolving landscape of clinical academic administration.

Actionable Strategies

Gain practical insights and strategies in sessions focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion, leadership in multigenerational teams, and mental health, empowering you with actionable approaches to enhance your role in academic administration.

Networking Opportunities

Connect with colleagues from institutions across Canada, fostering collaborative relationships and expanding your professional network within the clinical academic administration community.