Administrative Manual

PurposeThese policies and general operating procedures were enacted and are being adopted for the effective administrative operation of the Cornea Center of Excellence. The purpose of these policies and procedures is to serve as a reference tool in making decisions involving the management and administrative operations of the Cornea Center of Excellence program guide.

Biennial Cornea ConferenceThe Biennial Cornea Conference brings together leaders in the field of cornea and ocular surface to explore current basic and clinical research developments, building links between this exciting new information and the numerous disease entities that afflict this portion of the eye.

Beginning Stages:

1. Determine who the organizing committee will be for the upcoming conference. The Chair and Co-Chair will make suggestions of whom to reach out to An email request will go out to whomever is suggested by the Chair and Co-

ChairThe organizing committee invite email can be found at: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ►Invitation-BCC Organizing Committee

2. Schedule a meeting with the organizing committee to: Review feedback/suggestions from previous conference Determine CME credits be provided, if so how many Explore possible industry relationships Determine the funding level’s /benefits of sponsors Determine the date of the conference Determine the cost of registration Decide Session topics Decided the number of poster abstracts to be accepted Determine poster guidelines to be used Determine potential speakers and moderators

Fill out the potential speakers form to know who and in what order to contact potential speakers. The potential speakers form can be found at: Corneaevents ►Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates ►Potential Speakers

You can create more session topic space if more is needed

Decide who will give the: J.Wayne Streilein Lecture Claes H. Dohlman Lecture

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There is no template or formal way of inviting these speakers. Committee members tend to invite these speakers personally

Determine how long each speaker will have to present their talkDetermine how long each speaker will have for questions and answersDetermine how long the general discussion will be at the end of each session

The honorarium for named lecturers What will be covered for the out of town speakers and/or moderators

Travel expenses Airfare Transportation from the airport

Hotel accommodations Location Number of days

Guest accommodations if at allMeals

Where the Friday evening dinner will be heldIf held at the Liberty Hotel cap at 95 totalHow out of town guests will get to the dinner

What the conference souvenirs will be (i.e. mugs, water bottles)3. Determine vendors for the following:

Lodging for out of town guests Catering Tables, Chairs and Linens Rental Audio Visual Web/Printing Services Plaque Engraving Poster Display Boards Conference Souvenirs

4. Invite speakers to participate. An email will be sent to suggested participants

The out of town speaker invite can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ►Out of town speaker invitationThe local speaker invite can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ►Local speaker invitation

Create a speaker info collection workbook to keep track of the speaker responses received. This will be discussed in greater detail in the “speaker” section of this manual.

5. Invite moderators to participate. Email sent or asked in person by the Chair and Co-Chair

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An informational thank you for participating email will be sent once all of the moderators have been confirmed. This will be the first email the moderators will receive with all the information needed to moderate minus the abstract.

This template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ►Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Moderator Informational thank you

A confirmation email will be sent a month (or once there is a confirmed final program) prior to the conference. Be sure to attach the final version of the program and the abstracts from the moderator’s session to the email.

This email template can be found in the events folder:Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Moderator confirmation email

6. Book the STARR Center once a date has been confirmed. Contact: Glen_Robbins@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU Be sure to book the room the day before the conference begins to allow for any

necessary deliveries Alert the facilities manager with the dates the STARR Center has been booked

7. Schedule a meeting with the manager of web and graphic services at SERI to discuss the conference needs and timeline as well as present the conference information to be added to the Schepens website.

The manager of web and graphic services will be presented with the conference information:

Registration information for the conference and dinnerHotel informationConference datesLocationSession topics Speakers once confirmed

8. Order conference distribution lists (NEOS and ARVO) if necessary They will be used to advertise the conference

Getting organized1. Once planning has begun for the conference create a sub-folder in the corneaevents

folder named for the conference (i.e. 28th Biennial Cornea Conference).2. Click Corneaevents►Biennial Cornea Conference

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3. Once here create a new folder named the #th Biennial Cornea Conference (update the number)

4. Click in the new folder created.5. Begin to create the folders needed to save all conference correspondence. The

inside of the created folder should look like the picture below ▼.

This will be how to keep track of all incoming conference correspondence.CME: Here is where any and all correspondence regarding Continuing Medical Education credits will be saved. Sub folders can be created for further organization.Communications Materials: Here is where any correspondence communicating information regarding the conference will be saved. Sub folders can be created for further organization.Feedback: This folder will contain the comments/ suggestions from the year’s conference that have been typed into a word document, as well as the outcomes assessmentFunding Requests & Grant Submissions: This folder will contain all funding information related to the conference

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Moderators: This folder will contain any correspondence from the moderators; each moderator should have their own sub-folder with their last name.

Planning committee: This folder will contain any information regarding the planning committee. Also the workflow timeline for the conference should be kept here.Plaques: This folder will contain any information that has to do with the plaque, including the template and the invoicePoster Session: This folder will contain all information pertaining to the poster session. There is more detailed information in the poster session section of this manual. This will also include the guideline to be adhered to for the poster session. Program: This folder will contain all information necessary for putting together the conference program.Reception: This folder will contain all information about the reception on the Friday night of the conference. Include any invoices, reception summary, etc.Registration: This folder will contain the master list that will be completed once individuals begin to register for the conference. This folder will also contain the price’s designated for receptionReimbursements: This folder will contain the vendor set up forms as well as a form for every individual the conference will reimburse their expenses.Speakers: This folder will hold all of the speaker information. Make a sub-folder for each session of the program and put session pertinent information in that folder.

Create a speaker collection workbook to keep track of all incoming speaker correspondence and information.

Travel awards: This folder will contain all correspondence including wire information.Vendors: This folder will contain a sub-folder for each vendor used for the conference. In those sub-folders will be invoices or any and all information that pertains.

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Fundraising1. Meet with the organizing committee to compile a list of possibilities.

Determine if anyone has any personal connections2. Complete any necessary grant applications.

This may be done in as far as a year in advance of the conference3. Provide email/letter asking for financial support.4. Provide the program schedule and chart with benefits listed at each funding level.5. Check on fundraising progress regularly.

Intermediate Stages:

Speakers1. Set up the speakers folder to resemble below▼ :

Create an Info for Speakers folder. This folder will hold all speaker correspondence, this will include request for information as well as provide session information for the speakers. Create subfolders by session titles and this will break out the speaker info by session title

Create an Info received folder. Create a sub folder using the speaker’s last name. Any correspondence regarding that person will be saved and their named folder (abstract, bio, photo and returned speaker session information forms.

Create and invitation sent folder. This folder will hold copies of all invitations spent both local and out of town.

Create an RSVP folder. This will hold the name of every speaker invited and the status on their reply. The RSVP can be found in the corneaevents folder: Corneaevents ►Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ►RSVP

Create a Speakers Packets-Conference folder. This folder will contain the speaker information that is being confirmed. They should be broken up into local and out of town subfolders. These packets are created by the program coordinator and sent out.

The Potential Speakers-BCC word document should be saved independent of a folder and directly as saved above▲.

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2. After the meeting with the organizing committee send out the speaker invitation. Note: there are two versions of the speaker invite: the local and the out-of-town version.

The local speaker invite can be found in the events folder:Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates ► local speaker invite

The out-of-town speaker invite can be found in the events folder:Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates ► out of town speaker invite

Do not send an invite to the alternates unless needed. If others agree and there is enough speakers for the session no need to reach out to the alternates.

3. Create a speaker info collection workbook to keep track of all incoming speaker information. This workbook will be kept in the Speakers folder located in the corneaevents folder.

This template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates ►Speaker Info Collection

The contact info tab is where any and all contact information will be recorded for confirmed speakers.The program info tab is for the information that comes from the speaker detail and info request that will be sent back by confirmed speakers. The session info tab is where the talk session information is to be recorded.The hotel-reception-dinner tab will record travel information, hotel check-in/check-out dates as well as responses for not only the reception but the Friday night dinner as well.The Info for hotel tab is created for the hotel vendor, to give the hotel a complete list of guests staying there, check in/check out dates and any special requests.

*** If you open the speaker info collection template, right click on the first tab and click select all sheet. You then right click the first tab again, when the white box pops up select the move or copy option. When the next box pops up change the To: field to new (click the arrow for the drop down menu to come to this option) then check the create a copy box at the lower left. This will create an identical copy of the entire workbook. You can then begin to populate it with the necessary information.

4. Create a Potential Speakers- sheet. This document with keep track of the speakers who have confirmed and speakers that may need a gentle reminder. This will be given to the organizing committee every couple of weeks for status updates and any necessary assistance.

All speakers should be confirmed 8 months prior to the conference.5. Once speaker confirmations have been received tentative talk titles are requested.

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6. Send out the tentative talk title- email as soon as a confirmation is received from the invited speaker. This email template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Tentative talk title

Talk title information will be used when submitting grants. This information should be collect as soon as it can be.

Note when this email goes out the other information will be requested in the future.

7. At the 6 month mark, send out the speaker detail and info request email. This email serves two purposes. It will give the speakers information about the session they are speaking in as well as request needed speaker information as it relates to the conference.

This email template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Speaker detail and info request

8. 3 months prior to the conference send out the info confirmation & final details email. This will confirm for the speakers their hotel, presentation, and reception information. This email template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Info confirmation & final request

9. Send out reminders 1 month, 1 week, 1 day before the conference10. Send thank you email to speakers, also reiterating the need for original receipts.

Also giving a deadline for them to be in to us. (Amy and I will create a template for this)

Print Materials1. Have the welcome confirmed by the Chair and co-chair. 2. The abstracts (speaker’s and poster) need to be compiled into separate word

documents so they will be ready to be included in the conference program. Speaker talk abstracts should be compiled in the order they appear in the

conference Speaker biographies should be compiled in alphabetical order by last name

Moderators Speakers

The poster abstracts should be compiled in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author

Once this is done all documents will be sent to the manager of web and graphic services at SERI to be added to the conference program

3. The following will need to be confirmed then printed: Programs

Receive all finalized speaker abstracts and biographies 2 months prior to the conferenceReceive all finalized poster abstracts 2 months prior to the conference

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The final program should be confirmed 3 weeks prior to the conference

Conference SouvenirsMugs/cups etc. are ordered by the manager of web and graphic services from SERI

Anything received broken can be returned for a credit Signage-printed by the manager of web and graphic services from SERI

WelcomesDirectional/informationalSign for the podiumPoster themes

If broken up by theme one for each display location with the theme displayed

Maps Post cards

Send out 1 year prior to the conferenceCreated by the manager of web and graphic design located at SERI

Tri-foldsSend out 6 months prior to the conference

Plagues1. Plaques are to be ordered 2 months prior to the conference.

The Dohlman Lecture Plaque template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Dohlman Lecture PlaqueThe Streilein Lecture Plaque template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference► Templates ► Streilein Lecture Plaque

2. The template will then be sent to the decided upon vendor. A price quote will result from this.

3. Request a check from AP masters for the price quoted.4. Once check is received pick up then the plaques can be paid for and picked

up.Website

1. Add the conference information to the Google calendar once confirmed. The program coordinator will add this information

2. Send the conference information the manager of web and graphic services from SERI to have it added to the Ophthalmology calendar.

Peter_Mallen@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU , cc: Peter_Leslie@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU

3. Add the conference registration information to the Schepens website once confirmed.

The manager of web and graphic services from SERI will add this information

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4. Add complete hotel information once information has been confirmed. The manager of web and graphic services from SERI will add this information

5. Add the Travel Award winner information to the Schepens website once all winners have been named and notified.

This program coordinator will provide this information to be added to the website.

Catering 1. Reach out to food vendor to begin to construct the menu.

Send the program to determine the number of meals, snacks, etc. needed Check registrations to determine if there are any food restrictions or

allergies relaying all necessary information to the catering vendorSafest not to choose anything that contains any kind of nuts

Be sure to include at minimum gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options2. A week prior to the conference confirm complete menu with catering vendor.3. Confirm catering vendor will put linens on the tables.

Facilities Management1. Contact facilities manager at: James_Aversa@MEEL.HARVARD.EDU for all facility

needs.2. Present the facilities manager with a workflow timeline of the conference needs.3. The facilities manager will inform the in-house maintenance staff of the conference

needs: Get the confirmed floor plans to the facilities manager so maintenance will

know how to set up the tables in the STARR Center Forward workflow to the facilities manager-this will include a timeline of

when tables will need to be put up/ broken down. Also when areas will need to be cleared for the poster session

When the poster display boards will be delivered by the vendorThe loading dock at Schepens will take too long so the facilities manager will need to grant access to the STARR Center receiving dock and elevator

4. Facilities will contact security to ensure the STARR Center doors will be unlocked on the dates and times needed for the conference.

5. Provide the facilities manager with copies of the rental invoice, this will ensure that facilities management receives what they are supposed to (i.e. correct number of and type of tables to be received etc.).

6. Ensure a comfortable temperature in the auditorium prior to the conference.

General 1. Send an informational email to ALLSERI Staff.

This will give the conference dates alerting to the closing of the cafeteria and or any conference rooms that may be used during the conference

2. The bell used during the conference can be obtained from Ophthalmic Education and returned to upon the completion of the conference.

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3. Mugs/water bottles The manager of web and graphic design from SERI will order

4. Cab Vouchers can be obtained from the Social Work department. Contact Janis Huettig, the Director, 3 days in advance You have to know the address the persons is going to If there is a charge back account it can be put on the voucher. Otherwise put

“charge back?” The department uses Boston Cab (617)536-3200

Record Keeping1. Create the following lists to keep accurate records:

Master registration list (this will include everyone who has registered for the conference)

Speakers and moderators will need to be manually added to this list This list can be obtained from the manager of web and graphic design from SERIThis list will be updated regularly with the list received from the Manager of web

Closer to the conference it will be updated weekly This is also the list the badges will be printed from

The badge template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► badge template

Dinner listInclude all guests that will attend and any necessary comments

Poster presenters Parking

Only covered for speakers and moderators A template of the master registration list workbook can be found in the

events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Master Registration list

Poster Session1. Send out the call for abstracts email. This template can be found in the events

folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Call for abstracts

Firmly stick to the given deadline Firmly stick to the agreed upon number of poster to be accepted

2. Once a poster has been accepted, send out the Poster Accepted email. This template can be found in the events folder:Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates► Poster Accepted

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3. Create an abstract submission list to track incoming submissions. This template can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ►Templates ► Abstract Submission List. It should include the following:

Authors first and last name Institutional affiliation Title of abstract City State Notes

4. Create a poster presenter contact list to track the incoming correspondence. First and Last name of poster presenter Email contact

This information can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ►Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates► Poster Presenter Contact List

5. Record the responses as you receive them Create a spreadsheet to keep track of what has come in Create a folder named submitted abstracts-▼.

As each presenter sends in their information save the abstract by presenter first name as shown below▼.

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6. Once all the poster abstracts have been received, combine them in a word document in alphabetical order by first author’s last name. This completed document will be added to the conference program.

7. Once the number has been chosen of how many posters will be accepted reach out the vendor to be used for the poster display boards.

Use the floor plans located in the events folder at: Corneaevents ►CCOE Info ► SERI Floor plans

8. Create an abstract titles spreadsheet that contains the following: Author name Title of abstract Room Assignment Key grid of what the themes for the session are

This will allow for breaking the session up into themesThis will also allow for assigning numbers to the posters

This information can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ► Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates► Abstract Titles

9. Print out this spreadsheet and hang outside the location the posters will be displayed.

10. Email the poster presenters to give them their room assignment This should be done 2 weeks prior to the conference Create a spreadsheet that is broken up by theme

Advertising/Announcements1. A save the date announcement should be created once the date of the conference

has been confirmed. This information can be found in the events folder: Corneaevents ►Biennial Cornea Conference ► Templates ► Save-the-date announcement

This will go out to the following distribution lists:All HMS Ophthalmology Faculty Ophthalmic Staff ARVO PurchasedAll CCOE Faculty All SERI Staff Past Dohlman FellowsMEEI Residents CCOE Retreat List Previous BCC AttendeesMEEI Clinical Fellows Observers/Visitors NEOSMEEI Cornea Clinical Fellows Community Physicians Development & PRAll MEEI Research Trainees

The above distribution lists can be found: Corneaevents ►Distribution Lists ► Distribution Grid. Cut and paste the lists into the BCC field when sending the email. It may have to be sent in two parts.

Post Conference:

Reimbursements1. Give a 30 day cutoff date for participants to get all receipts in to be processed for

reimbursement.

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2. Once receipts have been received prepare a vendor set up form. Vendor set-up forms need to be created for every participant requiring a

reimbursement. Filling out the form, the top needs to be completed and answer the PHI

questions below. An example of this form can be found in the 28th Biennial Cornea Conference

folder under speakers ►reimbursements ►vendor set up form3. Print it out and then sign it.4. Scan in the vendor set-up form and email to:

apvendors_apvendors@MEEI.HARVARD.EDU5. Save a copy in the speaker’s folder.

Parking1. Get the validating machine from Mary Gallagher.2. Compile a list of all who received a parking stamp.3. Return the list and the stamping machine to Mary Gallagher.4. She will submit the list for payment.

Outcome Assessment1. Compile all the answers to the assessment, counting each question and recording

them on the assessment. 2. Compile a list of all complaints/suggestions made.3. Bring to the first CCOE meeting scheduled after the conference.

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