Q. The federal government has shutdown. Will the ATE Conference still be held as planned?
A: Yes! The 2025 ATE Conference will go on as planned! Please be prepared to join us on October 29-31--as we have a robust agenda set with impressive sessions and networking opportunities. If you have any questions or concerns, please email ate@aacc.nche.edu. We look forward to seeing you.
Q: What is the deadline to register for the ATE Conference?
A: The deadline to register for the conference is October 2, 2025.
Q: How many people can register per grant to attend the conference?
A: Conference registration is primarily limited to the principal investigator, co-principal investigators, and team members of ATE-funded grants. Additional attendees may register through association with an ATE project or center team.
ATE Projects and Consortia
Each ATE project award will receive two complimentary conference registrations. Projects may also bring up to three additional people, each of whom must pay a $500 registration fee. ATE projects may register up to a maximum of five people to attend the event. For the purposes of this invitation, an ATE project is an active award with an award date of FY2021 or later. Renewals or extensions of a previous grant count as only one project.
ATE Centers
Each ATE center will receive two complimentary registrations conference registrations. Centers may also bring up to six additional people, each of whom must pay a $500 registration fee. ATE centers may register up to a maximum of eight people to attend the event. For the purposes of this invitation, an ATE Center is an active award with an award date of FY2020 or later. Renewals or extensions of a previous grant also only count as one center.
Multiple ATE Grants
Colleges or institutions with three or more active ATE project or center grants can register up to a maximum of 15 people to attend the conference. Multiple projects or centers will receive a maximum of five complimentary registrations for the event. They may also bring up to ten additional team members, each of whom must pay a $500 registration fee.
ATE Projects & Centers that are Recently Expired or in No-Cost Extensions
ATE projects and centers funded in FY2021 or earlier that have recently expired or are in no-cost extensions are invited to attend the conference as space permits. Invited projects and centers can bring up to two people to attend the event, each of whom must pay a $500 registration fee. This invitation applies only to projects and centers that do not have a more recently funded award.
Q: Where can I find my ATE grant number in order to register?
A: To register for the ATE Conference, you will need your ATE Grant Number. If your institution has more than one grant, please consult with your team members to determine who should register under which grant. AACC has coded a set number of slots per grant in the online registration system so each participant must register with a grant number. For NSF ATE award number look-up, please consult NSF’s awards database by using the Advanced Search Function and entering “7412” into the Element Code box to restrict your search to the ATE program.
Q: If my institution has more than one grant, how do I know what grant to register under?
A. Please contact your PI or other grant team members for guidance. AACC has coded a set amount of registration space per grant in the online system so each participant must register with a grant number.
Q: My grant is in a no-cost extension, can I still register to attend?
A: ATE projects and centers funded in FY2021 or earlier that have recently expired or are in no-cost extensions are welcome to attend the conference and can bring up to two people to attend. Each of the two people is required to pay a $500 registration fee. Please use your grant number when registering. If your grant number does not allow you to register online, please contact ATE registration at 847-620-4467 or by emailing ate_registration@goeshow.com. Registration hours are Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Central.
Q: When will registration for pre-conference workshops be available and is there a fee?
A: Pre-Conference workshop registration will be available with conference registration information. The ATE Conference will offer Pre-Conference Workshops on Wednesday, October 29. Workshop A and Workshop D are complimentary, but advance registration is required. All other pre-conference workshops require advance registration and a $50 fee.
Q: How can I pay for my conference registration?
A: You may pay online by VISA, MASTERCARD or AMERICAN EXPRESS. You may make a payment by check by mail. Purchase Orders are not an acceptable form of payment.
Q: How can I register if I need to pay for my conference registration fees by check?
A. Unfortunately, the online registration system cannot process payments by check. If paying by check, please complete your registration online and then submit your check payment by mail. Your check must be postmarked no later than October 10. Please note, that if you have not requested a check from your institution to be mailed by October 10, it must be presented onsite. The check presented onsite will have to reflect the exact amount due, or we will be unable to complete your registration, as registrants are not allowed to carry balances forward on their accounts.
Make Checks Payable and Mail to:
AACC ATE
P.O. Box 75263
Philadelphia, PA. 19171-5263
Tax ID # 530196569
Q: What is the policy for transferring or canceling a registration?
A: Please note that you are responsible for payment if you do not cancel and do not attend. Participant substitutions can be made online by October 2 and at any time following by emailing ate_registration@goeshow.com. Refunds minus a $50 cancellation fee will be issued for cancellations received in writing by Friday, October 10. No refunds will be issued for cancellations after October 10, 2025, unless authorized in writing by AACC.
Q: Can I register for a pre-conference workshop on site at the conference?
A: If space is available, you may register on site at the conference. However, AACC strongly encourages that you pre-register for the Wednesday workshops in order to secure a spot as they tend to fill up quickly. If you have already registered for the conference, you can log back into the Attendee Service Center and add a pre-conference workshop registration. The Learning Labs offered on Wednesday prior to the conference opening are open sessions and do not require advance registration.
Q: Do I make my own hotel arrangements to attend the ATE Conference?
A: Yes. Each participant is responsible for making their own hotel arrangements.
Q: What is the conference hotel?
A: AACC has secured a block of rooms at the host property, the Omni Shoreham Hotel, located at 2500 Calvert Street, NW, Washington, D.C.
Q: How do I make a hotel reservation?
A: All hotel reservations must be made as part of the ATE Conference registration process. You have the option of making your hotel reservations when you register for the event or by logging back into the Attendee Service Center after you have registered for the conference to make your hotel reservations prior to the October 2 deadline.
Q: Can I contact the hotel directly to make my housing reservation?
A: No. AACC manages its own room block. To access the group rate, all reservations must be made through the 2025 ATE Conference registration form. If you did not make your hotel reservation when you registered, you can modify your registration by going to the appropriate Service Center.
Q: I booked my lodging through a third-party website, and now I want to request that my lodging be added to the ATE Conference housing block. Can I do that?
A: No. AACC serves as its own housing bureau. Third-party companies like Expedia and Hotels.com are not affiliated with the organization. If you book through these companies, you are subject to their policies. You must cancel that reservation and rebook through the AACC registration form to secure lodging in the AACC ATE Conference housing block.
AACC requires that attendees book through our housing bureau. Several unreputable poachers in the meeting space will take your money for a reservation, but they don’t have a relationship with the hotel where you are trying to stay.
Q: Is there a housing deadline?
A: Yes.The deadline to make housing arrangements at the group rate is October 2, 2025.
Q: If I didn’t book my room when I initially registered to attend the ATE Conference, how do I add it to my registration?
A: To add your hotel reservation, please log into the Attendee Service Center. Mouse over the Service Center Header > scroll down to housing on the navigation > make your housing selection and submit.
Q: I booked my housing reservation. When will I receive my hotel confirmation number?
A: AACC serves as its own housing bureau. If you make a housing reservation before the housing deadline of October 2, you will receive an acknowledgment number from AACC. After the housing deadline passes, AACC will upload all reservation requests to the hotel. Please give the hotel a few days to process all reservations. After October 6, you will receive a confirmation number directly from the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
Q: I need to modify my housing request. How can I do that?
A: If you have booked housing before October 2 through AACC, you must log into the Attendee Service Center to modify your reservation. You cannot contact the hotel for reservation changes until after October 2, when AACC will turn reservations over to the hotel.
Q: What is a "housing pirate?"
A: Please be cautious about phishing and pirate scams in relation to the 2025 ATE Conference. Commonly referred to as "housing pirates" or "housing bandits," these companies will phone or email attendees and claim to offer good deals on hotel rooms. They may falsely claim to be affiliated with AACC.
Unless you have initiated the communication, please do not provide anyone with your personal information, especially your credit card number. If you provide your credit card information to one of these companies, your card may be charged, and there is no guarantee you will have a room upon your arrival.
Q: What is phishing?
A: Since the return of in-person meetings, there has been an exponential increase in mailing list scams across the association industry. Please be advised that no matter how real these emails may look, they are SCAMS. We do not publicly share our attendee list. It is important to check the sender's email address. If it is not from a name @aacc.nche.edu, ate@aacc.nche.edu, or ate.housing@goeshow.com, then it is not from AACC or the ATE Conference.
Pirates typically scrape websites and social media and copy the organization's logo, hoping to trick you.
Q: How do I report fraud?
A: If contacted by someone asking you if you need a room for the ATE Conference or representing themselves as the "AACC or ATE Housing Bureau," that are not affiliated with AACC, please let us know at ate@aacc.nche.edu so we can stop them from contacting others.
Q: Do I make my own travel arrangements to attend the conference?
A: Yes. Each participant is responsible for making their own hotel and travel arrangements. Information on the hotel reservations is included as part of the conference registration process. Information on area airports and ground transportation can be found on the conference website.
Q: What meals will be offered at the conference?
A: Lunch and an evening reception will be offered on Wednesday, October 29. The conference will also provide breakfast, lunch, and a light reception on Thursday, October 30, and breakfast on Friday, October 31.
Q: Where do I report any dietary restrictions or special needs?
Q: What is the conference dress code?
A: There is no formal dress code for the conference. AACC suggests business casual and would like you to be comfortable. It is also best to dress in layers as sometimes the conference rooms can be very cool. AACC also suggests comfortable shoes as the meeting space can be spread out and involve a good deal of walking.