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It is a great honor to be serving as the 2021-2022 Chair of the Affiliate Network Professional Council (ANPC). As a member since 2018, I have experienced the growth and expanded reach of the council. I am very excited to share with you our accomplishments through the last year as well as new ideas that will help make our bond with present and new affiliates even stronger. Our goal in the ANPC is to establish a clear vision for these relationships, create mutual avenues of collaboration, and ensure a robust affiliate network.
Since we have been living in an online world since March of 2020, the ANPC along with TESOL international has had to shift the way we communicate, network, and conduct business. Although this new reality has had its challenges, it has also opened the door to many new opportunities. Our online format has allowed us to expand our goals by reaching out, connecting, and collaborating with many affiliates across the world and embracing an even broader audience. The ANPC board and committee members have had the opportunity to attend several meetings and have given presentations about the ANPC in a variety of different countries. For example, earlier this year, a group of council members and I had the opportunity to present at ARTESOL in Argentina. More recently we were invited to present at NYSTESOL in New York. These are only a few examples of how these professional development opportunities have helped raise awareness about the ANPC and have enabled us to learn quite a bit about our fellow affiliates.
If you had the opportunity to attend the last two years of virtual ANPC conference events, I am sure you would agree that the presentations not only addressed many timely and important issues but also radiated lots of positive energy. Attendees and presenters were eager to connect with colleagues and share information. The 2021 ANPC conference, which immediately followed the TESOL International Convention, was held from April 9th-11th. In addition to our annual ANPC Assembly, the following exciting and innovative topics were discussed: Open Educational Resources (CALL IS), Developing Open Access Journals (BC TEAL), Exploring OER projects (MATESOL), OER from Scratch (NYSTESOL), Tapping Creativity to Enhance Communication/Member Engagement: Practices and Benefits (SSTESOL), Leading Your Affiliate for Fully Remote Annual Conference (NYSTESOL), A Pandemic and the Potential for Growth (KOTESOL), and Let's Get Social - a Review of Social Media and Member Engagement Strategies (TESL Ontario). We varied the times of our sessions to accommodate different time zones, and we made the three days more interactive by adding mini-presentations and networking activities, all of which led to much interest and positive comments. Other ways in which we connected with our affiliates during the year were by holding monthly webinars on a variety of topics that captured the attention of our affiliates and the global English language community.
Two of the projects that the ANPC would like to expand our Affiliate Peer Advisory Program (APAP) and our resource library. Initiated in 2019, the goal of the APAP is to assist affiliates in information sharing about their experiences and expertise, organizational health, national and international event planning, strategic plan development, and maintenance of affiliation requirements, as well as other topics that address challenges and concerns of affiliate organizations. In addition, we are working on creating a resource library where we can house and share information about governance, communications and social media, budget and finance, advocacy, marketing, and publications.
As you can see, the ANPC is a powerful link between TESOL international and our 115 affiliates, creating a network of close to 50,000 English language professionals. Please join us in creating an even more powerful network. We would like to hear from you about contributions to our future newsletters, which are published twice a year, in the spring and fall. If you have a topic you would like to share, consider joining our monthly webinar series and/or presenting at our affiliate conference which will take place during the TESOL international conference in 2022. Also, help us grow our APAP by sharing information about your organization by communicating with your ANPC representative.
I look forward to meeting many of you and collaborating during the coming year. By working together and sharing ideas and expertise, we can all grow and improve in many ways. The future of international education is changing, and we can help shape it into a more powerful force. Our affiliates are our global connection. Together, we can make an impact.
Bessie Karras-Lazaris
ANPC Chair, 2021-2022 |
