We are entering the final stretch of the transition from the former Affiliate Leadership Council (ALC) to the new Affiliate Network Professional Council (ANPC). We have been making adjustments, establishing new procedures, exploring new opportunities, and gradually getting used to what will be the new normal on November 1^st, 2019.

These are exciting yet challenging times for the ANPC and the TESOL staff.

One aspect of the new normal is that there are now a maximum of 8 members of the ANPC (cf. the ALC’s 4 members). This allows for a richer makeup of the ANPC with more diversity of interests, expertise, skills, geographical representation, etc. It also allows for more heads and hands available to undertake the work of the ANPC. It is worth noting that the TESOL Board Liaison and the Staff Partner are also supporting the work of these eight ANPC members.

The selection process for becoming a member of the ANPC is also different. Now, candidates submit applications which are reviewed by an ANPC committee and recommendations are made to the Board of Directors which makes the final decisions on the candidates. The next Call for New Members will be posted during August, 2019.

Another change is the term of service for the ANPC members. The term of service now is for one year, renewable for additional years up to a total of three years altogether. (The ALC members’ terms were 4 years). This allows for more flexibility for both TESOL and each ANPC member. It provides for ways to more promptly fill unexpected vacancies in the ANPC roster which may occur during the year. There is also a more dynamic relationship within the ANPC which allows for an annual reconfiguration of the various committees.

The roles of the ANPC members are also fluid; previously each member had a specific role to play for each year of service. Now at the beginning of each term of service (November 1^st) the makeup of each of the committees is “re-established”. The current committees are:

• The Affiliate News Committee
• The Affiliate Network Year-Round Events Committee
• The Communications Committee
• The Convention Committee

An attempt is made to pair a returning member with an incoming member to allow for a brief period of mentoring to take place and to allow for continuity in each committee’s work. Nevertheless, committee makeup can be modified at any time throughout the year when the needs and interests of the ANPC and its members warrant a change.

In keeping with TESOL’s new Strategic Plan and the Charter of the ANPC, new activities are being explored and encouraged. New committees will be formed, especially as we move away from a reliance on convention-only affiliate activities.

As explained above, the term of service has changed as well as the period of service. It now corresponds to TESOL’s fiscal year: from November 1^st to October 31^st of the following year. Previously, the period of service was basically from “convention to convention.” The new calendar poses some interesting challenges. For example, some members of the Convention Committee will be organizing and preparing affiliate activities for a convention in which they will no longer be members of the ANPC. A new crop of members will take over and be responsible for the “execution” of the plan that was prepared by the previous members that have rotated off the ANPC. However, the pairing of returning and new committee members is designed to mitigate this potential problem.

As a consequence of the change in the dates of the period of service, the reporting of the ANPC’s activities is also “split”, vis-a-vis the Affiliate Assembly at the annual convention. Although the ANPC Chair has to submit a final report to the TESOL Board of Directors at the end of October, the new ANPC Chair also provides an annual report at the following convention. Hence, the Assembly report will include 7 or 8 months of the work of the previous ANPC as well as 4 or 5 months of the current ANPC. This new feature will be presented for the first time at the first full ANPC Assembly on March 14^th, 2019 from 10:00 to 11:00 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Finally, the communication channels available to the ANPC are different from those of the former ALC. Formerly it was a listserv and two Facebook Page groups, plus the Affiliate News. The Affiliate News is continuing to be published and the affiliates now have two sites on the myTESOL Community available for communicating with the ANPC and with other affiliates. These sites are the “Affiliate Leaders ”my TESOLCommunity in which the official representative leaders of each affiliate are included and the Affiliate Network Community in which anyone who is signed up on the TESOL website can participate. The latter will eventually replace the two Facebook pages.

I have pointed out some of the major differences regarding the new ANPC—there are many more minor differences—but what about the similarities? Is everything really different?

The answer is No.

The ANPC continues to be the major governance link between the affiliates and TESOL International Association. The TESOL Senior Membership Manager, Valerie Novick (vnovick@tesol.org), continues to support affiliates regarding administrative issues.

More fundamentally, the same passion and dedication to providing and sharing quality professional development, governance-related best practices and affiliate engagement in TESOL activities continues to permeate the work of the Affiliate Network Professional Council.

The reliance on the grass roots’ sharing, contributing and participating of affiliate leaders and members worldwide in the affiliate activities of TESOL continues at the annual convention and throughout the year. Volunteers are the core of TESOL’s spirit, longevity and effectiveness.

Finally, I wish to take advantage of this space to thank the former members of the ANPC who held their positions from the Chicago convention until October 31^st, 2018: Debbie West, former Chair of the ANPC who oversaw all of the activities of the Council, Ana Maria Rocca who collaborated on organizing the affiliate convention activities in Atlanta, and Sarah Elia, coeditor of the Affiliate News. We trust that you will continue to serve TESOL International Association, your affiliate and English language teachers and students around the world.