Dear HEIS members,

The new year is off to a great start! In this letter, I give an update on the results of the HEIS elections and preview the upcoming events at TESOL 2011 in New Orleans.

HEIS OFFICER ELECTIONS

TESOL moved the timing for interest section elections to the fall so that newly elected steering committee members have more time to prepare for the TESOL annual convention. Our HEIS elections were held December 1 through 15. Thanks go to Shawn Ford, our immediate past chair, and the nominating committee for organizing the elections on the new schedule. Thanks also to all the candidates who ran for office; their willingness to contribute to the interest section is much appreciated.

Let’s extend our congratulations to the new HEIS Steering Committee officers:

Chair-Elect: Kim Song
Assistant Chair: Kelly Schroeder
Secretary: Chris A. McGilvery
Member-at-Large: Christina Quartararo

TESOL CONVENTION

Now that the new year and, for many of us, the new semester have arrived, it is time to plan our trips to New Orleans for the TESOL Convention. HEIS is looking forward to an issue-packed and informative set of sessions.

Academic Session

This year’s HEIS Academic Session is titled “ESL in Higher Education: Graduation Credit or Remediation Credit.” Anyone who teaches ESL in higher education has probably faced the issue of what kind of credit, if any, students receive for their ESL classes. The presenters, Debbie East, Juanita Brunelle, Jim Valentine, and Eileen Kelley, will discuss this important issue and how it has been addressed at their respective institutions.

InterSections

HEIS is sponsoring three InterSections this year. Our primary InterSection is “The Role of IEPs in Higher Education” with panelists T. Leo Schmitt, Priscilla Taylor, Jim Bame, and Karen O’Neill. This session will explore the different ways that intensive English programs are integrated (or not) into community colleges and universities. With the Applied Linguistics InterSection, we are presenting “Linguistic Issues in Writing from Sources” with Howard Williams, Marianne Celce-Murcia, and Susan Olmstead-Wang. The session will focus on grammatical and lexical problems that second language learners face when writing academic papers. Finally, with the Computer-Assisted Language Learning interest section, we are presenting an InterSection titled “Building Effective Intercultural Communication in Online Courses,” presented by Dawn Bikowski, Debbie East, Sandy Wagner, and Geoff Lawrence. They will discuss how to develop pedagogically sound online courses and activities that help students develop their intercultural communication skills. These three sessions will address issues important to ESL in higher education and should generate very interesting discussions.

Other HEIS-sponsored Sessions

As one of the largest interest sections, HEIS is sponsoring 56 sessions at TESOL 2011. In addition to the sessions previously mentioned, there will be Teaching Tip and Hot Topic sessions (20 min.); Discussion Group, Research-oriented, and Practice-oriented sessions (45 min.); Poster sessions (1 hr., 15 min.), and Workshops and Colloquia (1 hr., 45 min.). Session topics include adjustment to college classes, academic credit for ESL, grammar, academic writing, assessment, reading, games, avoiding plagiarism, and teacher research. All HEIS members should be able to find something that speaks to their own and to their students’ needs and interests.

HEIS Member Events

This year the interest section open business meetings have a new schedule, with some meetings from 5 to 6 p.m. and others from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. This will allow you to attend two different interest section meetings if you wish. The HEIS Open Business Meeting this year is scheduled for Thursday, March 17, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m., in room 204. All members are welcome to attend this meeting to discuss issues relevant to the current membership. At this meeting, members can help plan for the upcoming year, including contributing ideas for Academic Sessions, InterSections, and member-proposed sessions at the next TESOL convention. Please come to meet other HEIS members and share ideas. After the meeting, there will be a no-host dinner at a local restaurant.

HEIS Booth—New Location

There is a new location for the Interest Section Booths, and they will be shared by several ISs. The HEIS Booth is going to be located in the TESOL Center, and will be open on Thursday, March 17 from 2 pm-4 pm. Please stop by to say “Hi,” find out locations and times of HEIS sessions, pick up some HEIS-related handouts and articles, volunteer for an upcoming HEIS project, or just chat.

In closing, I look forward to your active involvement in HEIS, whether by reviewing convention presentations, running for election, nominating a colleague, presenting at future conventions, attending the annual meeting at the convention, writing for the HEIS newsletter, or simply participating in the HEIS discussion list. Your presence and participation will guide our future direction just as it successfully has in the past.

I look forward to reading your comments and ideas in the coming months on our very active HEIS discussion list and to seeing you at the 45th Annual TESOL Convention and Exhibit in New Orleans!

Heather Robertson
heatherr@usc.edu