Dear HEIS Members,

I am honored to serve as HEIS Chair for the 2013-2014 academic year, and I am humbled at the prospect of filling the shoes of our previous Chairs. We all know the challenges of teaching English Language Learners, and each year we make the choice to embrace those challenges. We recognize the important role we play in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages, and this calendar year proves to be no exception.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new members and to thank all those who have been members for a while. All of us have some common goals, which are part of our Governing Rules:

• promote recognition of ESL as an established academic discipline
• promote professional standards and practices among ESL professionals in higher education
• improve professional standing and employment conditions for ESL professionals in higher education
• cooperate in appropriate ways with others having similar concerns
• provide a forum for exchange of views and research related to ESL in higher education
• promote research pertinent to ESL in higher education, including academic purposes and specific purposes, methods and materials, and program administration
• provide expertise on ESL in higher education to TESOL and its Affiliates, and other interest sections as well as to other associations, institutions and agencies
• cooperate in developing and implementing guidelines and standards for use in establishing, maintaining, and evaluating ESL in higher education
• survey the membership to determine needs, problems and projects specific to ESL in higher education
• disseminate news, information and research vital to ESL in higher education
• provide a unified voice for ESL in higher education in acting on professional and other pertinent issues

We recognize how essential it is to develop the language and learning that ELLs need to be successful, as well as enhance and enrich the language and culture that students bring to the classroom. Our classrooms thrive on the richness that comes from this diversity, and yet we recognize the challenges as well.

TESOL 2013

HEIS was well represented at TESOL in Dallas. In addition to member presentations, we had an informative Academic Session about issues, principles and practice in the improvement of productive skills. We also had an Intersection on the interlanguage/intercultural impact of Chinese and Arabic students’ writing in English.

We had the annual HEIS business meeting and time in the TESOL Information Booth. Our open business meeting included a dynamic discussion of current issues and initiatives followed by a dinner at Wild Salsa, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in downtown Dallas. Thanks, Kim―that was a great pick! The minutes of the HEIS open meeting are available on the HEIS section of the TESOL Web site. Thanks to all of the HEIS members and volunteers who attended these events and helped make TESOL 2013 a success. Please visit the HEIS Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/tesol.heis.

HEIS ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR FALL 2013

The HEIS elections will take place in fall 2013, a continuation of the new election schedule instituted in 2009. This will allow newly elected officers more time to plan for the convention and secure convention funding. Look for a call for nominations on the HEIS e-list. Those of you who don’t participate in the e-list will also receive an e-mail with information.

CURRENT LEADERSHIP OF HEIS

A big round of applause and a hearty thank you to Kim Song, who served as chair for the past year and organized a great set of convention presentations. Special appreciation goes to Debbie East, who is a past past-chair and has been very active in supporting HEIS in TESOL 2013. Our e-list usually is one of the most active in TESOL. Christina Quartararo, our Community Manager, has been instrumental in developing e-communication through Facebook. I also would like to thank Maria Parker, our former newsletter editor, who has played a very important role in getting our newsletters ready and available to all of you. She has made a smooth transition for our two new editors, Maria Ammar and Timothy Flynn.

I would not like to forget the rest of the HEIS steering committee/board members, who have been essential to the development of HEIS. Veteran board members have mentored incoming officers and provided expertise and continuity in our leadership.

Finally, I would just like to mention that your role as member is also vital, and I would like to invite you to participate and get involved. There are many and simple things you can do, such as writing an article for the HEIS Newsletter (we love to hear your stories), participating in the HEIS listserv discussions, attending the open business meeting at the annual convention, or simply spreading the word about our Interest Section. Also, if you have some suggestions regarding issues that we should focus our energies on for this academic year, please forward them to me at mferna20@csu.edu. Your input would be most welcome.

I invite you to take a look at our website and our newsletters to know more about who we are, the issues that are important to us, and the goals we are committed to achieving as we strive to ensure that English Language Learners in Higher Education are provided a high quality education.

I look forward to the challenges in the coming year, and I am very excited to this great opportunity. Have a great summer and see you all soon at TESOL 2014 in Portland.

Miguel Fernandez, Ph.D.
Chair, Higher Education Interest Section

Miguel Fernández is an Associate Professor in the Bilingual Education Program at Chicago State University. He holds a Ph.D. in English Philology (University of Granada, Spain) and two Masters Degrees: M.A. in Education (University of Granada, Spain), and M.A in Language Testing (Lancaster University, UK). His areas of interest include Bilingual Education, Second Language Acquisition and Language Testing. He is the author of A Test Impact Study under the No Child Left Behind Act: The case of the ACCESS for ELLs. He has also authored and coauthored over twenty articles in the field of language acquisition and language testing. Dr. Fernández is currently President of Illinois Teachers of English as a Second Language-Bilingual Education (ITBE).