Dear Fellow HEISers,

In just a number of hours we will be ushering in the New Year.

Before we do, we would like say that we are so proud of our interest section’s participation in the 2015 TESOL convention. Those who presented at the conference, we thank you for your hard work and for the quality of your presentations.

As an interest section, we are very fortunate to have such an active group of participants and presenters. Whether you were able to be present at the convention or not, we thank you for your ongoing support.

We would also like to thank all of you for your participation on the HEIS listserv throughout the year and note the number of lively and informative exchanges, which have helped researchers and contributed to improving and enhancing our practices in our respective programs. Whether we have agreed or disagreed on issues, the exchanges have always been of a high intellectual, academic, and pedagogical level. For this we are grateful.

The 2016 50th anniversary TESOL convention in Baltimore promises to be a memorable one. There will be many valuable presentations from our interest section—Leo and I can attest to that—and from the other interest sections as well. We will also be participating in numerous 50th anniversary celebrations.

The Higher Education Interest Section will be celebrating with refreshments after our traditional business meeting. We hope to greet you there and facilitate the meeting and networking of our members.

We will be ushering in our 2016 co-chairs: Katherine Early and Yogesh Sinha.

A special welcome to our newly elected officers: Kevin Martin (Chair-Elect),Rania Khalil (Assistant Chair), andTara Smith (Member-at-Large).

All of us would like to thank all who ran for office and encourage you to consider running next year. To all of those who voted, we thank you for your participation. Needless to say that is what keeps our interest sections and our organization alive.

Leo and I would like to express our gratitude to Debbie East and Ruth Weinstein, immediate past co-chairs, for their service, counsel, and continued support.

A special thank you to Heather Robertson for her help at all times.

Maria Ammar, we thank you for your help and hard work putting this newsletter together and keeping us on track. We appreciate you!

It is time for us to wish you all a very happy, healthy New Year. May it be filled with wonderful events and success for your professional and personal endeavors.

I will end with a wish for a new beginning; as Leo signs his emails: Peace.

May peace be with you,

All our best wishes to all,

Abby Franchitti and Leo Schmitt

Co-Chairs, TESOL Higher Education Interest Section

Abby Franchitti is curriculum and assessment director at Kansas State University.

Leo Schmitt is a linguistics lecturer at Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, in New York. He is also a doctoral candidate in the Linguistics Department at the City University of New York Graduate Center in New York.