We have several new members of the SPLIS leadership team.

Incoming Chair: Jacob Rutherford

Lauren Lovvorn was our incoming chair, but unfortunately she had to step down after losing her teaching position to the reduced enrollment faced in many of our institutions. Lauren’s efficient work and kind presence will be deeply missed.

Luckily, Jacob Rutherford was able to step in as incoming chair. Jacob is the director of Language Consultants International (LCI) at Park University and received a master's in ESL from the University of Memphis. He has also taught English in China and the Czech Republic. He particularly enjoys teaching speaking and pronunciation classes, as well as writing for specific academic purposes. I look forward to introducing him to you in Seattle.

Chair-Elect: Shantaya Rao

Shantaya teaches ESL full-time at the English Language Center at Howard Community College, where she conducts local faculty professional development workshops, assists in program development projects, and mentors new instructors. She enjoys teaching pronunciation, reading, vocabulary, and developing online resources.

Secretary: Hilal Ergül

Hilal received her bachelor's in English language teaching in 2006 and has been a language teacher/researcher ever since. Most of her professional experience comes from teaching EFL to adult learners at language schools. She is currently working on her PhD in applied linguistics at Texas A&M University - Commerce.

Member-at-Large: Nancy Elliott

Nancy has a PhD in linguistics from Indiana University, specializing in English sociophonology, dialectology, and the history of English. Her research is in rhoticity, vowel mergers before /r/, and judgments of comprehensibility. Nancy teaches listening, speaking, and pronunciation courses in the University of Oregon’s Intensive English Program.