Dear SPLIS members,

2016 has been a busy year for TESOL, with the organization’s 50th anniversary celebration and many transitions in process.

We have begun to get accustomed to a new community platform, myTESOL, and seen several interesting discussions posted to our community. Are you connected to our SPLIS community via myTESOL? You can read the discussions on the website, receive daily digests of the messages posted, or get email about each message in real time. Go to my.tesol.org, sign in using your TESOL credentials, click “Communities” to check your enrollment and settings, then watch for more discussions in the lead-up to TESOL’s 2017 convention in Seattle.

This year has also brought a process of change to interest sections (ISs) within TESOL. At the 2016 convention, an Interest Section Task Force presented findings and let us know that the IS system would be changed, with input from all members. We have recently received the proposal that TESOL will have knowledge-based member communities (KMBCs) instead of ISes. You can find more information about this change and make comments about it on the TESOL Blog. Please follow this information and share your input to help SPLIS have a wonderful future as a KMBC, with increased year-round activities.

I’m excited to hear from you on myTESOL and to see some of you in Seattle this year. The lineup of SPLIS-related presentations looks exciting, as always.

All my best wishes,

Beth