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Dear SPLIS members,
I want to thank you for the opportunity to be part of the
Speech, Pronunciation, and Listening Interest Section (SPLIS) leadership
over the past 3 years. I’ve enjoyed connecting with many of you over
that time. Currently, I’m past chair of the SPLIS Steering Committee,
finishing this role in March 2018.
In the last few months, there have been some surprising changes
to the SPLIS leadership team. This fall our current chair, Jacob, found
himself unable to continue in his SPLIS role after his teaching
institution unfortunately closed. More recently, our incoming chair,
Shantaya, found that her other commitments will prevent her from
continuing as SPLIS chair after this year’s convention.
Luckily, our former chair Veronica Sardegna has graciously
agreed to step back into a leadership role with SPLIS. You can also read
her letter in this newsletter. She will be joined at the 2018
convention by Shantaya and by our new Incoming Chair-Elect Susan
Spezzini. Thank you for electing Susan this fall. She has jumped with
both feet into the SPLIS leadership team, making several vital
contributions over the last month. I look forward to seeing what she and
Veronica will do in 2018–2019.
I’d also like to share the news that your SPLIS steering
committee has appointed a newsletter editor and a community manager for
2018–2020. You’ve already met our newsletter editor Suzanne Franks via
this publication. I think she will be a wonderful newsletter editor for
our IS with her past editing experience and her work with TESL graduate
students. Our new community manager is Holly Hubbard. Holly is finishing
up a PhD in instructional leadership and has worked in many corners of
our field, including EFL, K–12 English language development, and teacher
training. Welcome Suzanne and Holly!
On a personal note, I can’t make it to the convention this year
because I have a nursing baby. I hope you have a wonderful convention
and a year filled with professional successes. Thanks for all you do to
promote speech, pronunciation, and listening in TESOL.
All my best wishes,
Beth |
