Dear SRIS Members:

Those of you who know me are aware that I am not a teacher of English. Others who know me well might be surprised that I am a TESOL member and are quite possibly shocked that I am claiming to edit anything. But as a higher education administrator whose responsibility is to support multilingual international students; the commonalities become clearer. Social responsibility is a core value that all of us share—both in advocating for and teaching students to be globally conscious citizens. Social justice makes our hearts burn with outrage at injustice, sing when small triumphs of equality are achieved, and motivates us to action every day.

In spite of a very challenging time getting started, Jackie and I are so happy to be in service to SRIS in meeting the goal to revive the newsletter—against all odds.

In the coming year, I challenge every member to take a moment from the activity of the day and commit to sending one article so that the newsletter can be as robust as this current issue. As I complete my final year as editor in 2013, producing the newsletters with what we hope is a greater frequency, I want to personally thank Jackie for her support and assistance. Despite a 3,000-mile separation, we’ve managed to do pretty well. I’d also like to thank Dr. Shelley Wong and Comfort Mingot for their prompting to ensure that the plan to revive the newsletter didn’t languish when life took over.

If you have submitted work in the past year that has not been published, please feel free resubmit it to sris.news@gmail.com for future consideration.

To all SRIS members, your submissions over the last year have been thoughtful and your passion for your work is inspiring. Being editor of your newsletter and a new member of TESOL all at once has been a humbling experience for me.

Respectfully in your service,

Nicole J. Sealey

Nicole on a trip to New York City together with freshman students enrolled in the Center for International Student Access and staff from George Mason University. In picture: (standing, left to right) E. Dunleavy, F. Alsaleh, A. Assale, F. Almahdaly, H. Kim, X. Fan, and L. Kenton. (bottom, left to right) M. Bajowaiber, K. Mallett, N. Sealey, M. Alkubaisi, and A. Alhassan.