Greetings fellow researchers, educators, and methodologists! 

There are a few issues that require your attention.  We are seeking candidates to run for our two elected offices: Program Chair/Chair-Elect and Secretary.  Both are two year commitments.  The program chair will work with Brian French next year (2015-2016) to learn the ropes, and then will take over as Chair/Program Chair the following year (2016-2017). The main duties of this position are to coordinate the AERA conference program and to run the SIG—which includes overseeing the awards, the election, and the newsletter. The secretary position is a 2 year position that runs from May 2015-May 2017. The secretary’s main duties are taking notes at the annual business meeting and helping with the SIG newsletter. Per AERA policy, the elections for both of these elections needs to be contested, which means that we need two volunteers to be candidates for each of the two positions.  Neither of the positions requires an onerous amount of work, and I actually find it really fun to work on the program and the newsletter.  If you are interested in running for either position, or if you would like more information, please contact me at [email protected] . Also, we are seeking nominations for the SEM SIG Service award.  Randall Schumacker, was our inaugural SEM SIG award winner.  If you would like to nominate someone for the award, please send me a brief nomination letter describing why you believe the person is deserving of the award as well as a recent copy of the nominee’s vita.  This is a really nice honor, so please take a few minutes to nominate a worthy colleague or mentor!

Finally, I need to thank the many people who have been working behind the scenes to keep the SIG afloat. This includes our officers, Brian French, the Chair/Program Chair-Elect, who helped me put together this year’s program, and Jill Adelson, our secretary.  I also want to thank those who volunteered to review proposals for the SIG this year.  This is a really important and underappreciated task, and it wouldn’t be possible to put together the fine program that we offer every year without such dedicated volunteers! 

Thank you for your continued support and involvement with the SIG, and I look forward to seeing you in Chicago at AERA 2015!

Sincerely,

D. Betsy McCoach
SEM SIG Program Chair 2014-2015