Greetings to all members of this society. I wanted to take the time to outline my
vision for the next three years. some of these assertions you have read before with
additional comments, others are fairly new that may warrant more time to explore.
I am aware that my leadership as secretary general comes at a significant turning
point in our 29 year history. In order for me to assure the future vitality of this
society, I want to:
Strengthen Infrastructure
The society is old enough and saturated with enough talent that we should never
be void of leadership and talent. While I have taken some preliminary steps to avoid
this (succession planning see -previous newsletter), an extensive deliberation at
the Weber-USA meeting helped to focus on how we can strengthen our governance structure
and procedures. The recent call for nominations of members to serve on the board
of directors is a step in the right direction that:
- encourages broader opportunities to lead and
- allows for more diverse voices.
Continuous work on our constitution and Bi-laws are designed to give guidance to
the important decisions we have made and that are pending. I have come to believe
that signature operations of this society like the Cordis foundation, JISTE, the
Distant Paper Initiative (DPG), Budget management, our Non-profit status and the
Seminar paper group itself, must have constant oversite and development.
Foster/Encourage New, Emerging and Established Leaders
During this past seminar, I launched a pilot program that I would like to have as
a permanent initiative: The "New Comers Orientation". Every seminar I have attended
has a solid representation of individuals attending for the first time. At the Weber
program, we assigned ISfTE members who had attended before to a new-comer to be
responsible for their mentoring, guidance and welcoming of our newest Society members.
Not only do we strengthen our relationship with these scholars but also potentially
impact the retention of new members. In addition, I have been a beneficiary of the
wisdom this society has accrued over the years. My goal is to assure that we keep
their presence and voice as an advising "brain-trust". I would like to convene an
exploratory ad-hoc group in Brazil that would submit recommendations to establish
a ISfTE-Emeritus membership group.
Marketing and Communications
While I envision for now the traditional newsletter as a way to keep our network
informed, the recent design and content upgrade of our website has profound potential
to be used as an arm of outreach and exposure. This ongoing effort must continue
but does require important decisions to be made on at least two item:
- future of maintenance and content management and
- funding support for web-based activities.
The society journal (JISTE) and our DPG, stretches far in building the intent of
improving our image and transmitting the credibility factor with-in our enterprise
of global education. Finally, I am proposing the piloting and eventual establishment
of a Mid-Year web-based ISfTE seminar and meeting using the tools of video/EdNET
conferencing/realtime interactive capabilities. You will here from me on this later.
Fiscal Stability
ISfTE is a non-profit organization. My goal is to support the financial policies
that protects our NPO status and insure base funding for overall operations. I will
work with our fiscal agent to present a budget plan each year through 2014. While
we do have occasional donors to the society (primarily Cordis foundation), our primary
income is derived from membership fees that are distributed to various functions
to support organization operations.
Indigenous Education
Two years ago, I proposed the inclusion of "Indigenous Education" as a customary
strand to the seminar topics we advertise for members as they consider paper submissions.
Though the committee has the option of this and several other areas to consider,
I believe this specific area gives much needed deference to the selected site and
its indigenous inhabitants each time we convene. This action may assist toward strengthening
our DPG program and honoring the host land we have been invited.
Ad-hoc Committee Assignments
Finally, I anticipate a series of ad-hoc committee and board work as time evolves.
Beyond the standard operational committees (JISTE, BOD, Cordis etc.), I'd like to
see a marketing committee, constitutional-and bi-laws committee, distant paper-group
committee. We may need others but the idea is to continue to make ISfTE an accessible
group where new and emerging leaders can thrive with meaning.
Final Note
You have read that I view this opportunity as a stewardship; an opportunity that
I am charged to to make judgments and decisions about the care and future of its
place in our world community. I take this challenge very serious and will do my
best to that end. During the Weber-USA seminar, the South African delegates introduced
the concept of "Ubuntu". during our paper group discussion. I have come to embrace
this notion in a way that I have viewed my life;thus this challenge: "I AM, BECAUSE
WE ARE" will be my call to lead. My aspiration is to permeate this value in my walk,
in my talk, and more important, in my actions. I hope you will join me.
Forrest C. Crawford, Professor of Teacher Education (USA), Secretary General, ISfTE.
fcrawford@weber.edu