President's Message
by Erik Palmore, President
I wanted to take a few moments to write a note to my fellow ETLSO members
and wish them the best as we go into the new year. I have noticed more
and more ETLSO activity in my inbox in the last week, so I can tell
people are returning from vacations, and are preparing for the coming
year.
Your new ETLSO officers have been working to prepare for the coming year
too. We have been putting our heads together, collaborating, and
working out exactly what we want to accomplish in the coming year. We
have had more great ideas than we will ever have time to make happen,
but we all look forward to trying.
I would like to thank last year's officers for doing a wonderful job.
If you used the ETLSO in any way last year, be it to pose a question to
the group, read job postings, or attended one of the sessions the ETLSO hosted, then you utilized a service that was created and supported by
one of these already busy people. They all did a tremendous job, and I
look forward to living up to the standard that they created.
And this should be easy, because the officers this year are up to the
task. I became excited when I learned who I would be working with,
because like many of my fellow classmates, I associate their names with
great comments, questions, and observations posted in course
discussions.
I am also excited to be working with you, the ETLSO members. I have
often wanted to connect better with my fellow students, and sometimes I
have. When group projects end, e-mails and instant messages still bounce
back and forth with my team members as we discuss a variety of
things related to being an ETL student.
That is the purpose of the ETLSO, to be a place for members of the
program, past and present, to connect in ways not accommodated in the
classroom. We are looking for ways to do this better, but the one
ingredient that is important is involvement. Sharing an answer sought or
found could address the same need several ETLSO members have. Sharing an available
job that you are aware of might be a great opportunity for a
fellow member. You get the picture.
As the president of the ETLSO, I will do my best to make sure being and
staying involved is easy. If you have any ideas, suggestions, requests,
complaints, or anything, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Erik Palmore
epalmore@gwu.edu
Reflections
by Julie McLeod, Past-President
The ETL program has me in the habit of reflecting on my experiences. So, I
find myself looking back on the last year as your President (and the
year before as your VP Communications) with introspection and
evaluation. I would like to share those thoughts with you as I move to
another phase of my life.
Overall, I believe that our two-year-old organization has made
incredible strides. As a testament to the strong ETL program and in
particular the Power, Leadership and Education course, Erika Gronek took
the initiative to start the ETLSO. Since then, many ETL students and
alumni have contributed to and benefited from the organization.
As I look back on the past year, I see that two major initiatives have
made an impact on the organization. First, I believe we have made major
strides to bridge the physical distance between the students and the
faculty outside of the Bb classroom. This strong tie to the faculty has
led to several successful chats with Drs. Milman and Watkins as well as
an upcoming chat with Ivan Cortes, a friend of Dr. Watkins. I believe
the new officers will be able to expand this faculty-ETLSO relationship
to create many benefits that I haven’t even dreamed of yet!
The second initiative is our new web presence on Moodle. We have long
been frustrated with Yahoo!Groups, but we haven’t had the time or
expertise to create other solutions for our group. A big thanks goes to
Charlotte Corbett for stepping up to the plate and taking the initiative
on implementing Moodle. I think it will serve us well as we grow into
the future. Fortunately, Charlotte has agreed to stay on in the officer
ranks to get Moodle established for our group.
When I sent the email introducing the new officers, I said it was a
bitter-sweet moment. That sentiment continues even through today. Thank
you for allowing me to serve the organization. See you on the listserv!
-Julie
