ITEA Journal Volume 34 Number 3 Spring 2007

President's Corner
Dennis AsKew, ITEA President

I hope this issue of our journal finds you all in the beginnings of new seasons—for those of us in the northern hemisphere, we're thawing out and hopefully enjoying milder temperatures. Those in the southern hemisphere are also enjoying a moderation of temperatures as your autumn begins to settle in. We all have our traditions for the varying seasons—one of the ones we have within ITEA this time of year, every other year, is electing new officers to serve our organization.

The slate of officers you will find on this year's ballot is very strong, and I am sure you will find the choices very appealing and the decisions difficult. We have another very important item on the ballot this year—a constitutional amendment regarding the hiring of an Executive Director. Our Executive Committee has discussed this at length over the past 18 months, and we believe it is time to move to the creation of this position. This will be a definite shift in the organizational structure of ITEA, as we would dissolve the appointed position of Treasurer and have the Executive Director take over all day-to-day operations of the organization. The ED would be an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Executive Committee and would report to the Executive Committee. Our current Treasurer, Kathy Brantigan, has done a marvelous job in the position and has centralized several different jobs during her tenure. The Executive Committee feels (unanimously, I might add) that the ED position would be a natural evolution in this process. Please consider this vote as carefully as you would consider the ballot for the elections.   [ITEAonline Elections Section]

Another tradition we have at this time of year are the regional conferences—several have happened at the time of this writing and several more will have taken place by the time you receive the Journal . These regional conferences have become an important part of what we do, and we are always looking for the next hosts—it's not too early to consider hosting one (anywhere, worldwide). If you are even sort of, maybe, slightly interested in being a host in 2009 please contact Tim Northcut our conference coordinator.

And finally, another tradition we have this time of year is that the odd-year spring Journal contains the current president's final column. I have been honored to serve you, meet, talk, and correspond with many of you, and to work closely with the current Executive Committee for the past two years. Thank you for entrusting your organization to my leadership for these months, and I look forward to meeting and corresponding with even more of you in the years to come.