Authored by:
Kim C. Carter
President Elect, SRAI
University of Kentucky
Email:kccarter.1@uky.edu
As the incoming president of SRAI in October, it is my turn to give you some details about developments in the Society. All Board members are writing an article each month and it is my turn this month.
It is almost this time of the year and we are looking forward to the summer months, hot and long days, summer vacation with family and friends and a lot of fun. Like every year, the members of the Board of Directors, we are headed to headquarters for the summer Board meeting in Arlington, VA. The 90-100% humidity is not standing in our way to spend the weekend in summery DC area. This year, the meeting will take place July 21-22. Don’t forget!, Everyone from the SRAI membership is invited to join us through the conference calling line. For more information and how to sign-up, please see here.*
We are also preparing for this year’s elections. The Nominations for the positions of Secretary and two At-Large Board Member will open soon and close on July 2. The new officers’ terms begin at the close of the Annual Business Meeting in Orlando on October 30. Nominations are open to full members of SRAI. I encourage you to nominate yourself or another full member for office. Being part of the SRAI Board is a great way to proactively share your ideas on how to advance our profession, will likely have positive results on your own career and definitely provides the opportunity to work with some amazing people.
As the Chapter meetings season is full in swing, I am headed to the Virginia Chapter meeting on June 15 in Richmond to present the Keys to Success for Research Administrators and Superheroes workshop. In the half-day workshop, we will identify the soft skills that research administrators need to really excel in this profession and explore how similar they are to the skills of familiar superheroes. I really enjoy presenting this workshop and the audience always seems to have great fun (and you will never guess, who the superhero is!).
Chapters are not the only ones who are busy with their meetings. The planning committees for the 2019 Section meetings are already hard at work on their budgets and will be opening their calls for proposals and volunteers for next year’s meetings. Please consider submitting a proposal or volunteering at the Section meetings which will be held in San Diego on March 10 – 13, 2019 (Western/Southern) and Chicago on April 28 – May 1, 2019 (Midwest/Northeast). Calls for proposals will be announced in July. You also could learn more onsite at the Annual Meeting in Orlando this fall directly from the planning committee members.
Please join me in welcoming the new Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor of the Journal of Research Administration: Nathan Vanderford and Jennifer Taylor, respectively. I am pleased that Nathan and Jennifer have volunteered to assist with the journal. If you want to learn more about them, read the Kudos Korner article.
I hope you have a great summer and look forward to seeing and working with you soon. SRAI Members and Volunteers Rock!
*Please contact Debbie Appler if you have any questions about logistics for the meeting.
#Leadership#Membership#ResearchAdministration