Standing Committee Updates

Table of Contents

1. Expanding Outreach, Engaging Professionals Globally | Stephanie Link & Katherine Christoffersen
2. Charging Ahead: Graduate Student Council Initiatives | Oksana Moroz & John Wayne dela Cruz

Expanding Outreach, Engaging Professionals Globally

Stephanie Link, Oklahoma State University, and Katherine Christoffersen, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Chair and Vice Chair, AAAL Online Education and Outreach Committee (OEOC)

If you have attended a workshop or webinar, engaged with AAAL social media posts, participated in an oral history recording at a past AAAL conference, or read the AAALetter, then you have witnessed the contributions of AAAL’s Online Education and Outreach Committee (OEOC). The OEOC is committed to staying at the forefront of knowledge dissemination and community engagement by maintaining and developing a range of initiatives aimed at galvanizing our professional community around critical topics within our field.

Webinars have emerged as one of the cornerstones of our digital strategy. These sessions, led by Haley De Korne (University of Oslo) and the Webinar Sub-Committee, cater to scholars, students, and professionals across different time zones, ensuring accessibility and inclusion. Each webinar brings together experts and thought leaders on a chosen topic and provides a platform for discussion and debate. Webinars are open to AAAL members and non-members, extending insights from applied linguistics scholarship to a global audience. If you missed any of the past webinars, check them out on the AAAL website. If you have suggestions for a future webinar topic, let us know!

Workshops are another exciting avenue we’ve ventured into. Organized by Steve Moody (Brigham Young University) and the Professional Development Sub-Committee, these events focus on skill building and in-depth knowledge sharing. Workshop feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, with many lauding the interactive and hands-on approach.

One of the most captivating initiatives undertaken by the OEOC is the collection of oral histories. With the support of Marda Rose (The Bishop’s School) and the Website and Content Development Sub-Committee, these narratives offer a rich tapestry of experiences, insights, and lessons, bridging the gap between our profession’s seasoned veterans and newer generations.
Additionally, our social media presence has grown exponentially. By harnessing platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Instagram, we're able to share updates, highlight member achievements, and initiate meaningful conversations. The sub-committee has started a new initiative, launching its first campaign in October that centered on raising awareness about disability studies. This campaign showcased scholars and their contributions along with other resources on disability studies. The sub-committee plans to sustain and build upon this campaign in the future. We are thankful for Svetlana Koltovskaia (Northeastern State University) and the Social Media Sub-Committee for bringing the Association into the social media era!

Lastly, the AAALetter is also part of the OEOC. As you can see from this issue, the contents are filled with interesting pieces from our members and important updates from our AAAL leadership and sibling organizations (e.g., MAAL and BAAL). Published biannually by AAALetter Editor Sarah Hercula and AAALetter Sub-Committee members Sinem Sonsaat Hegelheimer and Shuyi Yang, the newsletter caters to both members and non-members, offering richly informative updates and spotlighting our members and their impactful work. We urge everyone to dive into this resource.

Join us on this exciting digital journey as we continue to expand our outreach and deepen global professional engagement. Follow these links to learn more about the OEOC and its sub-committees:

• Visit our website;
• Follow our social media pages: X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube;
  
• Send us your comments and suggestions.

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Charging Ahead: Graduate Student Council Initiatives

Oksana Moroz, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and John Wayne dela Cruz, McGill University

Co-Chairs, AAAL Graduate Student Council (GSC)

As we write this, the academic year is almost at its equator point, but the Graduate Student Council (GSC) has been investing its time all year round to represent the students at AAAL and to implement various initiatives to help students succeed in academic networking, presenting, and gaining new disciplinary skills. We would like to thank the AAAL graduate student members who have been hard at work as members of the GSC Steering Committee and subcommittees, the updates from which we share below.
Newsletter

After a successful call for proposals and weeks of review, the Fall 2023 newsletter is now available. We invite student members and the larger AAAL community to check out the excellent contributions by graduate students highlighted in this issue. We also invite proposal submissions for the upcoming spring issue of the newsletter. More details will be made available in the coming weeks.

Diversity

We applaud efforts from GSC members for helping to initiate changes being implemented at the 2024 AAAL conference, such as religious accommodations for members who will be fasting for Ramadan. The Diversity Sub-Committee is also happy to share the results of the graduate student survey, which is available in the Fall 2023 newsletter. We welcome further input from graduate student members on how to better support our diverse community leading up to and beyond the 2024 AAAL conference.

Social media

The Social Media Sub-Committee is proud to continue working on engaging the graduate student community and making sure that members are up-to-date with opportunities, communication, and information from the GSC and the larger AAAL community. The team continues to work on its YouTube speaker series and to solicit potential contributions from junior and senior scholars. Make sure to follow our Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube pages, along with the GSC website, where you can stay updated on graduate student activities.

Event planning

The first GSC webinar, “Things I Wish I Knew in My Early Years as a Graduate Student,” spearheaded by the Event Planning Sub-Committee, successfully welcomed more than 70 participants. The GSC thanks the panelists, Dr. Emma Chen, Dr. Dan Isbell, and Dr. Woongsik Choi, for their time and expertise. The GSC looks forward to continuing our webinars with our November event titled “Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) for Applied Linguistics,” led by Dr. Sal Consoli, to whom we are very grateful. Finally, we look forward to hosting two panels during the 2024 AAAL conference in Houston, with more details to come in the coming weeks.

2024 AAAL conference in Houston

The GSC charges ahead with our preparations for AAAL 2024. In line with promoting graduate student development, we are organizing a number of initiatives to make the conference relevant and meaningful for graduate students. First, the GSC is proud to announce the second “Multilingual Matters Graduate Research Roundtable and Social Mixer.” This free event will take place before the conference begins on Friday, March 15 at the conference hotel. The roundtable will be centered on developing connections and knowledge sharing between graduate students and faculty mentors. The Roundtable team is hard at work organizing this formerly widely successful event to make this second iteration even more worthwhile for graduate students. Watch out for more details coming from the GSC soon!

To support graduate students planning to attend the 2024 AAAL conference, the GSC has prepared a “Roommate Finder” Padlet to help attendees find and connect with potential roommates before and during the conference. Finally, in anticipation of the recruitment of returning and new members of the GSC Steering Committee and subcommittees, please keep an eye out for a call for volunteers beginning March 2024.

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