Editor’s note: The TIRF Board of Trustees meets twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall, in order to discuss opportunities for development and growth, long-term goals of the Foundation, publication activities, and budgetary issues. Board members travel at no expense to TIRF.
TIRF’s Board of Trustees met in Washington, DC earlier this month from Thursday, September 14th to Friday, September 15th, to hold its annual fall meeting. The Thursday portion of the meeting was held at TIRF Trustee Donna Christian’s house; the Friday portion was held at the offices of the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). A number of issues were discussed to help guide the Foundation’s work over the next six months.
During the Thursday portion of the Foundation’s meeting, two individuals were introduced to TIRF’s Board of Trustees. We were pleased to welcome for the first time to one of our Board meetings Mr. Chris Powers, TESOL International Association’s Executive Director, and Mr. Joe Bookbinder, Director of the Office of English Language Programs for the U.S. Department of State.
At the outset of each of the Foundation’s meetings, TIRF officers and committee chairs provide Trustees with reports based on the past six month’s activities. Such reports included those shared by Trustee Kathi Bailey (in her role as President and Chair of the Board); Trustee Jun Liu (as Vice President); Ryan Damerow (Chief Operating Officer); Trustee MaryAnn Christison (Chair of the Research Advisory Committee); Donna Christian (as Secretary-Treasurer); and Dick Tucker (Chair of the Alatis Prize Committee).
During the meeting, various topics were addressed by TIRF’s Trustees. Kathi Bailey and Ryan Damerow provided Trustees with a summary of the TESOL-TIRF Research Symposium, which was held in June in Monterey, California. Trustee John Knagg updated TIRF’s Board, regarding recent British Council activities. Trustee Nick Saville summarized current activities of Cambridge English Language Assessment. Mr. Joe Bookbinder, the official U.S. State Department Observer to TIRF’s Board, and Ms. Jennifer Uhler shared developments from State’s Office of English Language Programs. Trustee Spiros Papageorgiou debriefed the Board concerning the activities of Educational Testing Service, Inc.
Other points of discussion at TIRF’s Board meeting included the forthcoming TIRF-Routledge publication concerning language policy and planning; development efforts that may help ease financial burdens TIRF is currently facing; and a review of TIRF’s vision, mission, and value statements. Lastly, as TIRF will soon be celebrating its 20th anniversary as a leader in language education research, Trustees began considering ways in which it will commemorate this upcoming milestone.
TIRF’s next Board meeting will be held in Chicago on March 27, 2018, in conjunction with the 2018 International TESOL Convention and English Language Expo. We hope that our supporters will continue to follow the exciting developments ahead for the Foundation!
