Thank you to our Executive Committee members who met on 15th and 16th June at the University of Sydney. It was a full agenda that considered and decided upon a range of important items and initiatives, including:
- An Executive position statement supporting a ‘Yes’ vote at the forthcoming Referendum on the amendment to the Australian constitution to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament
- Approval of the 2023-2024 SIG Funding applications; it is wonderful to see so many creative and engaging initiatives that will be on the agenda for AARE members in the year ahead
- Reports on activities from all the portfolio leads on the Executive – including awards, ECR and PGR, SIG co-ordinator and Research Development Co-ordinator
- Finalising plans for the next Theory Workshop to be held on September 15-16 at University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba
- A detailed report from the Conferences Standing Committee Chair; incredible progress is being made towards what promises a fabulous 2023 conference (details in Conference Chair’s report)
- Finalising Conference Keynote speakers for 2023 and planning underway for keynotes and Radford lecturers in 2024-2025
- Approval of the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan; details will be shared with AARE members very soon
- Initial planning for online forums/workshops on current issues across the education sector - second half of 2023
- Approval of the 2023 Conference Budget and the 2023-2024 Operating Budget along with consideration of a principles to underpin the development of a Cash Reserves Policy
- Approval and work towards an extensive range of policy updates and guidance procedures in support of responsible governance of the Association (Social Media, Community Guidelines, Sponsorship, Cyber Security, Privacy, Data Management)
- Planning for the 2024 Conference; venue secured (to be announced later this year) and local organising group being formed
- Consideration of Honorary Life Member nominations for 2023
- An update from the Constitution Review Sub Committee following the recent member consultation survey and planning next steps for drafting revisions to the Constitution
- Consideration of AARE’s financial sponsorship/partnership relationships and how to ensure optimal benefit to members
- Preparation for renewal of our Routledge agreement for the Local/Global Issues in Education series later this year- thanks to our series editors’ Jessica Gerrard, Greg Thompson and Marcia McKenzie for their work
- Consideration of Office Bearer nominations for 2024 – a call will be for nominations in the coming few months
- Review of membership data and trends showing a healthy return to pre-covid member numbers
- Confirmation of the AARE Executive and Executive Management Team [EMT] meeting schedule for the remainder of 2023; meetings dates are now available for member information at the AARE website event calendar.
We are grateful to our Executive member portfolio holders, committee members and SIG leaders for their service and many contributions to AARE in support of members and the advancement of educational research.
As always, members are invited to contact myself or any of the Executive Committee via aare@aare.edu.au with questions, suggestions or feedback.
Warm regards,
Julie McLeod
AARE President 2023-24