John Stewart, West Virginia University

At this writing, you should have an email asking you to vote on the revised bylaws. The election closed on Thursday February 22nd. The revisions should simplify the Forum on Education (FEd) governance, allow us to attract more members, and to better serve our graduate student members. The most important changes are summarized below.

This will be my last “Note from the Chair.” Larry Cain will become Chair at the April Meeting; there will be a transition period where we both are chair if the bylaws are adopted. At the April Meeting, Past Chair Tim Stelzer and Members-at-Large Andrew Heckler and Geraldine Cochran will complete their terms and rotate off the Executive Committee. I would like to thank them for their exemplary service.

The new membership committee is already working on some ideas to increase FEd membership (I sure hope the bylaws are approved). The APS is designing a poster that will allow meeting attendees to enter their badge number at a website to join the FEd. This poster will be placed outside our meeting rooms and at the APS Education and Diversity booth. We are also pursuing a lapsed member drive to ask former FEd members to return. On the first of the year, the APS changed its policy to allow members to join as many forums as they want for free.

Beyond the revision of the bylaws, and the changes that they will bring, we are also trying to formalize our relation with the Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOP) to continue to offer one invited education session at their annual meeting.

We are also testing having a Forum on Education/Education and Diversity reception at the March Meeting. This popular event at the April Meeting allows the FEd and GPER to introduce their fellows and award winners and have a chance to socialize. I hope all FEd members at either meeting will attend.

Proposed Revisions to Bylaws:

1. Revise bylaws to conform to changes in APS governance structure.
2. Change the beginning of officer terms to January 1st. This makes the officers’ terms the same as the FEd fiscal year term and allows newly elected officers to participate immediately.
3. Increase the number of Members-at-Large from six to seven. One of the Members-at-Large would be a graduate student who would serve a two-year term.
4. Create a membership committee with the FEd Chair as the chair of the committee.
5. Formalize Member-at-Large roles. Members-at-Large will take on a sequence of roles like FEd members in the Chair line, but in reverse order. Members-at-Large would be on the awards committees their first year, the program committee the second year, and the nominating committee the third year. All would serve on the new membership committee in their second and third years. The graduate student member would serve on the membership and program committee. These roles are the typical roles and the Chair, with consultation of the Members-at-Large, could adjust the roles or assign additional tasks as needed.

Thanks to all Forum on Education Members. Serving as the Chair of the Forum has been a great honor.

Disclaimer – The articles and opinion pieces found in this issue of the APS Forum on Education Newsletter are not peer refereed and represent solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the APS.