Revival of Editors WA
by Dr Catherine Macdonald AE
Good news for Editors WA, the WA branch of IPEd. On the evening of Tuesday 25 August 2020, we held our Annual Branch Meeting, via Zoom. We had a good turnout with 16 participants, leading to some lively discussion. The meeting was ably chaired by our new President, Jess Gately, who impressed us all with her ability to deliver an annual report even though she has only been on the committee for about a month. Well done, Jess.
The best news is that we now have a revitalised committee with several new members joining those renewing from last year, giving us a total of 10 committee members. This should be enough to allow us to restart planning events and professional development opportunities for our members. As seven of the committee members are professional (voting) members of IPEd, we can have up to six associate or student members, allowing us to expand still further. As we hear there are others in the wings keen to join, this is a great benefit.
The new committee members are (in alphabetical order, by given name):
- Angela Rogerson AE
- Catherine Schwerin
- Jill Lindsay
- Kiara Cramer.
Welcome to you all. We really look forward to working with you.
The renewing committee members are:
- Catherine Macdonald AE
- Cheryl Bettridge AE
- Jan Knight HLM
- Jess Gately
- Lerae Rowney
- Michèle Drouart AE.
The committee will hold its first meeting on 8 September and decide on specific roles for individuals then. Jess Gately has agreed to stay on as President, and Lerae Rowney as Budget Officer. Catherine Macdonald will remain as Accreditation Board Delegate and was recently appointed as the WA Director on the IPEd Board, for a two-year term. Other positions that need to be decided on by the committee are Secretary, Events Officer, Professional Development Officer, Communications Officer and Membership Officer. IPEd has standing committees for various important matters such as communications and professional development, so it will be important to appoint WA delegates to these groups if we can. Becoming involved in these international committees can be very rewarding and interesting, as you discover what the other branches across Australia and New Zealand are doing. Although WA has unique characteristics, many of the challenges faced by other IPEd branches are very similar to ours and we have a lot to learn from each other.
If you would like to become involved, or have articles to submit to the IPEd-wide newsletter, contact me at edwa.director@iped-editors.org or Jess Gately at edwa.president@iped-editors.org.