Call for Entries: 2020 AACTE Awards

By Linda Minor

Applications for the 2020 AACTE awards are now open on AACTE’s online submission site. Entries for the Outstanding Book Award are due May 16 and entries for the Outstanding Dissertation Award are due August 20. All other award submissions are due October 9.

This is the 24^th year AACTE’s awards program has been recognizing member institutions’ exemplary programs as well as individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to education preparation. For an overview of the 2019 award winners, see this press release.

Why Attend AACTE’s 2019 Washington Week?

By Linda Minor

Every year, AACTE’s Washington Week attracts attendees from all over the nation. “Your Voice Matters” is this year’s theme and will feature three events:

The State Leaders Institute, June 2-3, is for current leaders of AACTE’s state chapters. This program is the forum to discuss important trends in state policies related to educator preparation. Attendees interact with other leaders from across the United States, learning strategies and collaborating to increase their state chapters’ capacity and advocate for the profession.

The Holmes Scholars Summer Policy Institute, June 3, is for current AACTE Holmes Doctoral Scholars. This allows attendees to have an insider experience in the world of education policy. Students will learn about the implications of current policy on research and programming that focus on minority populations.

Advance Your Leadership Skills at AACTE Academy, June 23-27

By Linda Minor

Are you a new dean or department chair – or are you simply looking to advance your career as an academic administrator? The AACTE Leadership Academy covers essential topics, from managing finite resources to creating effective development and public relations programs, while helping to cultivate a supportive network of peers.

Register now for AACTE’s Leadership Academy, June 23 – 27 in Pittsburgh, PA at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. 

At AACTE’s Leadership Academy, you will

• Learn to articulate critical components of leadership, including styles, motivations, and a commitment to diversity and inclusivity, as they pertain to your own practice as a leader.
• Build a comprehensive understanding of the multiple roles and functions of your appointed position, particularly in an individual institutional context.
• Strengthen key leadership skills, enabling you to more effectively serve as both a team leader and member, manage time, develop inclusive environments, foster and promote diversity, resolve conflicts, and facilitate change.
• Engage in discussions, via small-group settings and collective sessions, to forge networks with other professionals in similar leadership positions.

Visit #AACTE19 Gallery to Learn What’s Happening Around the Association

By Linda Minor

The AACTE Gallery will be offered again this year at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Louisville. It will feature mini presentations and a dedicated coffee and conversation space where Annual Meeting participants can chat with representatives from AACTE member and partner initiatives, as well as AACTE staff, to learn more about programs and opportunities of interest. The AACTE membership booth will also be located nearby, and staff will be on hand to share information and answer questions.

Come learn more about what’s been happening at AACTE this year! You can receive the latest updates on the AACTE Strategic Planning initiative, gain access to AACTE’s new research publication, Education Students and Diversity: A Review of New Evidence, and connect with AACTE members and partners for information about their innovative projects. For all of this and more, be sure to add the AACTE Gallery time blocks to your personalized 2019 Annual Meeting Online Event Planner schedule. The Gallery will offer opportunities to network while learning about promising innovations in educator preparation.

The Top 10 Fun Facts about Louisville

By Linda Minor

When you think of Louisville, KY, what is the first thing that comes to mind? The Kentucky Derby? Bourbon? Baseball bats? Sure, but there are so many other fun and unique things about Louisville, host city to #AACTE2019, that you may not know.

For example, did you know … ?

1. Louisville is the disco ball capitol of the world. In fact, 90% of the disco balls in the USA are produced in Louisville.
2. There is a replica of Babe Ruth’s baseball bat in downtown Louisville.
3. The Old Fashioned is Louisville’s official cocktail, which is not to be confused with the Mint Julep that is the official Kentucky Derby cocktail—where over 100,000 Mint Juleps are served.
4. The oldest operating Mississippi-style steamboat is in Louisville – the Belle of Louisville is over 100 years old!
5. In October of 1803 Meriwether Lewis met William Clark just across the river from Louisville, at the Falls of the Ohio.
6. Louisville’s signature dish is a comfort food free-for-all called the Hot Brown. It’s an open-faced sandwich with turkey and bacon smothered in Mornay sauce (main ingredients: butter and heavy cream), topped with Parmesan cheese and roma tomatoes, and oven-broiled.
7. Louisville has one of the largest collections of Victorian homes in the country, and the largest collection of cast-iron building facades outside of New York’s SoHo district.
8. Louisville is the hometown of boxing champion Muhammad Ali, and they will change the name of the airport to cement that fact. Visit the Muhammad Ali Center while in town.
9. Louisville is also the hometown of Diane Sawyer, Jennifer Lawrence and Hunter S. Thompson. It’s also where a young Tom Cruise landed his first gig—as a newspaper delivery boy.
10. The cheeseburger and high five really were invented in Louisville

As you plan for your stay in Louisville next month, I hope you will consider dining on a Hot Brown, visiting the Muhammad Ali Center, cruising aboard the Belle, and enjoying all that Louisville has to offer. Make sure to register by January 28, before the rates increase.