JVER v29n3 - Editor's Note

Volume 29, Number 3
2004



Editor's Note

Joe W. Kotrlik
Lousiana State University

This is an exciting time for career and technical education research. Those of you who participated in the AVERA and higher education discussions and meetings in Las Vegas during the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Convention know that several major changes occurred at this year's AVERA business meeting.

First, the name of the Journal of Vocational Education Research (JVER) has been changed to Career and Technical Education Research (CTER) , and the American Vocational Education Research Association (AVERA) has changed its name to the Association for Career and Technical Education Research (ACTER), both changes effective in 2005. The name changes will not impact the philosophy of the journal or the organization, nor will the changes impact the rigor of the journal or the types of manuscripts accepted for publication. Discussion about potential name changes has occurred over the past several years and the decisions taken at the AVERA business meeting were unanimous. I encourage you to read former AVERA President Jay Rojewskis Presidential speech that was published in the Journal of Vocational Education Research , Volume 28, Number 1 , pages 3-13, and former AVERA President Bill Camps Presidential speech that was published in the Beacon , Volume 34, Number 2 (http://www.tadda.wsu.edu/avera/BeaconV34.pdf) * .  Both articles address the reasons why the name changes should occur.

Another major change is that ACTER will host a day-long research conference starting with the 2005 ACTE Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference will be a pre-session held on the day before ACTE (Wednesday, December 7, 2005) and will be a double-blind, peer reviewed conference. ACTER President Diane Jackson will appoint the Chair of the new research conference.

Another important event occurred during the ACTE Convention. A new organization, the Academy for Career and Technical Teacher Educators (ACTTE), has been formed. The purposes of this organization, as stated in the draft of the ACTTE constitution, are as follows:

  • To act as a vehicle for strengthening and supporting excellence in higher education programs that prepare and support career and technical teacher education nationally and internationally.
  • To identify and disseminate resources that support the preparation and professional development of career and technical educators as a field of study, research, and practice.
  • To provide opportunities for the professional development of university faculty and persons in related organizations and agencies that deal with the preparation and professional development of career and technical educators.
  • To study, adopt, and disseminate positions on social, economic, and political issues of concern to career and technical education.
  • To serve as a proactive advocacy group for legislative, policy, and funding matters pertaining to career and technical education.
  • To provide a forum for critical reflection and dialogue on scholarship and practice in career and technical education.
  • To provide a caring, supportive, and collegial community for university faculty and persons in related organizations and agencies that deal with the preparation and professional development of career and technical educators.
Note . These purposes will be edited slightly before the draft of the constitution is adopted.

This organization is not a part of ACTER. ACCTE will have task forces, affiliates, and special interest groups (SIGs). ACTER will be an affiliate of ACTTE and the membership dues have been set at $20. If you are interested in being a charter member of ACTTE, contact ACCTE President Bill Camp at wgc4@cornell.edu .

This is also my final issue as Editor. I want to thank Morgan Lewis, JVER's Managing Editor for his excellent work in support of this journal. I also want to thank the members of the Editorial Review Board. Their top quality performance has made my job much easier and it has truly been a pleasure to serve as Editor of the Journal of Vocational Education Research for the past two years.

jwk


*Note :  The url provided above returned invalid results. Visit the homepage at http://www.agri.wsu.edu/acter/