Members of the Texas ETD Association leadership team met at Baylor University in Waco on September 8 to make plans for the coming year. The Texas ETD Association (TxETDA) is an organization formed in 2009 with the goal of providing a network of support for Texas users of electronic theses and dissertations, or ETDs.
Laura Hammons, Thesis Office Director at Texas A&M University
The September 8 gathering consisted of a series of brainstorming sessions to solidify the mission and goals of the organization and to develop focused strategies for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Laura Hammons from Texas A&M University, Billie Peterson-Lugo and Amanda Harlan from Baylor, Jill Kleister from the University of North Texas, Ginger Dickens from the University of Texas at Arlington, Jason Thomale from Texas Tech University, Michele Reilly from the University of Houston, and Stephanie Larrison from Texas State University were all in attendance.
The emergent themes included increasing awareness of TxETDA and ETD issues, providing support for ETD professionals, and facilitating education and information sharing. TxETDA strives to be a place where ETD professionals look for support and informed practice.
As a result of the meeting, Laura Hammons from Texas A&M will be leading the charge for communication and outreach, including the planning of an annual meeting. Billie Peterson-Lugo will head up the open access and copyright subcommittee, while Jason Thomale will facilitate the subcommittee focused on Vireo and ETD management and workflow issues.
Additionally, Stephanie Larrison of Texas State holds responsibility for developing a statewide survey that can be used to assess current ETD practices in Texas. Michele Reilly will coordinate the subcommittee focusing on education, training, and development and will develop a blog to enable resource and information sharing. Jill Kleister, Ginger Dickens, and Amanda Harlan will be supporting the work of one or more of these groups.
Anyone interested in joining the TxETDA listserv to stay abreast of developments within the organization should e-mail lhammons@tamu.edu.
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