Greetings Colleagues,

We have had such a productive year! As we close this Colleague to Colleague year and celebrate our 20th anniversary of SIDLIT at this year’s conference, we must take some time to revel in these achievements before we take a well-deserved break, and then move on to planning next year. 

We began the year by revisiting our mission and setting goals that aligned with that mission. Our ad hoc website committee built a new, more efficient site with a clean, professional feel.  Our vendors/sponsors committee raised nearly $6,000 in sponsorships to help fund SIDLIT and keep registration fees affordable. Our programs committee implemented a robust database for organization of presentations, and created our first-ever electronic conference schedule. Our communications committee created beautiful, professional email campaigns. Our C2C Digital Magazine committee surveyed members and revamped magazine content to meet the needs of our C2Cers. Our awards committee combed through award nominations and conducted virtual interviews with winners. Founding members Ed Lovitt and Jonathan Bacon were endlessly generous with their time, offering the guidance that only long-term members can provide, and Ed once again managed our registration, creating numerous codes and fields, to ensure smooth processes. Finally, our entire steering committee has been working to consolidate years' worth of documents, pictures, forms, and images into our shared drive, so that future committee members can work more efficiently. 

We will celebrate all of these achievements, as well as our 20th anniversary, at SIDLIT next week! This year’s SIDLIT features 80 sessions; including hands-on labs, panel discussions, traditional and short sessions, roundtables, and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). We also mark our third annual LMS Pre-Conference, opening with a Horizon Report panel and concluding with a Showcase highlighting FHSU's Smart Classroom project. Finally, we have two dedicated social events this year: our fourth annual SIDLIT Social at Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing on Wednesday evening, and the SIDLIT Night at the Sternberg Museum on Thursday evening. Each of these events is optional; however, they are affordable ways to enjoy time with colleagues at two of Hays’ most famous venues.

As you prepare to descend on the FHSU campus, I hope that you find some time to read over the various articles in this issue. Look for Shalin Hai-Jew’s comprehensive Q & A with keynote speaker Dr. Katie Linder, in which Katie covers everything from how she defines Radical Self-Trust, to how she manages to be such a productive and prolific writer and researcher. Also, make sure you take time to check out Linda Merillat’s piece on our C2C Award Winners, complete with video interviews conducted by Greg Rose. I also enjoyed so much Shalin Hai-Jew’s Q & A with Jonathan Bacon. Jonathan provides a rich story of how Colleague to Colleague and SIDLIT came to be, and his hopes for the organization in the future. There is so much more to read, learn, and discover in this issue; I hope you find the time to read all of the articles and submit one yourself, in a future issue.

Finally, I hope to see you at our 20th annual SIDLIT July 31st-August 2nd, at Fort Hays State University. Join me, as we Celebrate Our Past + Embrace Our Future!

Nicole M. Frank has worked in education since 1997, as a high school English teacher, college composition instructor, and community college and university administrator. As the faculty development coordinator at Fort Hays State University, she is the lead on faculty development activities for approximately 700 faculty. Her work includes facilitating large annual professional development events, teaching workshops, writing website and social media content, and collaborating with other units across campus. Prior to her work at FHSU, Nicole was the Guided Studies coordinator at Dodge City Community College. Nicole holds a B.A. in English education from FHSU, and an M.Ed. in adult education and training from Colorado State University. She is also doctoral student at Baker University, pursuing an Ed.D. in higher education leadership. 

Please feel free to contact Nicole anytime, with your ideas and feedback for Colleague2Colleague. You can reach her at nmfrank@fhsu.edu.