Chair's Welcome

ATFE Colleagues,

It was a pleasure to gather in Asheville to make new friends, deepen long term relationships, and
share best practices together. We hope that you returned home with new energy and ideas, and
practical ways to improve what you do in field education.

Your new Steering Committee is already hard at work. We listened carefully to the ideas and
concerns you expressed at the Consultation, and we have reviewed the evaluations. Moving
forward we are committed to:

1. Continuing to recruit new members.
   We will continue the process of attempting to locate the field educator at each and every ATS
   school and reaching out to them by phone as well as email with an invitation to join ATFE. As
   always, current members are the best recruiters of new members, so we welcome your help in
   this endeavor. Dipa Hart, Vice Chair, coordinates ATFE’s membership.
2. Continuing to diversify ATFE leadership.
   We are committed to bringing new ATFE members into leadership roles and ensuring that all
   ATFE committees reflect the various diversities of our guild. At this time, the Research and
   Publications Committee is seeking to add new members. Please contact its chair, Chrissy Zaker
   (czaker@ctu.edu) if you are interested.
3. Providing resources in the off years.
   We will keep you abreast of new items of interest on the website, inform you when new issues of
   Reflective Practice are available, and encourage your continued professional development
   through a schedule of webinars in the upcoming biennium. We are considering ways to make
   portions of the webinars publicly and permanently available on the website. Jenny Whitcher
   coordinates ATFE’s website communications.
4. Continuing to improve the dues collection process.
   We have created an invoice for you to submit to your business office for paying your ATFE
   dues, which are collected each year. John Senior is ATFE’s treasurer, and you should have
   received an email from him with the invoice if you’re a member.
5. Moving to a midweek schedule for the 2021 Consultation.
   Responding to feedback from some members that attending conferences on weekends is difficult
   for those with families and for those who lead Sunday worship services, we have decided to
   convene the 2021 ATFE Consultation on a Tuesday-Friday schedule. We will gather in Tampa,
   Florida from midday on January 26, 2021 through midday on Friday, January 29, 2021.
6. Launching the Professional Conduct Committee.
   ATFE members voted at the 2019 Consultation to adopt ATFE Standards of Professional
   Conduct. Several members subsequently volunteered to serve on a committee that would hear
   and respond to any grievances brought forward. Information will soon be on the website.

Our goal is to communicate with you regularly during the upcoming biennium. We welcome
your input and suggestions on these matters, and any others of concern to you, as we move
forward.

Respectfully,

ATFE Steering Committee Chair Barbara Blodgett (bblodgett@pts.edu), on behalf of your
2019-2021 Steering Committee:

Tom Elliott (thomas.elliott@emory.edu)
Dipa Hart (dhart@dts.edu)
Tracy Hartman (hartmantracyl@gmail.com)
Dan Poole (pooleda@bethanyseminary.edu)
John Senior (seniorje@wfu.edu)
Jenny Whitcher (jwhitcher@juniperformation.org)
Nick Works (nworks@wesleyseminary.edu).