Vol. 8(2) Summer 01

From the Editor

Within a couple of months I will relinquish the position of Editor of the Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education. I will turn the reins over to Dr. Gary Wingenbach of Texas A&M University. Just as I took over from the first two outstanding Editors, I entrust the future of the Journal to good hands.

It is at this juncture that changes are in store for not only the Journal but the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education. This past spring the proceedings for the entire conference were most successfully put on CD-ROM by Drs. Jim Christensen and Jimmy Lindner of Texas A&M University. The complete papers, posters and carousels are available at the AIAEE website (see pg 77 for details). This issue also includes Call for Papers, Posters, and Carousel Presentations for the 2002 AIAEE Conference in Durban South Africa. I hope all AIAEE members are preparing your proposals and planning your trip to Durban. President-Elect Gustav Düvel is busy planning another outstanding conference.

As the Journal enters its 9th Volume and is turned over to a new Editor, it is important for this publication to evolve as well. Steps are being taken to streamline the blind-review process into a totally electronic, web-based, review system. Currently, many authors, especially international members, submit their manuscripts electronically. However, in order to use our international members as reviewers, manuscripts have to be sent by air mail which is costly and time consuming.

As the new Editor and I make these changes it is vitally important that we revise our Reviewer lists. If you do not currently serve as a Reviewer and would like to please contact me or Gary. In order to lighten the workload on the reviewers it is important that the Editor has a critical mass of qualified reviewers who are willing to return reviewed manuscripts in a prompt manner.

It has been said that the only constant is change. Both AIAEE and the Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of the members and authors. As our distinguished colleague, Dr. Bill Thuemmel said at this spring’s conference, AIAEE should become people’s “association of choice” that offers its members education, scholarly opportunities, collegiality, and comradery. I hope you will join me in working with the new AIAEE officers, committee chairs, members and Journal Editor to make the association and the Journal, the best they can possibly be.