President's Message

Dear Research Consortium Fellows and Members:

I want to start this column by extending an invitation to each of you to attend our annual Research Consortium Business Meeting at the AAHPERD Convention. This meeting will take place on Thursday, April 2nd at 5:30 PM. Occasionally our Board or staff members learn that some members do not realize this is an open meeting for ALL members, in which we share information about Consortium activities, seek member input, and honor those who have contributed to the Consortium. I both invite you to attend and encourage your active participation in the meeting. If you are unable to attend this year, please know that your questions and ideas are always welcome at either my personal email below, through Consortium's main email address: research@aahperd.org or by phone: 1-800-213-7193 x415.

In my last column, I reported on the strategic priorities that the Research Consortium Executive Board identified for this fiscal year (September 2008-August 2009). In this issue, I'd like to provide you with a brief update on a couple of those initiatives, along with other notable news items relating to the Consortium.

Research Education Project

An ad hoc committee was appointed this fall to follow up on the work of a committee convened last year which was asked to explore the feasibility of developing and disseminating a comprehensive set of research education activities – i.e. – online resources, tutorials, seminars, etc. Last year's committee conducted a member survey and developed a set of recommendations. Based on that, this year's ad hoc committee will soon be reporting with a 3-5 year plan for content and suggested delivery modes. This plan will be vetted to the members at the RC Business Meeting as well as through focus groups.  Development will start this spring. We expect to be able to report more details in our next issue of this newsletter – so stay tuned!

Webinar: The Four Key Components in Writing Research Grants

Consistent with the purpose of the Research Education Project, the Consortium will offer a Webinar on research grant writing. Please plan to register for our upcoming Webinar facilitated by RC Past President Barb Ainsworth of Arizona State University on February 25: "The Four Key Components in Writing Research Grants." We look forward to hosting this and hope that through this project we will be able to expand our offerings to a wide variety of convenient and affordable professional development opportunities.

Research Communications

The RC Executive Board has also been focused on the need to strengthen the communications around our research-related efforts and activities. With that in mind, we are pursuing the development and dissemination of audio podcasts and press releases on selected RQES articles and convention sessions. With a revision of the AAHPERD Website set to launch this summer, we expect to build these features and communications into the site so that they are easily accessible for our members' use and benefit.

Bylaws Approved

I reported on revisions to the RC Operating Guidelines in the last issue, which passed a vote of RC Fellows at the 2008 RC Business Meeting. These revisions were subject to final approval by the AAHPERD Board of Governors, who reviewed them at their fall 2008 meeting. The revisions were approved and involved primarily:

• Renaming the Operating Guidelines to Bylaws
• Removing committee detail/procedure in favor of separate committee operating codes for the AAHPERD standing committees
• Revisions to the criteria for becoming a RC Fellow (see separate column in this issue)

The Research Consortium Bylaws document is accessible to members through the AAHPERD portion of the AAHPERD Web site (Member Central).

RQES Moves Online

Although the journal is indexed in a number of databases and available through the aggregator ProQuest, online subscriptions to periodicals are becoming the industry standard. Therefore, all four AAHPERD periodicals offered with membership are now available for library subscriptions in print, online, or a combination of print and online options. Member subscribers will receive RQES in print as well as have online access. Details for online access will be sent out soon and will be posted to the RC website under "Hot News Items."

I look forward to seeing you during the Research Consortium Conference at the AAHPERD Convention.

Best wishes for a healthy and peaceful 2009,

T. Gilmour Reeve, Ph.D.
President, Research Consortium
Helen "Bessie" Silverberg Pliner Professor & Chair
Department of Kinesiology
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
tgreeve@lsu.edu