The nominees in alphabetical order:
Gerhard Erasmus
Having been a committee member of the Membership Committee, I have insight into the running of the committee and the overall responsibility of the committee. I have worked directly with the membership surveys and IATEFL blog and have contributed ideas and support to the webinar selections and delivery as well as the Facebook group. I was directly involved in the committee’s work with early career teachers and one of my initiatives led to an increase in ECTs of around 200 new members. Both as a coordinator of LAMSIG and as a director of an ELT organisation, I have experience with strategic planning and decision making to ensure the smooth running and growth of an organisation. I have a track record of valuing the people around me and ensuring that we work together as a team to ensure that objectives are met. As Membership Committee Chair, I hope to contribute by following a data driven approach to membership and member benefits to ensure that our membership benefits reach all our members. This would mean looking critically at where different members are based, where we could be attracting new members, and how to cooperate with different special interest groups to arrange events to serve our membership and the ELT community globally. I hope that by the third year of my term we have better collaboration between Associates, SIGs, and the executive committees to deliver on the values and vision of IATEFL as an international organisation.
Kariman Mohsen
Before going through the process of nominating myself for the position of Membership Coordinator, I started searching for successful candidacy procedures. I read about the association goals along with the membership benefits to connect between these objectives and my goal for the organization which is having an effective beneficial communicative association. I would plan to increase the scheme of members by putting plans for welcoming new members not only by approaching associations but by having advertisements in other associations’ conferences, PD events and webinars. IATEFL can have a representative in each of its affiliates to promote its membership. We can approach teachers in schools and universities by proposing IATEFL membership offers. This could be by sending emails or making offers on Facebook. Members who decided to withdraw from IATEFL membership should be sent a survey to know the main reasons behind their withdrawal and discuss solutions for their retention; whether financial reasons or lack of interest. On Facebook, members need to be involved more by opening weekly discussions while leaving the members to participate and share their voices. A poll could be created to check the latest members’ interests to design highly demand webinars with hot chair topics. Novice teachers should be welcomed and encouraged to participate in IATEFL webinars by providing them with PD events on how to become effective presenters and then welcoming their proposals; online mini courses could be designed for IATEFL members. Members could be involved more by having the chance to attend the webinars while volunteering as technical moderators for the sessions. In general, there are always different and creative plans for engaging the members and attracting new ones to be discussed through the year with IATEFL Board.
Syke Annamma Kumaran
I have been working as an ELT professional for over 20 years in schools and colleges in India and the U.S.A. I started my career as an Assistant Professor in English and later I switched over to schools. Currently I am working as a High School teacher in Kerala, India. I was a Fulbright Fellow at Claremont Graduate University, California. After my post graduation in 2002, I have been exchanging ideas with individuals, institutions and organizations in many countries. I’m fortunate to work with many ELT experts with multicultural backgrounds and I have experience in designing, planning and conducting novel ELT programmes. English Language Teachers’ Association of India was my gateway to IATEFL. In 2015, I reached Manchester to receive IATEFL Projects Award. That single conference was enough for me to take a decision to become a volunteer of IATEFL, the global diverse community of ELT professionals. Since then, I could attend all other IATEFL annual conferences in different roles. My volunteering experience with IATEFL includes Membership Committee, Moderator of Monthly Webinars, IATEFL Social Media, Webinar Proposals Selection Committee, Digital Committee, Official Photographer, Reporter of three annual conferences and one of the interviewers for IATEFL YouTube channel. If elected, I would work with other trustees and the HO for the fulfillment of IATEFL’s aim and objectives as a charity and I will aim at strengthening of the associates, growth of membership and as a current MemCom member, I will be able to coordinate the activities of Membership Committee as well.