From the Editor: Moving Forward and Preparing to Inspire

Paul Eaton
Editor
Louisiana State University

Welcome to the Winter issue of Developments (Volume 10: Issue 4). The end of a calendar year is a time of reflection and thanks, surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues in celebrations of faith, culture, community, peace, and love. A new year signals new beginnings, and as the new Editor of Developments I am looking forward to the years ahead and the many opportunities available within our profession.

This month, our editorial board is requesting your insights on Developments. We ask that you complete our readership survey. We will utilize your feedback to strengthen content, shape our strategic direction, and ensure that Developments continues to provide timely, relevant, and important scholarship for your work in the field. In the next few issues we will provide our readers with findings from our survey and how we intend to enhance the publication based on your insights.

Developments is truly a collaborative endeavor. I want to thank Amanda Suniti Niskode-Dossett, our outgoing Editor, for her strong leadership and passion for this publication. Amanda has spent many hours helping me transition into the role of Editor, and I am happy that she will be continuing with our publication as a Contributing Editor for Series and Special Projects. Amanda has been critical in expanding the role of Developments as a publication for scholarly work, in-depth analysis of trends and issues, and news from our Association leadership.

As our publication continues to grow, our editorial board has also expanded. We are happy to welcome Lynette Cook Francis from the University of Arizona to our editorial team as a Contributing Editor. Lynette will be critical in assisting our board move forward on projects that will contribute to scholarly integrity, outreach, promotion, and mapping our articles to Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs. These projects will ensure that Developments remains user-friendly across multiple learning environments, from graduate student classrooms to professional development workshops, all while contributing insights for production of new knowledge in the field.

Ensuring the best quality content is incredibly important to Developments, and we are fortunate to welcome three new copy editors to our team: Elizabeth Jach (Cornell College), Scott Wojciechowski (Gettysburg College) and Sarah Laux (University of Southern Illinois – Edwardsville). Leslie Robinson (Ohio State University) is our new Lead Copy Editor. These outstanding individuals join our continuing editorial board members: Z. Nicolazzo (Miami University of Ohio), Jaci Lindburg (University of Nebraska at Omaha), Krista Soria (University of Minnesota), Jim Love (St. Olaf College) and Teniell Trolian (University of Iowa). Our editorial team is dedicated and works collaboratively to bring you the most cutting-edge, timely, and important scholarship. I thank each of them for their dedication and service to our Association.

We can begin Inspiring Communities of Wellbeing through an intentional process of reflecting on our work and who we are as practitioners, not just individually, but collectively on our campuses, nationally, and globally. I’ll leave you with some thought-provoking questions and insights for the new year:

• Who has inspired you, personally or professionally? How did they inspire you and are they aware they have inspired you? There is no greater time than the present to write a note or make a call telling that person your story of how they inspired you.
• What new emergent possibilities exist for you to enhance personal and professional wellbeing in the new year?
• How do we create a campus climate focused on true community, where our students, faculty, and staff are all committed to genuine passion for learning?
• How are you contributing to the wellbeing and learning of our profession? Now is the time to share your experience, knowledge, and insights with our larger professional community by writing for Developments.

The winter break is a wonderful opportunity to personally reflect, and engage in conversations with family, friends, and colleagues on these and many other topics.

I look forward to our opportunity to reunite in March at our annual convention in Las Vegas. Please don’t forget to complete our readership survey. Warm wishes for a safe, restful, peaceful holiday season and New Year.