Message from the LKC Leadership Team

Greetings from the Latino/a Knowledge Community Leadership Team,


We wish you a Happy New Year and a great beginning to the spring semester. For the past several months, your LKC Leadership Team has been planning for the upcoming 2013 NASPA National Conference in Orlando, Florida and other important LKC activities. Please take a moment to review the information and reach out to either of us if we can be helpful in any way.

KC Chair/Co-Chair Elections

NASPA will be hosting the National KC Elections for Twelve KCs who will be electing their new chairs or co-chairs this month. The LKC Nominating Committee is excited to announce that we have four candidates who are running for the LKC chair position. The winner of the election will have the opportunity to select a vice-chair to assist her/him in leading the LKC Leadership Team. The KC National Elections are scheduled to begin next week. Only those with current NASPA memberships will be permitted to vote and only KC members who are officially affiliated with a KC will be permitted to vote in the KC election. Because NASPA’s member database does not "talk to" its listserv system, it is critical that KC members make sure that they are affiliated with the KC in their NASPA member profiles. Instructions for "How to Join a KC" can be found here (on the right margin). We are asking all LKC members to take one minute to review and update their NASPA membership profiles so they can vote during the election. Please review and update your profile, if necessary, no later than Monday, January 14, 2013. If you have any questions, please contact Tonantzin Oseguera, Nominating Committee chair, at tonantzin.oseguera@ucr.edu.

Latino/as in Higher Education Institute Pre-Conference

There is still time to register for the 2013 Pre-Conference titled "La Frontera: From Aspiration to Attainment". Members of our Pre-Conference Planning Team, under leadership of Mary Jo Gonzales (maryjog@mail.iastate.edu) and Frank Cuevas (fcuevas@utk.edu), are working hard to design an engaging educational and professional development program for the day and we hope to see you there.

2013 Awards Nominations

In keeping with the tradition of the Latino/a Knowledge Community, we are seeking nominations for the annual Mena-Valdez Awards Ceremony to take place at the 2013 NASPA conference in Orlando, Florida. The awards ceremony provides an opportunity for the LKC to recognize outstanding individuals within our community and those who have helped our community flourish. We are seeking nominations for the following awards: Amigo Award, Outstanding Faculty Award, Outstanding New Professional Award, Outstanding Mid-Level Professional Award and Outstanding Senior Student Affairs Officer. To review the full award descriptions, please visit this site. To nominate someone for an award, please submit a letter of nomination along with the nominee’s current resume or CV to Amanda Flores at floresa6@sfasu.edu. Nominations are due by Friday, February 15, 2013.

Save these Dates

Please save these dates and times in your conference calendar.

Event Name: Latino/a Knowledge Community Leadership Meeting

Date: 3/18/13

Start Time: 7:30 AM

End Time: 9:30 AM

Location: Emerald - Marriott

Event Name: Latino/a Community General Assembly

Date: 3/19/13

Start Time: 9:00 AM

End Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Bahamas-Aruba - Marriott

Event Name: Latino/a Doctoral Student Support Group Meeting

Date: 3/19/13

Start Time: 11:00 AM

End Time: 12:00 PM

Location: Diamond - Marriott

Event Name: Latino/a Knowledge Community Mena-Valdez Awards Reception

Date: 3/19/13

Start Time: 7:00 PM

End Time: 8:00 PM

Location: St. Thomas - Marriott

Conference Social Events

In response to your feedback, we are organizing social events during the conference and we will share this information prior to the conference.

In closing, the LKC Leadership Team is looking forward to seeing you at the conference and we hope you will join us at these events. We also hope you will submit your nominations to recognize colleagues who have contributed to our field and the Latino/a community.

Sincerely,

Terry Mena

Latino/a Knowledge Community Chair

tmena@fau.edu

Angela Batista

Latino/a Knowledge Community Vice-Chair

abatista@usi.edu