The 2026 AMEA Conference is now in the books, and it was definitely a great one. Every session that I was able to attend was very interesting and informative. I was also pleased and impressed by some great performances. Speaking of performances, the Higher Education Division hosted a Student/Faculty Recital Showcase. If you were not able to be there you missed some awesome performances. The showcase began with a faculty duet of Dr. William Hayter on clarinet and Dr. Brandon Slocumb on trombone followed by the University of Alabama Trombone Choir under the direction of Dr. Bruce Faske. The members of the Trombone Choir include Andrew Braun, Davis Brewster, Drew Campbell, Isaac Dashner, James Diffey, Dakota Ingram, Faith Redden, Ian Zalamea, Ben Dondanville, and Gibson Purser. There were two more student performances after the Trombone Choir. The first was a solo vocal performance by Sadaf Jamalzadeh, accompanied on piano by Yaxi Gao. The next was a trumpet duet by student Breanna Clark and her faculty instructor Bryan Reeves and accompanied on piano by Meg Griffin. A faculty duet by Dr. Brittney Patterson on flute and Dr. Johathan Houghtling on trombone and then a faculty duet by Dr. Brenda Luchsinger on horn and Dr. Johathan Houghtling on trombone followed next. The concert finale was the Faculty UAB Chamber Trio of Dr. Sarah Manasseh-Decker on clarinet, Dr. James Zingara on trumpet, and Dr. Chris Steele on piano. The schools represented in the showcase were Alabama State University, University of Alabama, Auburn University, Faulkner University, Huntingdon College, and the University of Alabama Birmingham. I encourage any that are interested in performing to be on the lookout later this year and send in your application for next year.
Our division also had a luncheon on Thursday at which we elected officers for the coming two years. My term ends in May this year at which time I will become the immediate Past-President. Dr. Ted Hoffman will serve as our HED President. Dr. Brandon Slocumb will become the new President-elect where he will serve a two year term and then move into the president position. Dr. Russell Greene was elected to become our Secretary/Treasurer. Besides electing officers, it was a great time to visit and catch up with our colleagues. We had a very good turn-out for this years luncheon.
I would like to ask each of you to encourage your fellow higher education professors to join NAfME and to become involved with our Higher Education Division. If you are a member of ABA, AVA, AOA, or another branch of AMEA and you work in higher education; please remember that you can also be a valued member of our division while at the same time keeping your identity in the other divisions. We covet your voice and your ideas as we try to serve our division’s membership and we can only know what those needs are by hearing your voices tell us what matters to you.
One thing our membership has expressed interest in is to have more sessions about EdTPA as well as sessions on preparation for the Praxis Exam both from the perspective of what the faculty should know as well as what the student needs to know. Another area of expressed interest is in how to job hunt in higher education and tips on how to land that dream job. If there are any NAfME members that are interested in presenting in next years’ conference, please submit your application to do so. There is no guarantee that your session will be chosen, but it is an area in which we know there is interest at our level.
Thank you to everyone who had been a part of the Higher Education Division in the past. Please continue in your great work and support for our profession. With this year in the books lets work to make this coming years’ conference even better.