March 2015

Volume 43, No. 1

The Mid-South

Educational Research Association

CALL FOR PAPERS

SUBMISSION LINK OPEN

APRIL 1, 2015

The 2015 Annual Meeting of MSERA will be November 4-

6 at the Hilton Lafayette Hotel in Lafayette, Louisi-

ana. All members of MSERA and others are invited to sub-

mit proposals for (a) Discussion Sessions, (b) Display Ses-

sions, (c) Symposia, (d) Training Sessions, and/or Research

in Progress (RIP) Sessions. Proposals will be considered if

they are submitted electronically by Wednesday, July 15,

2015. Proposals are to be submitted as an Abstract.

All submissions for the James E. McLean Outstanding Dis-

tinguished Paper Award and the Herbert M. Handley Out-

standing Dissertation/Thesis Award must be submitted as a

proposal for the Annual Meeting AND also follow specific

instructions on the MSERA website

(http://www.msera.org).

NOTE: All Proposal Submissions for the 2015Annual Meet-

ing must be completed and submitted online at the MSERA

website (http://www.msera.org). Online Submission will be

available beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2015.

Primary authors will be notified, via email, both to

acknowledge receipt of the proposal and a final disposition

SEE CALL FOR PAPERS, PG. 2

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Call For Papers 2015 ..... 1

Call for Session Chairs .. 2

Research In Progress ... 2

2014 Outgoing President’s

Message ................. 3

Officers and Directors ... 3

Hotel Information ......... 4

Future Annual Meetings 4

The Mid-South

Educational

RESEARCHER

Julie A. Holmes

Randy Parker

Editors

The

Researcher

MSERA 2015: Investigating Today to Improve Education Tomorrow

Do you want to become more involved in MSERA? Serving

as a Session Chair is an excellent way for all members, both

Professional and Graduate Students, to participate in the

Annual Meeting. Graduate Students are especially consid-

ered and are encouraged to serve as Session Chairs. Re-

sponsibilities include introducing the session presenters,

informing presenters of time limits, and facilitating ques-

tion and answer periods at the end of the session. This is a

valuable contribution to the organization, and your help

will be greatly appreciated!

Interested members should provide the following infor-

mation to Dr. Rebecca Robichaux-Davis at

rrr102@msstate.edu:

Name, mailing address, and email address.

Thank you in advance for helping to

ensure a successful program!!

CALL FOR PAPERS (CONTINUED FROM PG.1)

CALL FOR SESSION CHAIRS

of the proposal by September 15, 2015.

Therefore, it is important that primary

authors are able to access email from July

15, 2015 through September 15, 2015.

Submit One completed Proposal Infor-

mation web page form for Each paper/

display/other session being proposed.

Authors must click on the Send Proposals

link on the Call for Papers webpage. The

web page form requires the Primary Au-

thor to submit cover sheet information

including the identification of any co-

authors and the abstract of the paper/

display/other session. Authors submitting

a Training Proposal MUST also submit an

abbreviated vita for each trainer to the

Program Chair as an email attachment.

If you have any questions about the Call

for Papers or the process of submitting

your proposal, please email the 2015 Pro-

gram Chair – Dr. Rebecca Robichaux-

Davis at rrr102@msstate.edu

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

GRADUATE STUDENT

SESSIONS

Research In Progress (RIP) Sessions

(an initiative of the Mid-South Edu-

cational Research Foundation—

MSERF) are designed for Graduate

Students to have an opportunity to

present research projects at various

stages of development. RIP sessions

offer students constructive feedback,

suggestion for improvement , and

ideas for continuation and comple-

tion of the projects. These sessions

are designed for graduate students

participating in on-going research or

research nearing completion.

The MSERF provides partial funding

for graduate students who have

applied to and been accepted for

presentation in the RIP Sessions ,

and who are subsequently selected

by the Foundation to receive this

support.

Graduate Students with work in-

progress are encouraged to apply for

inclusion in an RIP Session.

Apply at: http://www.msera.org

2

2014 PRESIDENT’S OUTGOING MESSAGE

It is definitely true that time flies when you’re having fun. The year as 2014

President of the MSERA has seemingly come and gone in the wink of an eye!

Yet there were many accomplishments, some of which might be considered

major, and there are so many loyal MSERA members who helped make them

all happen.

First, I want to thank Michelle Haj-Broussard, who blazed a technology trail by

introducing the credit card swipe for onsite conference registration at the 2013

conference. It painlessly paved the way to 2014. Dustin Hebert, as Technology

Committee Chair and newly appointed Webmaster employed the functions of

Eventbrite and Pay Pal for ONLINE conference registration and payment! It

feels good to be in the 21st Century.

Second, an unprecedented event occurred when the board voted to admit Flori-

da as a member state! Now we can all look forward to going back to the Florida

Gulf Coast from time to time.

After being appointed chair of the ad hoc committee Strategic Planning, Franz

Reneau developed a vision and a mission statement and four initiatives right

out of the gate! The membership approved the vision and the mission state-

ment at the business meeting in Knoxville. The first initiative of the strategic

plan is to recruit and build sustainable membership for the MSERA. Bob Ras-

mussen graciously agreed to chair an ad hoc committee to recruit former and

retired members back into the MSERA; that ad hoc committee has since been

merged with the membership committee, and will be co-chaired by Kenny An-

thony and Bob Rasmussen.

Other 2014 accomplishments included a board vote to make registration for

retired members the same rate as for graduate students, a move that will, hope-

fully, encourage conference attendance of retired members; a board decision to

make the Researcher Call for Papers edition a hard copy, an effort to increase

conference proposals; and the decision to appoint Randy Parker and Julie

Holmes as co-editors of the Researcher.

As outgoing president I cannot overemphasize how critical it is to increase our

membership to ensure financial solvency. We have made strides to do that by

converting the RITS journal and the Researcher to online formats, but there is

more that we can do and are doing. Every university faculty member can help

by recruiting not only their faculty colleagues but also their graduate students.

Many of our current members, myself included, began their MSERA “career” as

graduate students.

Finally, in order to advertise Lafayette as a desirable site for the 2015 confer-

ence, Boudreaux (Dustin Hebert) and Thibodeaux (yours truly) made a presen-

tation at the IR11. They enjoyed the conference so much that they decided to

attend the 2015 conference in Lafayette.

Allons à Lafayette, mes amis!!

- Kathy Campbell

MSERA 2015

OFFICERS &

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Gail Hughes

President-Elect Dustin

Hebert

Secretary Shannon

Chiasson

Past-President Kathy

Campbell

Executive Director Cliff Hofwolt

Historian Jane Nell

Luster

Alabama Director Nancy

Gaillard

Arkansas Director Rachelle

Miller

Florida Director Franz

Reneau

Kentucky Director Yuejin Xu

Louisiana Director Susannah

Craig

Mississippi Director Rebecca Robichaux-Davis

Tennessee Director Jwa Kim

At-Large Director Mindy

Crain-Dorough

At-Large Director Carol

Christian

At-Large Director Larry Daniel

3

FUTURE CONFERENCE

DATES

NOVEMBER 2016

RENAISSANCE RIVERVIEW

PLAZA

MOBILE, ALABAMA

NOVEMBER 2017

THE MILL AT MSU

STARKVILLE, MS

GOT AN IDEA FOR A FUTURE

MSERA MEETING SITE?

CONTACT:

gbailey@southalabama.edu

kathy.campbell@selu.edu

HOTEL INFORMATION

Our 2015 Annual meeting will be held

at the

Doubletree by Hilton

Lafayette

(Formerly the Hilton-Lafayette)

This completely remodeled property is Acadiana’s premier conference

venue and will provide you with an exceptional conference experience .

Please plan to reserve your room at the Doubletree. MSERA can afford

to keep our conference fees low when we have members reserve rooms

at the conference hotel.

Plan to join us in Lafayette for our 44th Annual

Meeting !!!

Allons à Lafayette, mes amis!!

Place Address label HERE

The Mid-South Educational

RESEARCHER

Published at

Louisiana Tech University

for the

Mid-South Educational

Research Association

Department of Curriculum,

Instruction, and

Leadership

P.O. Box 3161, Louisiana

Tech University

Ruston, LA 71272

Julie A. Holmes

Randy Parker

Editors

YOUR LOGO HERE

P.O. Box 3161 Louisiana Tech University

Ruston, LA 71272