I am so pleased to introduce ECA's new website to our members, friends, and colleagues! 

This has been a process that began nearly a year ago and after much discussion, revision, and critique, we are proud to show off our new "look."  Three special thanks are in order. First, at my request, Kristin Wolfe at Duquesne University put together an ad hoc Website Renovation Committee¹ which was critical in providing us the current website structure.  Second, we are also indebted to Kathie Cesa, ECA's Director of Member Services, for her skills in getting this project to fruition.  Finally, the other officers of the Association are deserving of our appreciation; their candor and creativity were admirable and reflected in the final product that you accessed today!

ECA continues its pursuit toward even greater levels of excellence.  This year, in addition to the Website Committee, ECA is striving toward providing its members more services. To that end, Valerie Swarts of Slippery Rock University has gathered a group of individuals to establish an ad hoc Syllabi Matrix Committee². This initiative provides ECA members with the opportunity to submit syllabi of communication courses that they have successfully taught.  In addition, those members needing syllabi of courses for which they have little, if any, experience will also be in luck.  This section of the website is intended to be a "syllabi swap" and we anticipate quite a bit of traffic in this area of the website.

The ad hoc ECA Heroes Project is an additional undertaking I felt important to pursue. Under the guidance of Cathy Wright of George Mason University, this group's³ undertaking is aimed at promoting our membership across the nation.  Too often, much of what we do in our local communities goes unnoticed. Cathy and her committee are working toward providing a structure for providing ECA members with news of our achievements-both large and small. We should be promoting "ECA in the USA" and this is one way we can accomplish that.

In addition to these three efforts, ECA continues its scholarly presence with three excellent journals:  Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, Communication Research Reports, and Communication Quarterly. As the editors of these journals have pointed out, our scholarly tentacles are now reaching across the country and beyond. Clearly, our journals transcend the eastern region of the country.  How great is that?!

I look forward to receiving your comments on the website and on any of the other undertakings in ECA.  I am so lucky to be affiliated with an organization with such an outstanding reputation and such an incredible legacy.

 

Best to each of you!

Rich West
President-ECA
richard_west@emerson.edu