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VIDBE-Q Volume 63 Issue 2
Our fields and the children we serve are diverse and it is true pleasure to hear from
colleagues' sharing their knowledge and passion to improve practice.
Thanks to the generosity of several university and agency sponsors, we were also
able to host a business meeting and social at Jackson's Bistro that was organized by Dr.
Nicole Johnson, our President-Elect. At this meeting we celebrated the work of 5
outstanding colleagues: Dr. Sandra Lewis, Dr. Olaya Landa-Vialard, Barb Johnson, Carlie
Rhodes, and Dr. Karen Koehler. The DVIDB awards are a way to acknowledge our
colleagues for their distinguished service, advocacy, teaching, scholarship and
dissertation research. It is a joy and a pleasure to commend our colleagues for their
contributions.
In addition to our own Division's rich program, several members of our Board were
involved in the larger governance conversations within the Council for Exceptional
Children. Because of the leadership of Dr. Deborah Hatton, Dr. Tiffany Wild, Dr. Sandy
Lewis and other workgroup members on the CEC Knowledge and Standards Committee,
an updated set of knowledge and skills competencies for Teachers of the Visually
Impaired are ready to review for validation. If you have not already done so, please take
the opportunity to complete the validation survey that was shared with DVIDB members
from CEC.
As you may have read, the CEC proposed amendments to governance bylaws.and
asked for Division's and membership comments. DVIDB responded to the proposal with
my board-approved letter that has been included in this issue of the quarterly. Many sister
CEC divisions responded with their own letters. In response to DVIDB's and other letters,
CEC President Laurie VanderPloeg acknowledged that the governance workgroup had
