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​​​Office of Education (OE)

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Mission Statement

The mission of the APS Office of Education (OE) is to promote plant pathology curricula, and support the educational development of plant pathologists and those interested in plant pathology through a variety of APS initiatives.  The OE is broadly defined to include all aspects of current and future education needs of APS.

General Responsibilities

The general responsibilities of OE include:

• Identify educational needs of members
• Coordinate education-related activities of APS entities
• Strengthen the educational portfolio of APS
• Oversee the online educational content coordinated in the Professional Development Center of the APS website 
• Suggest to Council the strategic vision to meet future APS educational needs

OE will provide leadership for, and coordinate, the Society’s education efforts. The degree of the responsibilities of the OE is broad and must coordinate with a large number of APS boards, committees and initiatives. The OE will provide a vision for high educational impact and engage multiple levels of concentration to provide effective coordination and leadership in all realms of education.

Organizational Structure

OE will be made up of a director, 6-8 voting board members serving three-year terms, a Professional Development Center (PDC) Managing-Editor (ME), a PDC Acquisitions Editor (AE), the Webinar Series Acquisitions Editor, and four ex officio representatives. It is the intent, where feasible; to include diverse representation on the OE board, including, but not limited to, academic, government, industry, international, and graduate and undergraduate student membership. Additional ex-officio members from highly related APS entities are included.   

• Director
• Immediate past director, for one year term immediately following director term (ex officio, non voting)
• 6-8 members representative of the society
• PDC Managing Editor (full voting member)
• PDC Acquisitions Editor (full voting member)
• Webinar Series Acquisitions Editor (full voting member)
• Education Center (Plant Health Instructor) Editor-in-Chief (ex officio, voting)
• Teaching Committee Chair (ex officio, voting)
• OPRO Director (ex officio, non-voting)​
• Councilor-at-large liaison (ex officio, non-voting)
• Staff liaison(s)

The director is appointed by Council to a serve three-year term. OE members will be formally appointed by a majority vote of the OE Board and will serve a three-year term but may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The PDC ME is appointed by the OE and may not simultaneously hold another office of the society during their tenure. A Managing Editor-Elect may be appointed to serve concurrently with the ME during the last year of office. The ME and AE will have staggered terms so that both are not stepping off at the same time. Additional editors may be added to the PDC as needed to review submitted content.

General Responsibilities of the Director

The director will lead OE and staff in establishing priorities and individual assignments for follow-through. The director will serve as the primary societal contact for all issues relating to educational efforts of APS. The director will represent OE to the society’s leadership and work with the leadership to assure that OE shares information with the membership and related audiences that is consistent with the society’s interests. The director will work with the board to ensure there is strong understanding about the educational issues of the society and advances in pedagogy and will be proactive in bringing these to Council’s attention. The Director shall appoint an official note taker at each meeting of OE. That individual will provide their draft to the director to be disseminated, approved, and archived. The Director prepares and submits reports to the Internal Communications Officer of APS upon request. During the Director’s second year of their final term, OE will nominate potential candidates for the director position to bring to Council. Council appoints the new director. Upon appointment, the incoming director is requested to attend the OE mid-year meeting that precedes their term as director. The OE Director also serves as ex- officio member of OPRO.

General Responsibilities of OE Members

OE will meet twice annually (once at the APS annual meeting) to make programmatic and financial decisions. However, planning, decision-making, and program execution occur on a daily, year-round basis. OE members are expected to participate actively in regular discussions via E-mail and to respond in a timely manner to requests for information/opinion by the OE director and staff. OE members are responsible for maintaining regular liaison between OE and specific societal constituencies (either ex officio or as assigned by the director). They will also become broadly familiar with education issues of the society and advances in pedagogy and will be proactive in bringing these to OE's attention.  OE members are charged with maintaining the highest professional standards of scientific objectivity, dispassion, and ethical conduct. They may be called upon to serve as authors and reviewers or producers of educational publications and products, and to assist other groups in APS with their education based projects.

General Responsibilities of the Professional Development Center Managing Editor (PDC ME)

The mission of the PDC is to improve the professional skills of all APS members by providing a web-based collection of relevant and timely content addressing professional development needs. 

The core focus is to:

• Strengthen the professional development online resources portfolio of the society
• Develop web-based resources for APS membership to address professional development, diversity, and other issues
• Aggregate and facilitate the publication of professional development content developed by various APS committees

The PDC ME will provide leadership for, and coordinate, APS’s professional development materials that may include but not be limited to instructional articles, webinars, videos, and manuals. It is expected that the PDC ME will work with the society’s other boards, offices, and committees, especially the 2026 Professional Development Forum and the Office of Education, to identify member needs in the area of professional development and work to provide for those needs through gathering and/or creating new materials. The PDC ME will provide a review process to insure the quality of the materials housed in the Center. 

​Additional responsibilities include: 

• Establishes the vision for the professional development content for the Professional Development Center.
• Functions as the presiding officer of the APS Professional Development Center.
• Serves as a member of the Office of Education and attend their conference calls and meetings.
• Serves as a member of the 2026 Professional Development Forum and attend their conference calls and meetings.
• Selects an Acquisitions Editor for a three-year term after consultation with the Office of Education.
• Establishes, in consultation with the Office of Education, the general editorial and publications policies and procedures for professional development materials. These policies will be summarized in the Instructions for Authors link at the website.

General Responsibilities of the Acquisitions Editor (AE)

• Develops and oversees the Professional Development Center website.
• Solicits Professional Development content to be housed in the Center.
• Works with the other various APS boards, offices, and committees to identify and solicit content for the Center.

General Responsibilities of the Webinar Series Acquisitions Editor (AE)

• Solicits suggestions from the membership for ideas for annual webinar series.
• Develops an elite series of webinars based on an annual theme. The themes will be discussed and approved by the OE.
• Identifies speakers that are experts in the thematic area of the desired webinars.
• Works with APS staff to complete fine editing of the webinars and publishes them on-line.
• Annually reviews webinar catalog and remove outdated materials.

Committees of Office of Education

To carry out its mission and responsibilities OE may form committees as needs dictate.

Revised and approved by Council on 9/15/16.