Nine candidates are running for five open positions on the TAA Council, the association’s governing board. Three are officer positions, Vice President/President-Elect, Treasurer, Secretary; and two are Council positions. Terms begin July 1, 2015. Officers serve two-year terms and Council members serve three-year terms.

Mike Kennamer is running for the position of Vice President/President-Elect. Kennamer is Director of Workforce Development at Northeast Alabama Community College, President/CEO of Kennamer Media Group, Inc., and author of more than 50 publications. “I enthusiastically accepted the nomination to run for vice president/president-elect, as I wish to help continue the excellent progress made by current president, Karen Morris and support the work of president-elect Steve Barkan as we work to enhance membership benefits and reach additional authors while assuring long-term fiscal stability for TAA,” he said.

Mark Lerner is running for a second term as Treasurer. He is a published author with 15 plus years experience in desktop publishing. As a certified professional medical auditor, his company provides expert testimony, audits, seminars, and other products and services for attorneys, physicians, students, and governmental agencies. “I am presently the acting Treasurer, and would like to continue serving in that capacity,” he said. “An out-of-the-box thinker that has, and will continue to approach the position from a purely business standpoint, offering insights in authoring and desktop publishing. I look forward to helping this organization continue to grow its membership and remain a viable resource for text and academic authors throughout the U.S.”

Claudia Sanchez  is running for the position of Secretary. Sanchez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Texas Woman’s University. As an academic author, her research interests include second language teaching methodologies, Spanish language literacy, multicultural teacher competency, and parental involvement in K-12 education. “As TAA begins a new chapter, the overarching goals of the [TAA Strategic] plan for 2015-2017 can be summarized in five words: To serve TAA’s membership better,” she said. ” Through these exciting times, I would be honored to serve as the Council’s Secretary and to continue to promote TAA among our new generations of text and academic authors.”

• Jose Carmona has taught English, ESL and Spanish for 30 years at the college level, and has published 7 books.
• Douglas Gilbert is the Dean of the School of Organizational Leadership at the University of the Rockies in Denver.
• Shewanee Howard-Baptiste is an Assistant Professor at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the Department of Health and Human Performance.
• Douglas Lia is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the Graduate Reading Program at Chicago State University.
• Jozef Stec is an Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Chicago State University College of Pharmacy.
• Katrina (Katie) Van Heest, owner of Tweed Editing, LLC

Visit the TAA website for full candidate bios and position statements.