Greetings from the Family Science section! I hope 2011 has been kind to you all and that the new academic year is off to a great start for those of you in academia. It is hard to believe that in just a few months, NCFR members will join together in Orlando for the Annual Conference. If you have looked through the conference schedule, you know this is going to be a great conference!

When I developed the call for proposals last fall, my goal was to focus the Family Science section program on the impact of the shifting economy on Family Science programs and the practice of Family Science. With that in mind, I am pleased to invite you to attend a paper session titled, "Family Science Program Issues in a Shifting Economy," on Wednesday, November 16. During the session, Suzanne Smith and Raeann Hamon will share successful marketing strategies for Family Science programs, while Elizabeth Miller, Susan Bowers, and Peter Seldin will discuss the impact of the economy on evaluation strategies. The session will conclude with a timely paper that focuses on the trajectories of HDFS undergraduates in the current economy. This paper is sure to be of interest to students and advisors!

Do you teach large classes or struggle with teaching diversity? If so, two of the Family Science conference sessions will be of interest to you On Thursday, November 17, Bahira Sherif Trask, Barbara Settles and Melina McConatha-Rosle will present a workshop titled, "Highlighting Family Science, Ethics and Writing Assignments: The Challenge of Large Classes." In addition, you do not want to miss the symposium titled, "Reflective and Practical Strategies of Teaching Diversity in Family Sciences." Soyoung Lee will chair this symposium which consists of four papers focusing on teaching about and preparing students for diversity.

In addition to the aforementioned sessions, the Family Science section is also co-sponsoring a number of paper sessions with other sections, and sponsoring several poster sessions and one roundtable. I encourage you to search through the conference schedule and plan to attend the various Family Science presentations and sessions.

Finally, I want to call your attention to two meetings-the Family Science Section Meeting and the University Administrators Focus Group Meeting. The Family Science Section Meeting is scheduled for 7 to 8:15am on Thursday, November 17. I hope you will rise early and attend the meeting! In addition to discussing official business, we will present the Wesley Burr Student Paper Award to this year's recipient. All students who were first author of a paper or poster accepted specifically by the Family Science section for this year's conference, and who are members of NCFR and the Family Science section, are eligible to enter the competition. Email notifications were sent to eligible students during the summer. Advisors and mentors, if one of your students was invited to participate in the competition, please encourage them to submit their paper by the deadline of October 1. If they need additional information about the award, they can contact me at harpelt@latech.edu. The University Administrators Focus Group will convene on Wednesday, November 16 from 8 to 9:30pm. Last year's meeting was well-attended and involved interesting discussion about the issues confronted by university administrators. If you are an administrator, I invite you to attend this focus group meeting!

I look forward to seeing you in November!