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The 2018 NCFR Annual Conference has come and gone, and attendees experienced another great conference filled with informative presentations, engaging roundtable discussions, thought-provoking keynotes, and a trip or two to the shopping-mall complex across the street. Thank you to the program chair Bahira Sherif Trask, the Program Planning Committee, and the NCFR staff for planning and executing a great program. I want to extend a special thanks to Advancing Family Science (AFS) Section past chair Raeann Hamon, whose work in carefully curating a number of thoughtfully chosen proposals resulted in strong representation of the AFS Section. Her hard work set the stage for our section to shine!

The closing of the conference marked the ending of Raeann’s term and the beginning of my term as AFS Section chair. It also marked the beginning of Scott Tobias’s term as chair-elect, Jaimee Hartenstein’s term as secretary-treasurer, and Jenn Greiving’s term as Students and New Professionals representative. I have been a member of NCFR since 2005 and have served the organization through my involvement with the Academic Program Review Committee as well as through reviewing proposals for the NCFR conference and NCFR Student Honors award. I am also the current president of the Family Science Association, which has roots in the AFS Section, and I am grateful to be a part of a community that collaboratively strives to advance Family Science. I look forward to working with AFS Section leadership to tap into the rich resources and ideas our section members have to offer, and I will soon be reaching out via the discussion groups tool to inquire about thoughts, ideas, or concerns members may have, with hopes of defining a united AFS Section vision for this year.

Speaking of this year—I hope that you are planning to attend the 2019 conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Nov. 20–23. I also hope that many of you submitted a proposal to the AFS Section! Topics we often look forward to seeing relate to the strength and sustainability of Family Science programs, including marketing and recruiting for Family Science programs; innovative and effective teaching strategies for Family Sciences courses, including the development, delivery, and evaluation of Family Science curricula; best practices for administrators of Family Science programs; ethical issues in the practice of Family Science; and the state of Family Science as a discipline. In addition, each year the section welcomes conference proposals that address the conference theme. Some topics that pertain to this year’s conference theme include the following:

• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning related to family sustainability—sustainability in the family home, sustainable family development, and sustainable family living

• Innovative strategies for teaching about contemporary challenges and salient topics related to sustainability in Family Science

• How to create sustainable service-learning, study-abroad, and other collaborative local or international partnerships.

• Evidence-based practices that effectively demonstrate and promote Family Science program viability.

• The role of Family Science administrators in advancing Family Science programs and the discipline by addressing universal threats to family sustainability.

I look forward to crossing paths with you in the AFS online discussion group!