The 2006 Workshop for Department Chairs, held at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, focused on the theme of “Planning for Assessment and Accountability Issues.” Moderated by Stephen Majeski, chair, department of political science, University of Washington, and of the APSA Departmental Services Committee, the session included presentations by four speakers with notable experience on this topic: Kerstin Hamann, University of Central Florida; Michelle Deardorf, Jackson State University; Ken Campbell, University of Delaware; Linda Suskie, Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Eugene A. Mawhinney, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Maine, died at Bangor, Maine on June 24, 2006. He was 84 years old. Gene Mawhinney served the department of political science and the people of Maine for some 35 years as a faculty colleague, as a teacher of American government and especially of constitutional law, as a mentor to two generations of Maine's pre-law students, and as a valued and long-serving advisor to Maine's state government.

Upcoming international events 2007.

Symposium authors' bios.

There is a great deal of unnecessary confusion out there about assessment of student learning. The theories are inconsistent, the processes are overly complex, and the advice is contradictory. There are national assessment experts telling us what to do, discipline-specific assessment experts telling us what to do, and institution-based assessment experts telling us what to do. And they all seem to speak a different language. The one point on which they all seem to agree is that we have to begin doing it; no more stalling.For further information about simple, practical assessment, see Linda Suskie, Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing, 2004).

Takeshi's personal history and academic interest has converged into his dissertation project, which explores how citizenship has evolved in the U.S., from citizenships of different states into the citizenship of the nation. And he feels extremely lucky to be where he is now: after 20 years and a continent away from his childhood home, he is finally able to revisit his memories, this time as a visiting scholar at the Centennial Center doing archival research in the area.

Professor Deborah J. Gerner, known to colleagues and friends as “Misty,” died on June 19, 2006, at her home in Vinland, Kansas, after a long struggle with cancer.