President's Column
January 2026
Perhaps it hasn’t happened to you in a long time, or maybe it occurred when you attended the Annual Meeting that was ‘new’ to you: that awkward moment when you are between sessions and would like to engage with fellow conference goers, but you do not know a single person around you. While others re-establish long-standing acquaintances or forge new connections, you feel like the new kid at school navigating seating choices in the cafeteria. At the Annual Meetings, these casual moments between formal activities can be rich opportunities for professional growth and often justify the time and money spent to attend. But for newcomers, Annual Meetings can be a frustrating experience and can drive decisions about future meeting attendance.
How do we, as an Association, ensure that all who attend our summer meetings access the annual gathering’s full opportunities and get their money’s worth during these precious networking moments? Or, in other words, how do we ensure that an AAEA membership has as much value whether you are a long-standing member or brand new to the Association?
The AAEA Access Taskforce (see list of Taskforce members below*) has worked diligently for two-years to explore how to shape our Annual Meetings and other AAEA activities to: identify member needs, barriers, and challenges in participating in the AAEA professional network (including the summer meetings); develop opportunities to increase membership engagement; and suggest resources needed to increase members’ access to the AAEA professional network. The Taskforce gathered data several ways: focus group discussions with members across institution types, career stage, and caregiving responsibilities; phone interviews with members in industry positions; and a membership-wide survey. After synthesizing data, the Taskforce delivered its final report to the July 2025 AAEA Board meeting in Denver (the presentation is available here: https://www.aaea.org/UserFiles/file/AAEAAccessTaskforceFinalReportJuly2025.pdf). The AAEA Board continues to review the Taskforce’s recommendations, looking for short- and long-run opportunities to capitalize on their efforts. Nearly every item on the January 2026 AAEA Board meeting was examined through the lens of the Taskforce Report.
One simple but powerful recommendation was piloted at the 2025 Denver meetings: assigning senior scholars as discussants for selected paper sessions, where these papers are often presented by emerging scholars. The benefits of this effort to increase feedback received by scholars presenting research are manifold. Volunteering senior scholars get exposed to new ideas that will soon constitute the received literature and become familiar with new faces that will soon populate more senior ranks of the Association. Emerging scholars receive an in-depth perspective on their scholarship that can sometimes be lacking in selected paper sessions. Furthermore, the presence of a senior discussant may draw more scholars to attend sessions whose ranks sometime thin towards the session’s end. While a handful of selected paper sessions at the 2025 Annual Meetings in Denver piloted a senior discussant format (thanks to those of you who volunteered!), we seek more senior scholars to serve in this capacity for the 2026 AAEA Annual Meeting in Kansas City. Please stay tuned for communications from AAEA on how to volunteer yourself or, if you know of a senior scholar you would love to see discuss papers in Kansas City, send me an email with suggestions and I’d be happy to recruit them.
The Taskforce also reported that members prioritize supporting students’ meeting attendance. To this end, the AAEA Board recently approved a registration rate reduction for graduate students who attend their first Annual Meeting in Kansas City this July (from $105 to $50). We hope this may stimulate students who may otherwise delay their first attendance at the meetings to accelerate their professional development and networking, and for departments within driving distance of the Kansas City meetings, to consider low-cost opportunities to expose students to this annual rite of passage.
Stay tuned for more discussion of how we can move forward with the Taskforce’s excellent recommendations, and join me in thanking these colleagues for their effort on behalf of the Association:
* AAEA Access Taskforce: Sathya Gopalakrishnan (Chair, Ohio State University); April Athnos (University of Arizona and CWAE); Vincenzina Caputo (Michigan State and AAEA Board liaison); Gail Cramer (Louisiana State University and Senior Section); Elizabeth Fraysse (Purdue University and Graduate Student Section); Chrystol Thomas (Texas A&M University and COSBAE); Sarah Low (University of Illinois and Chairs Section); and Jeanne Rhodes (AAEA Executive Team).
Brian Roe
AAEA President