People of Open: Meet the Candidates for the OEGlobal Board of Directors

OEGlobal Plaza
1

The OEGlobal Board of Directors is comprised of members of Open Education Global who provide significant strategic direction and leadership for the organization. Their significant contributions may not always be visible. Recently, the board has been active in sharing their viewpoints and open education interests through an ongoing series of posts in OEG Connect and in episodes of the OEGlobal Voices podcast.

Now, a group of members have stepped forward as candidates for elections this month (September, 2024) to fill five open seats in the next round of elections for the OEG Board. While voting for the board is in the hands of representatives from organizational members, in the spirit of recognition I thought it useful to first thank them, and let the community learn more about these candidates. Let’s get to know them better!

Consider this topic an open discussion for you to ask questions of or let your open education interests known to the candidates. This is also an opportunity for candidates as well to say more to the community about their motivations to be on the board.

Our thanks to the following people who have stepped up with an interest to serve on the OEGlobal Board. Their listed bios, areas of expertise, vision, and OEGlobal ideas provided with the information for the 2024 board election but use this space as an informal place to get to know the 2024 candidates listed below

We included their OEG Connect username so you can see their profiles and contact them directly. Plus, they have all been granted OEG Connect badges as board candidates.

  • Beatrice Canales, Alamo Colleges District, San Antonio College, USA @oerideal
  • Glenda Cox, University of Cape Town, South Africa @glencox
  • Perrine de Coetlogon, Open Education France, France @perrinecoet
  • Nawaraj Ghimire, Tribhuvan University, Nepal @nawghiraj
  • Muhammad Hassan, Kean University, New Jersey, USA @hassanmu
  • Robert Lawson, NorQuest College, Canada @rlawson780
  • Maria Soledad Ramirez-Montoya, TecnolĂłgico de Monterrey, Mexico @marisol
  • Jim Ross-Nazzal, Houston Community College District, USA @drjrn2001
  • Takaya Yamazato, Nagoya University, Japan @yamazato

Speak up via the reply button!

2 Likes
2

Thanks for this @cogdog - Each candidate has expressed their vision and ideas for the future of OEGlobal as well as what expertise they hope to bring to their role. Read the election 2024 page – it is well worth a read!

3

I’ll start with a question!

A lot goes on behind the scenes that many people may not realize. Whether you’re an outsider looking in or already a part of the Board, how do you see yourself contributing to OEGlobal? Beyond helping to achieve the strategic plan, what practical steps can you take to support the organization’s operations? This could include efforts like maintaining and promoting membership, ensuring the organization’s technological needs are met, and actively seeking funding opportunities to help OEGlobal grow to support a small staff juggling many tasks/projects.

4

Hi Heather! I’d like to initiate discussions on how we can make OE Global more global. As a member of the 2023 conference program committee, I noticed that we had more work to do in supporting delegates facing financial challenges. In some cases, we could assist delegates with the conference registration fee but I would like to see a more robust support system in place. I would like seek out and solicit more funding to support a scholarship program that would enable more participants to attend the conference. This would start with an initial fund that could support with registration fees and then eventually expand to funding for flights and hotel. Our program committee noted that for some people, particularly in the global south, the costs of attending are prohibitive. I would like to change that!

5

Thank you, Robert! I appreciate you adding to this discussion. I love the idea of a scholarship program. There are so many open practitioners out there that can’t attend the conference due to cost and I hope we can talk about doing more to assist!

1 Like