Committee Corner—Membership Outreach Ad Hoc Committee (MOAHC) Update

The Membership Outreach Ad Hoc Committee (MOAHC) was created in 2020 to address Academy-wide aspects relating to membership, promotion, and engagement. In 2020, the MOAHC began by conducting a membership survey to gauge and prioritize areas of interest for the committee to work on. Areas for opportunity addressed included standardization of section promotion requirements, enhancements to the annual conference experience, and exploration of a potential non-voting affiliate category, among many others. For those who attended the 2022 AAFS Annual Conference, you will know that Professional Affiliate status passed the membership vote and the MOAHC is excited to see the growth and development of this new initiative. The MOAHC has worked hard over the past few years on a plan for standardization of section promotion requirements and we look forward to sharing our thoughts and ideas in the coming months. In addition, the MOAHC continues to brainstorm ideas of enhancements to the meeting experience, including shuffling of important sessions and time blocks, as well as some tweaking of receptions and social activities — all with the final goal of promoting more interdisciplinary networking, togetherness, and overall enjoyment. A final aspect the MOAHC continues to work on is related to a Fellow rewards program aimed at encouraging Members to promote to Fellow and also rewarding the years of hard work for those who are already Fellows. The MOAHC remains a lively ad hoc committee, and we look forward to updating you on our progress in the months and years to come!

MOAHC members include Laura Fulginiti (Anthropology), Alex Krotulski (Toxicology), Zain Bhaloo (Questioned Documents), Joe Bono (Criminalistics), Laura Combs (Criminalistics), Melissa Connor (General), Greg Davis (Pathology/Biology), Adam Freeman (Odontology), Zeno Geradts (Digital & Multimedia Sciences),  Paul Kish (General), Vienna Lam (Anthropology), Carl McClary (Questioned Documents), Tiffany Rodriguez (Criminalistics), Jeri Ropero-Miller (Toxicology), C. Ken Williams (Criminalistics), Donna Grogan (AAFS Executive Director), Kimberly Wrasse (AAFS Assistant Director), Cheryl Hunter (AAFS Membership Coordinator), Kathy Howard (AAFS Communications Manager), and Jase Hamstad (AAFS Digital Marketing Specialist).