Dear NIFL-PLI Colleague:

At this year’s Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE) conference, 
Dr. Susan Sclafani, Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of Education, 
Office of Vocational and Adult Education, addressed practitioners in 
the Opening Session.  She spoke about several issues, including the 
future of the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL).  She recognized 
that many in the field of adult and family literacy are concerned about 
NIFL losing its focus on adults, and assured us that this would not 
happen, but that NIFL will also concentrate on literacy across the 
lifespan.

Further, Dr. Sclafani discussed the importance of finding a person who 
knows and understands adult literacy for the position of Director of 
the Institute.  She said that there is no better way to have NIFL 
preserve its focus on adults than to hire a director who is an adult 
literacy practitioner.  She shared that we need someone that knows the 
field of adult literacy to apply for this position, and encouraged 
qualified adult literacy practitioners to apply.

We look forward to her continued support for retaining NIFL's focus on 
adults in its concentration on lifespan literacy, and hope that she 
will continue to be supportive of finding a NIFL Director applicant 
from the field of adult literacy. As she requested, please encourage 
experienced adult literacy practitioners to apply for the NIFL Director 
position.  Forward this message to anyone whom you think may qualify.

Deadline to apply: May 10, 2004
Submit the following materials to director_search at nifl.gov.
• A resume
• A letter of no more than two pages explaining your interest in the 
position, your qualifications, and your views on contributions the 
Institute could make to improving literacy across the lifespan.
Vacancy announcement: http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/vacancy_announce.doc

On behalf of the Save NIFL Campaign organizers,

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net