In recognition and appreciation of the services of AEA-Europe’s outgoing Treasurer, the association hereby turns its focus to Cor Sluijter, who has for the past eight years played the role of watchdog over all the aspects of its financial management.
Cor has been a Fellow of AEA-Europe and the Treasurer of the association since 2014. With over 30 years as a specialist in educational measurement in different leadership capacities at CITO in Netherlands, he was involved in the developmental process of paper-based and computerized adaptive educational tests and exams, the development of exams and test systems, and the coordination and supervision of complex educational measurement projects.
As Treasurer of AEA-Europe, Cor has managed and overseen the finances of the association with both diligence and caution. His regular duties consisted of preparing the financial report to be reviewed by the board, monitoring the budget and maintaining an accurate, complete and up-to-date record of the association’s finances. He claims to have adopted a conservative approach, by carefully managing the financial risks, in order to ensure the association’s financial sustainability over time. As Treasurer, Cor also liaises with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, as AEA-Europe is legally registered in Netherlands – which on a side note, as he is Dutch, becomes an advantage for this role.
Other than being Treasurer, Cor also introduced and facilitated since 2017, the alternative format of the plenary 90seconds in-person poster-session presentations in the AEA-Europe annual conferences. Combining professionalism and humour, Cor executed this task by encouraging the nervous presenters in their delivery and fully engaging the audience. Cor also recalls with his broad smile, the association’s social events during the annual conference – an enjoyable moment which unites the conference members and participants in a relaxed setting. Many will recall Cor’s extra skills as vocalist in the opening ceremony and gala dinner of the conference in Arnhem in 2018.
Looking forward, Cor believes that AEA-Europe needs to continue to add more value to the assessment community, by including more activities between the annual conferences. He acknowledges that this has already started in the form of the Special interest Groups that have recently been established in the last years. Talking about the benefits of being a member of the association, Cor believes that AEA-Europe is a forum which offers a networking space for the individual researchers as well as organisations in educational assessment. Researchers are able to learn and share perspectives on their own work, organisations have the possibility of presenting their ongoing developments and initiatives and also setting up new collaboration opportunities at the institutional level.
Cor adds that attending AEA’s annual conference is a way to “collect golden nuggets”, be it in establishing new contacts, learning new ideas, setting up new collaborations, understanding new cultures or even learning a new dance move! Cor is therefore looking forward once more to meeting everyone in person in our next conference Dublin in November 2022. The AEA-Europe Council would like to offer its appreciation and gratitude to Cor for his services as Treasurer since 2014 and for his warmth and generosity as a member of the Council.