About Us
Association of Independent
Liberal Arts Collegesfor Teacher Education
Dedicated to Educators
AILACTE is a non-profit organization dedicated to the work of educator preparation programs in private liberal arts institutions.
Supports and Advocates
AILACTE supports, recognizes, and advocates for private higher education institutions that offer a liberal arts education. As an affiliate of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)
Providing Leadership
AILACTE provides communication, resources, information sharing, and leadership across organizations.
Our Purpose
Why we do what we do
Effective
Voice
To provide an effective voice for member institutions at the national, state, and campus level in matters related to teacher education
Share
Concerns
To provide a communication and information system for sharing concerns, issues, and viewpoints in teacher education as they pertain to member institutions
Awareness
To raise the general level of awareness of the needs of member institutions and of those who do not fall within its membership
Membership
Value
To make available to educational policy-making groups the talent, values and perspectives represented in the membership
Promote
Education
To cooperate with other associations to promote quality teacher education
A Message from Our President
A Message from our President, Dr. Kevin Thomas:
Maya Angelou said, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been,” so I felt it was appropriate as I begin my tenure as President of AILACTE to review the comments of my predecessors over the last decade. Having been associated with AILACTE since 2013, I have such great esteem for the six individuals who have served as AILACTE president since 2016, and I am honored to follow in their footsteps and serve as the 2026 AILACTE President. What struck me most as I reviewed each of their messages was that most of the issues remain the same: financial sustainability due to declining enrollment and shifting demographics, best practices in preparing teachers, accreditation, political and policy interference, increasing diversity, equity and inclusion, and increasing AILACTE membership. Fittingly, my goal over the next year is to work collaboratively with the Board of Directors to continue the work of my predecessors to confront the challenges facing educator preparation programs at private, liberal arts institutions and achieve our shared mission to provide an effective voice, share concerns, raise awareness, and promote education at the state and national level.
Board of Directors
President
Kevin Thomas
Bellarmine University
e-mail: president@ailacte.org
Past President
State Advisory Council Co-Chair
Chandra Foote
Niagara University
President-Elect
Conference Planning Co-Chair
Caitlin Riegel
Daemen University
Executive Assistant
Alyssa Haarer
e-mail: admin@ailacte.org
Secretary
Membership Co-Chair
Jackie Crawford
Simpson College
Treasurer
Nominations & Election Chair
Yune Tran
Providence College
Communications and Media Chair
Pending
Professional Development and Awards Chair
Ali Taylor
Bellarmine University
State Representative Advisory Council Co-Chair
Aarek Farmer
Freed-Hardeman University
Journal Editors-in-Chief
Caitlin Riegel
Daemen University
Kevin Thomas
Bellarmine University
Journal Copyeditors
Jackie Crawford
Simpson College