This issue marks the beginning of Academic Exchange Quarterly's sixth year 
of publication.  From a small publication of only seventy-five pages in September
of 1997 to recent issues of approximately two hundred pages, this quarterly has 
become a significant contribution to academic periodicals.  It is one of the 
fastest-growing journals in the U.S.

Why has it grown so quickly?  Major reasons are that its practical classroom 
applications are sought by college instructors and that the innovative staff of AEQ 
has combined the speed of the Internet with print publication.  Submissions from 
colleagues are solicited through a variety of means, mainly by calls for papers 
through listservs and other electronic venues. Also, as the years have passed, we 
have received more and more submissions from regular Academic Exchange Quarterly 
readers.   

Most submissions are sent  as MS Word attachments and a few by postal mail to the 
New York office and then distributed to our worldwide reviewers for peer assessment. 
Authors may watch the progress of their submissions as the reviewers make their 
evaluations by going to our journal's unique "Track Your Submission" website: 
(rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/redak1.htm).

Some academic journals have a lower acceptance rate than Academic Exchange Quarterly.  
However, this figure can be misleading, especially if one considers the
number of pages allocated to a specific issue or even the journal’s affiliation.  
Given the increasing number of articles submitted and recommended for publication 
through AEQ’s double-blind peer review process (as well as our desire to enhance our 
colleagues’ knowledge of the theory and practice of teaching well), we intend to 
expand the length of the journal and publish all meritorious articles.  We are fully 
self-supporting, so we have no requirement to pre-allocate any of our journal’s 
space to subscribers, sponsors, or corporate owners.

Most members of the journal's editorial board have never met in person.  We have 
created a virtual community of scholars (rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/aarigvo.htm).
Our editorial board consists of teacher-scholars from many geographical locations
including Finland, Australia, and Hong Kong.  Physical distance is no longer a
factor in our editorial decisions.  Pedagogical concerns are truly shared 
internationally within Academic Exchange Quarterly's pages.  This would explain 
why many of our readers and articles are from countries outside the United States: 
(rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/indekg.htm).

Additionally, AEQ offers a "mentor" program by which authors whose submissions need
revision may seek advice from experienced editors.  This is a free service to our
colleagues, especially first-time authors: (rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mentor3.htm).
Our mission is to foster education, career growth, and the personal development of 
faculty on all levels: (rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/vision.htm).

To further that end, we have published issues focusing on such topics as "Service
Learning," "Online Instruction and Its Assessment," "Educating Students with
Disabilities," "Language Teaching and Learning," "Student Perceptions, Beliefs,
and Attitudes," "The Many Faces of the Community College," "The Scholarship
of Teaching and Learning," "Assessment of Academics, Services, and Administration,"
"Distance Education and Critical Thinking," and other topics of interest.

Forthcoming issues will discuss such topics as "Information Literacy," "The Teaching
of Culture and Literature," "Learning and Teaching on the Web," "Language Teaching
and Learning," "Teaching the Novel and Short Fiction," "Crisis in the Writing 
Classroom," "Information Competence," "Collaboration and Consultation in Education,"
"Teaching Environmental Literature," and "Writing Center Theory and Application."

All of these issues and articles may be read online through Gale's Expanded Academic 
ASAP, Gale's Expanded Academic ASAP—International, and Gale's Infotrac OneFile (see 
your library's online subscriptions).

The topics listed above have been so popular with our readers that we have decided 
to expand the editorial board to include permanent editors with ongoing themes.  
Each editor will oversee a specific topic and encourage colleagues to submit articles 
on it.  So far, we have editors for "Assessment," "Distributive Education," "Culture 
and Literature," "Part-Time Instruction,"  "Adult and Community Education," "Special 
Education ,"  and  "Service-Learning." There will be other editors with topics of 
a perennial interest to those of us in the academic profession.  If you have a 
topic of special interest, please do send a message and topic description to 
AEQ@rapidintellect.com.

We also have created a student-run online journal which publishes articles from
students and faculty:  http://asccsa.unco.edu/Students/AE-Extra.   This journal
gives students and faculty the opportunity to publish in a paperless medium,
perhaps for the first time.  Teachers are encouraged to send their students'
essays and narratives to Academic Exchange Extra.

Because we are concerned about meeting the professional needs of our readers,
we have created an online survey to find out what sorts of topics you would like to 
see in future issues.  To complete this short survey (it won't take more than ten 
minutes of your time), please go to our web page and click on the "Survey" icon:
http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb.  Of those who do complete the survey
and submit it to us, one will be chosen from a drawing to receive a free annual 
subscription to AEQ.

The next five years promise to be years of continued growth and quality for 
Academic Exchange Quarterly.  Please share this journal with your colleagues, 
ask your library to subscribe, and tell other teacher-scholars that our journal 
provides a rich source of information for the teaching profession.  The editorial 
board welcomes your participation with us in what Matthew Arnold, the great 
English poet and critic, once called an "endeavor to learn and propagate the 
best that is known and thought in the world."

Ben Varner
Chief Editor