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• Student Access Grant Recipients
• NCFR Policy Corner
• NCFR Journals Increased Submissions
• 2025 Conference Reimagined
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• 40 Years of CFLE Credential
• New Journal Research
• NCFR Journals Increased Impact
• Videos of the Year
• >> Job Opportunities << |
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Zippy News will take a break over the next two weeks. See you in 2026!
The NCFR office will be closed Wednesday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Dec. 26, 2025, and closed Thursday, Jan. 1 and Friday, Jan. 2, 2026.
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NCFR Embarked On A New Vision in 2025 — Every Family Thriving
What a year! In January 2025, NCFR announced its vision "Every Family Thriving" and new set of guiding principles to lead the organization in its work of understanding and strengthening families.
In February, NCFR members voted and elected leaders who began their positions in November.
Under the leadership of Interim Executive Director Kevin Lynch, NCFR staff worked to reimagine the NCFR Annual Conference for 2025, improve how we support our journals, and introduced technology improvements for greater efficiency and improved experience. Read more
And most notably in June, we welcomed our new CEO and Executive Director Cherie Collins Sims, Ph.D., to begin a new era of NCFR.
REVISIT MORE 2025 MILESTONES |
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CONFERENCE |
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Meet the 2025 Student Access Grant Recipients
NCFR is committed to addressing systemic racism and opening doors where racial and ethnic barriers exist. To ensure inclusion of students from historically marginalized racial communities in the discipline of Family Science, NCFR supports Students of Color through the NCFR Student Access Grant.
Thanks to the generosity of NCFR donors, over $7,500 was raised in 2025 to cover conference registration fees, a $500 travel stipend, and a one-year NCFR membership for students who have never been an NCFR member.
Fifteen students were awarded grants this year to attend the 2025 NCFR Annual Conference (some of them are pictured above). Follow the link below to read about their experiences.
CONTINUE READING
Donations are accepted year round and will support future recipients. Donate here. |
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NCFR Conference Reimagined in 2025
Thank you to everyone who made the 2025 NCFR Annual Conference a success including Conference Chair Sadguna Anasuri, Ph.D., CFLE, the Conference Program Planning Committee, and all conference presenters!
This year NCFR staff and volunteers worked to create a conference with:
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A simpler process for submitting proposals
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A schedule with more breaks and “breathing room”
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Fewer presentations and meetings in the evening
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Better opportunities for networking, connection, and fun!
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More ways to engage with the host city of Baltimore
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Service projects to learn about family issues and take collective action
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on their experience! We will continue to reimagine and innovate in the new year — Save the date for Nov. 18-21, 2026!
Miss a session? View 11 conference recordings in the Cvent Attendee Hub on your mobile device or web browser. Log in and go to the "On Demand" section.
VIEW ALL SESSIONS
More Postconference Resources
Find Continuing Education Info Here
Download the Schedule PDF
Download the Program Participants Index
Classroom Licenses for Conference Recordings |
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POLICY CORNER |
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NCFR Policy Work in 2025
With the launch of NCFR’s new Guiding Principles, NCFR began developing the foundation for more robust policy work in 2026 and beyond.
Here are a few highlights from 2025:
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NCFR signed onto five letters and statements related to issues of family policy.
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NCFR released two policy briefs:
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NCFR launched the Policy Corner — a bi-weekly segment in Zippy News dedicated to keeping our community informed, engaged, and connected around key policy and advocacy issues affecting families and Family Science.
Reminder: Submit Your Public Charge Comments!
This is a reminder to submit your comments on the proposed DHS Public Charge rule, which may now include Medicaid and SNAP as disqualifying factors. The proposed changes would require immigration officials to assess potential use of these programs, creating uncertainty and directly impacting the health and self-sufficiency of millions of immigrant families.
Please submit your official comments by Dec. 19, 2025.
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CFLE NEWS |
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Celebrating 40 Years of the Certified Family Life Educator Credential
Over the past four decades, Certified Family Life Educators (CFLEs) have built a strong and vibrant community. The CFLE program has recognized the expertise of thousands of professionals, partnered with almost 200 academic programs, and offered countless opportunities for CFLEs to learn, grow, and connect. And we’re just getting started!
In celebration of the CFLE program’s 40th anniversary, in 2025, NCFR expanded CFLE scholarship offerings, launched new Family Life Education books, and celebrated with special opportunities to engage with the CFLE community.
CONTINUE READING
More than 140 degree programs at universities and colleges throughout the United States and Canada have been CFLE-approved by NCFR. Learn more about CFLE Academic Program Approval. |
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NCFR JOURNALS |
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NCFR Journals in 2025
Journals See Increased Submissions, Publish Special Issues in 2025
Plus: New Early-View Articles From Dec. 7–13
NCFR's three scholarly journals — Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science (FR), Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR), and Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF) — published 14 issues total in 2025, and each journal experienced substantial increases in number of submissions.
Several special issues and collections were published in 2025:
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FR: Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Family Life
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JFTR: Theorizing Academia: Critical and Futuristic Perspectives
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JFTR: Sexual and Gender Diversity in Families: Theoretical Advances in the Context of Social Change (collection)
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JFTR: Theorizing and Doing Critical Intersectional Family Science
And they're not done yet! The journals continue to publish new early-view articles online each week; seven new articles were published Dec. 7–13.
READ ALL RESEARCH
If you are an NCFR member subscribed to one of our journals, you can access articles by logging into your NCFR account. You can also sign up for email alerts. |
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NCFR's 3 Journals Increased Their Impact Factors in 2024
The 2024 results of the annual Journal Citation Report, a standard measure for scientific journals, were released in June 2025 for NCFR's 3 journals. NCFR is pleased to see that all 3 journals showed improvement in their Impact Factors and rankings from 2023.
- JFTR rose to the rank of #2 (from #7) in the Family Studies category and earned a 5-year impact factor of 5.2 after only ten years of review!
- JMF jumped up to the rank of #5 (from #9) in Family Studies and achieved a 5-year impact factor of 5.6.
- FR moved to a Q1 ranking in Social Work for the first time in the journal’s history at #18 and recorded its highest impact factor at 1.8.
View the full results with comments from NCFR's journal editors.
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NCFR RESOURCES |
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NCFR Publications
Second Editions of 2 NCFR Books Available for Purchase
Edited by Wm. Michael Fleming, Ph.D., CFLE; and Michael J. Walcheski, Ph.D., CFLE
$79.99 retail. $69.99 for NCFR members and CFLEs
Useful and informative for seasoned and emerging professionals, as well as for students, this textbook provides a comprehensive examination of the profession from the perspectives of many leading family scholars and educators.
The second edition includes four sections that consider the knowledge and skills needed for the effective practice of Family Life Education (FLE) and chapters on FLE with various populations and relevant issues.
Learn more & purchase >
Wisdom for Parents. Key Ideas from Parent Educators
Edited by Elizabeth A. Ramsey, Ph.D., CFLE
$29.95 retail. $25.95 for CFLEs
Family Science professionals from across the discipline share stories, reflection, and poems in this extensive collection of parenting knowledge that can benefit anyone— teachers, researchers, students, and parents!
A variety of relevant topics on the joys and challenges of parenting are woven together to create a valuable resource both in and out of the classroom setting. This second edition includes updated entries, new contributions, and discussion questions.
Learn more & purchase > |
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Video of the Week
Videos of the Year
It is our annual tradition this week to spotlight the most-watched Zippy video from the past year.
The winner by a landslide was last week's video of highlights from the NCFR conference! If you missed it, you can watch it here.
The runners-up were "Meet Tilly Norwood," the controversial AI actress, and the chaos and beauty of "Bouncy Balls in San Francisco."
We hope the Zippy videos this year were both informative and added some levity to your week throughout the year. See you in 2026! |
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NCFR JOBS CENTER |
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New Employment Opportunities
Employers: Get your job opening included in Zippy News by posting it in
NCFR's online Jobs Center! Get started here.
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Northern Illinois University
The College of Health and Human Sciences at Northern Illinois University seeks a school chair to serve as the chief academic and administrative leader, reporting to the dean. The chair will foster a collaborative, inclusive community; oversee academic, budgetary, personnel, and curricular operations; and guide the school’s mission, resources, and enrollment strategies through shared governance. In addition to leadership duties, the chair will teach, engage in scholarship, support accreditation, promote funding, and contribute to college-wide leadership at NIU, a Carnegie-classified high research and community-engaged university.
Location: Dekalb, Illinois
Required Education: Doctorate
Application Deadline: Feb. 13, 2026
SEE FULL DETAILS
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