Hitting Reset: Aligning department goals with shifting university priorities
Type of Presentation
Panel (1 hour and 15 minutes presentation total for two or more presenters)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Room 1005
Proposal
This presentation will detail the organizational changes to a library’s information literacy department in response to University-wide priorities. The Information Literacy & Outreach (ILO) department at a very large research institution was created in 2006 after “Information Fluency” was chosen as the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan topic. The department has been productive and successful, and is responsible for a set of information literacy modules that is used campus-wide by students in all disciplines.
In 2014, a new Provost was hired, and a number of new initiatives came about. The University participated in the Gardner Institute’s Foundations of Excellence Transfer Initiative, a multi-year effort to identify and address factors impacting transfer student success and retention. In 2016, the University unveiled a new strategic plan. In support of these efforts, the library has prioritized demonstrating its impact on student success. Presenters will begin by outlining some external pressures that have impacted university and library goals, then demonstrate how internal changes are preparing librarians to better support these goals.
The decision to shift focus and rename the department and librarian positions will be discussed, along with the reconfiguration of librarian roles and responsibilities and new engagement efforts. Attendees will be invited to think about their own organizational structure and how it can best support school-wide, campus-wide, or college-wide goals and priorities.
Presentation Description
This presentation will outline the organizational changes to a library’s information literacy department in response to emerging University priorities. After hiring a new Provost, the University engaged in a major transfer student success initiative, and unveiled a strategic plan. In response, the library has made it a priority to demonstrate its impact on student success. Presenters will outline external pressures that have impacted university and library goals, then demonstrate how internal changes are preparing librarians to better support these goals.
Session Goals
Attendees will be invited to think about their own organizational structure and how it can best support school-wide, campus-wide, or college-wide goals and priorities.
Keywords
Strategic planning; student success; organizational structure
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Mulvihill, Rachel and Montgomery, Renee, "Hitting Reset: Aligning department goals with shifting university priorities" (2018). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 87.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2018/2018/87
Hitting Reset: Aligning department goals with shifting university priorities
Room 1005
This presentation will detail the organizational changes to a library’s information literacy department in response to University-wide priorities. The Information Literacy & Outreach (ILO) department at a very large research institution was created in 2006 after “Information Fluency” was chosen as the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan topic. The department has been productive and successful, and is responsible for a set of information literacy modules that is used campus-wide by students in all disciplines.
In 2014, a new Provost was hired, and a number of new initiatives came about. The University participated in the Gardner Institute’s Foundations of Excellence Transfer Initiative, a multi-year effort to identify and address factors impacting transfer student success and retention. In 2016, the University unveiled a new strategic plan. In support of these efforts, the library has prioritized demonstrating its impact on student success. Presenters will begin by outlining some external pressures that have impacted university and library goals, then demonstrate how internal changes are preparing librarians to better support these goals.
The decision to shift focus and rename the department and librarian positions will be discussed, along with the reconfiguration of librarian roles and responsibilities and new engagement efforts. Attendees will be invited to think about their own organizational structure and how it can best support school-wide, campus-wide, or college-wide goals and priorities.
