Maintaining Momentum: Evolving an Information Literacy Faculty Ambassador Program
Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation
Conference Strand
Outreach and Partnership
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
Session 3 Papers
Relevance
This proposal describes the evolution of a "teach the teacher" approach to developing information literacy learners at our university. One of the presenters (a non-librarian) participated in the program and will share how she adapted the information literacy content for her department.
Abstract
This presentation will describe the evolution of an information literacy faculty development program that shifted from focusing on singular course design to programmatic goals. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education encourages librarians to collaborate with departmental faculty in designing IL programs. This level of collaboration requires time and flexibility as each discipline will have unique curricular opportunities and challenges. At Northern Kentucky University, IL is a campus-wide strategic initiative. To advance this work, librarians developed an IL faculty ambassador program that engaged participants in year-long professional development. In many cases, the program led to assignment and course redesigns. While largely successful, the program did not incorporate ongoing support of faculty ambassadors beyond the year spent in a cohort. As such, a new program was launched to build on the initial successes of the ambassador work, while aiming to more deeply engage entire departments in taking responsibility for IL education.
Presenters will provide an overview of the faculty development program, with an emphasis on its evolution, and share examples of how different disciplines are embedding information literacy. A faculty member who engaged in the program will share her experiences as a participant and the work she has done within her department to embed IL at the program level. This will include a discussion of centering the program learning outcomes around IL, revision of current assignments and the creation of an IL assignment bank for faculty in the department, and challenges juggling curricular changes with academic freedom.
Presentation Description
This presentation will describe the evolution of an information literacy faculty development program. Presenters will provide an overview of the program, with an emphasis on its evolution. A faculty member who engaged in the program will share her experiences as a participant and the work she has done within her department to embed IL at the program level.
Keywords
Faculty Development; Collaboration; Outreach; Programmatic Information Literacy; Programming
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Brooks, Andrea Wilcox and Davis, Rhonda, "Maintaining Momentum: Evolving an Information Literacy Faculty Ambassador Program" (2023). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 16.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2023/2023/16
Maintaining Momentum: Evolving an Information Literacy Faculty Ambassador Program
Session 3 Papers
This presentation will describe the evolution of an information literacy faculty development program that shifted from focusing on singular course design to programmatic goals. The ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education encourages librarians to collaborate with departmental faculty in designing IL programs. This level of collaboration requires time and flexibility as each discipline will have unique curricular opportunities and challenges. At Northern Kentucky University, IL is a campus-wide strategic initiative. To advance this work, librarians developed an IL faculty ambassador program that engaged participants in year-long professional development. In many cases, the program led to assignment and course redesigns. While largely successful, the program did not incorporate ongoing support of faculty ambassadors beyond the year spent in a cohort. As such, a new program was launched to build on the initial successes of the ambassador work, while aiming to more deeply engage entire departments in taking responsibility for IL education.
Presenters will provide an overview of the faculty development program, with an emphasis on its evolution, and share examples of how different disciplines are embedding information literacy. A faculty member who engaged in the program will share her experiences as a participant and the work she has done within her department to embed IL at the program level. This will include a discussion of centering the program learning outcomes around IL, revision of current assignments and the creation of an IL assignment bank for faculty in the department, and challenges juggling curricular changes with academic freedom.